Highlights: Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans worked for more than a year to make Joe Manchin’s retirement announcement on Thursday a reality. And for good reason: The Democrat’s decision puts Republicans on the precipice of a majority that’s eluded them for two straight election cycles.
McConnell himself laid the groundwork last fall when he flew out to see the popular Gov. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), the GOP leader said in an interview. McConnell said Justice initially seemed like he had never considered it, but a few months later, Justice launched his bid.
“You can do the math. If we don’t lose any incumbent — and I don’t think we will — he’s No. 50. And one step closer to having a majority,” McConnell said of Justice. “I’ve been involved in a lot of recruiting over the years, some successfully, some not. But I think that’s the best recruiting job I ever did.”
I’m worried about it AND I’m worried of the framing that holding one branch is at all enough. Look what Rs have done in states where they want to block governors.
They really don’t care about anybody but their own tribe. They are not “conservatives” and have openly make constitution defying motions beyond the coup attempt.
This is the one part of your comment where you’re wrong: Republicans are more genuinely conservative than they’ve ever been before. Conservatism is an unbroken line from Royalists to Confederates to NAZIs to MAGA, and pretenses towards it being about “cautious moderation” as opposed to “supporting hierarchical power” have always been lies.
This is fair.
I’m saying they are not acting according to the caricature of a “conservative” they hold out to get votes. And the video explains that this has been a core feature of “conservative” for a while and provides a definition of what it really is.