Humiliation on Top of Humiliation
Frustratingly or weirdly, the repetitive, unresolved votes for House speaker continues, heaping humiliation on Kevin McCarthy, who has wanted the job forever.
More rounds of vote later, there still is no Speaker and the new session of Congress is blocked, despite a futile entreaty from Donald Trump against party “embarrassment” and a disputed adjournment to halt more losing votes.
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results,” the saying attributed to Albert Einstein, was getting a new workout in the media.
From the edge of the ring of struggle for House Speaker, there was a contrast obvious for Republicans and Democrats equally. Unlike in the House, where we are watching 10 percent of Republican extremists controlling the fate of 90 percent of their colleagues, in the Senate, Republican leader Mitch McConnell glided into a new term, setting an historic longevity record in that post along the way.
Of course, McConnell has faced the same 10 percent-plus extremism problem as McCarthy. No one wants to try to corral the likes of Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida, and others who frequently espouse the same line as their Freedom Caucus colleagues in the House. Indeed, McConnell listened to a Donald Trump-backed challenge to his Senate leadership before quietly and efficiently rolling over Scott and his rightist band without creating much more than a ripple in his political pond.
Is McConnell truly so much more likable by his Senate colleagues than McCarthy is in the House? Is he simply a better tactician, or he can count better than McCarthy? Is McConnell’s general opposition to most-things Joe Biden at discernible odds with McCarthy’s?
If so, McConnell has managed to hide any discernible personality. McConnell comes from the power school of leadership. He gets the votes first, plays a longer-term political game. McConnell displays personal leadership skills beyond the simply selfish I-deserve-it mentality of McCarthy.
With McConnell, we all accept that while he may be in the leadership game for more than a dollop of personal gain, he has a worldview that embraces a role for government that is important in our national life.
Why the Difference?
The results speak for themselves.
McConnell is in the leader spot for another term despite steady denunciation from Trump and his right-leaning group of would-be presidential candidates in the Senate. McCarthy continued to flail in the House, bringing the Congress to a halt before it even gets started on a new term with a Republican majority.
Moreover, the House split – widely denounced as “clown show,” “chaos,” and “disastrous” – has assured that this ultra-right-leaning group will hold a commanding voice over any legislation that the Republican majority can pass. And then any such bill will go to the Senate with both a Democratic majority and a Republican leader who has stood up to his extremists and die on the vine.
Somewhere along the way to denouncing deep-state bureaucracies, elections that don’t go their way, and insistence on self-promotion in pursuit of pure power, the Freedom Caucus folks have forgotten that they were elected to govern. For all his political maneuvering, McConnell has not forgotten that salient purpose, and has persuaded even his Republican Senate colleagues that the Washington game includes public problem-solving.
McConnell even joined Biden yesterday in Kentucky at the launch of a bridge rebuilding project underwritten by a bipartisan infrastructure bill that McConnell helped to deliver. You don’t get the idea that McCarthy or any accepted alternative would be able to do the same.
Estranged Bedfellows
Naturally, no one wants to compare either Republican leadership styles with that of Democrat Nancy Pelosi, whose independence and acumen in the job even while dealing with her 10 percent progressive minority is regarded as paramount by both parties.
Of course, McConnell is not dependent on Donald Trump’s support as McCarthy is. Trump finally doubled down on support for McCarthy yesterday after demurring during the first day of voting.
As much as McCarthy or any Speaker elected under these circumstances will find themselves beholden to the 10 percent for policy positions and legislation, should he get the votes, McCarthy also owes all chance of continuing in the position to acting as Trump’s agent. Essentially, McCarthy will be judged daily as to whether he meets Trump’s approval.
That’s not true for McConnell, who has found himself succeeding despite Trump’s disavowals.
Nevertheless, what was notable yesterday was that the word from Trump was not carrying the weight that it did until recent months; these were Trump’s hard-core supporters and they weren’t doing as instructed even by the guru.
If Republicans think that this process is building trust or following among voters, they are sadly mistaken.
IMAGE ABOVE: McConnell and McCarthy images are copyright Gage Skidmore.
Read more from Terry Schwadron by clicking HERE.
