John Cornyn, the number two Republican in the Senate, had been brashly predicting that the GOP would move forward with its bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act this week and no later. But the number one Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, reportedly just blinked and said that’s not going to happen: He’s delaying any vote until after Congress’s July 4 recess, which doesn’t end until July 10.
So unless McConnell’s acting out 11-dimensional kabuki (and anything's possible with this guy), that means he’s struggling to corral the 50 votes he needs for this monstrosity.
And we can make it even harder.
Right now, there are three Republican senators up for re-election in 2018 who could face competitive races:
- Dean Heller in Nevada
- Jeff Flake in Arizona
- Ted Cruz in Texas
Daily Kos is raising money for ActBlue’s “nominee funds” for each of these races, and you can contribute to these funds right now. All money is held in escrow until after each state’s primary, when the cash is transferred in one fell swoop to the Democratic nominee, who can then start using the money for his or her general election campaign right away.
If we can make the digital mercury in that thermometer soar, Democrats, Republicans, and the media will take notice. GOP senators who are already on the fence about this cruel piece of legislation will have to think twice about whether they want to keep courting electoral oblivion. None of them want to face well-financed opponents—and none of them will want to keep giving the resistance more motivation to keep donating.
This is only one front in a much larger battle. Keep on calling, faxing and emailing your senators and attending their town halls. But also contribute to defeat these Republicans.
Please give $1 to each of our Senate funds so that Republican senators know there’ll be a price to pay for repealing health care.