Make America Good Again
The GOP is split on how best to respond to their disappointing midterm election showing.
by Debra J. Saunders
November 19, 2022, 10:48 PM
“I don’t own this job. Anybody who wants to run for it can feel free to do so,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday. “I’m not in any way offended by having an opponent or having a few votes in opposition.”
Also Wednesday, Senate Republicans voted 37-10 to keep McConnell as leader.
With the Georgia Senate contest pending, Democrats hold 50 Senate seats to the GOP’s 49. There was no red-wave takeover that tipped the upper house to the right, as conservatives had expected.
For that, Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott apparently places the blame on McConnell. Not himself, even though Scott is the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is supposed to deliver more GOP candidates to the Senate.
Putting the onus on McConnell, who has served as leader for 15 years, also glosses over the fact that multiple Senate candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump lost in the general election. A New York Times analysis estimated that Trump’s endorsement cost Senate hopefuls five points.
Only the die-hard Trump base — and those on payroll — could see Trump’s candidacy as good for the country, or the GOP.
McConnell is in a sweet spot right now. Yes, he angered the GOP base in August when he said the House was more likely to flip than the Senate because “Senate races are just different — they’re statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.”
(McConnell was simply stating the obvious — more moderate candidates tend to prevail in statewide races than House districts.)
more
https://spectator.org/make-america-good-again-mcconnell/
