To be fair to Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, he didn't exactly hype the red wave, even lamenting at one point that "candidate quality" might hamstring their takeover bid. The remark was a jab at Donald Trump, who handpicked every battleground state Senate GOP nominee.
It's also fair to note, however, that McConnell is only in the vise grip we are about to discuss because of his failed leadership on impeaching Trump after his violent Jan. 6 coup attempt.
With that said, let the festivities begin!
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"The Senate GOP leadership vote next week should be postponed," newly reelected Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida tweeted Friday morning. "First, we need to make sure that those who want to lead us are genuinely committed to fighting for the priorities & values of the working Americans (of every background) who gave us big wins in states like #Florida."
Ruh-roh, Mitch, trouble brewing.
Then came the letter.
“We are all disappointed that a Red Wave failed to materialize, and there are multiple reasons it did not. ... We need to have serious discussions within our conference as to why and what we can do to improve our chances in 2024," wrote Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah, and Rick Scott of Florida.
Yep, that Rick Scott! The guy who headed up the campaign to retake the upper chamber as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He wants to take a "serious" look for who else he can scapegoat after he ran the NRSC into the ground, forcing the group to cancel tens of millions of dollars in pre-booked advertising.
So Scott, Lee, and Johnson are currently circulating that dagger of a letter within the GOP conference, according to Politico, which first reported on it.
Now, what could Scott, Lee, Johnson, and Rubio possibly have in common? They have all appropriately surrendered to Donald Trump—yeah, the guy who almost singlehandedly wrecked the Republicans' midterm 'wave'—and are now stalling a leadership vote on the guy whose super PAC plowed some $230 million into trying to save the GOP's sinking ship.
Naturally, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, given one more chance to throw his wife and father under the bus for Trump, jumped on the dump-McConnell train too.
”Critically, we need to hear a specific plan for the next 2 yrs from any candidate for leadership,” tweeted the guy who is perhaps best known for shutting down the government in 2013 so he could read “Green Eggs and Ham” to the country from the Senate floor.
Who might they have in mind for the post? Scott, of course. After practically laying an egg for the GOP, time to promote!
It just so happens that Trump recently endorsed Scott as leader because what does Trump care about GOP wins and losses when he's not on the ticket. All Trump cares about is his underlings being sufficiently sycophantic suck-ups. Plus, sidelining Scott would count as one less person Trump has to slay on his way to reclaiming the 2024 GOP mantle.
Speaking to Fox News on his plane, Trump promised to oust McConnell as leader if he were reelected president, hailing Scott as a "very talented" replacement.
Coincidentally, Scott also dodged a question on Meet The Press over the weekend on whether he's weighing a run for the leadership post, declining to say either way.
Trump and McConnell have sparred for the past two years over who deserved blame for Republicans losing the Senate in 2020, with each of them eagerly pointing their finger at the other.
McConnell and Scott have also clashed throughout the midterm cycle over the GOP agenda, which McConnell hoped to keep under wraps even as Scott committed it to writing.
Notably, Scott's 11-point plan called for raising taxes of tens of millions of working- and middle-class Americans while sunsetting Medicare and Social Security. The plan wreaked of a party still trying to suck 99% of Americans dry while passing tax cuts that continue to pad the pockets of the 1%.
Now, in the name of finding a leader who is "genuinely committed to fighting for the priorities & values of the working Americans (of every background)," Trump allies have their eyes on trading in McConnell for Scott.
Same, same. Except one of them actively ran the Senate GOP midterm campaign into the ground while the other tried to salvage it. Of course, no salvaging would have been necessary if Senate Republicans had neutered Trump in the aftermath of the insurrection to begin with.
Let’s kick both Mitch McConnell and Rick Scott to the curb! Give $3 right now to help Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock defeat no-good liar Herschel Walker in Georgia’s December runoff.
Election Night 2022 was full of surprises—mostly for people pushing the last couple months of traditional media narrative of a "red tsunami." The problem is that Americans are not super into the GOP. Markos and Kerry have been saying the media narrative was wrong for months, and on Tuesday, Daily Kos and The Brief team was validated. Time to celebrate!
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