Mitch McConnell’s Entire Legacy Is ‘Misunderstanding Politics’

[corbe]

Mitch McConnell’s Entire Legacy Is ‘Misunderstanding Politics’

BY: JEREMY CARL
FEBRUARY 29, 2024

Mitch McConnell was correct in saying he has many faults. Misunderstanding politics was perhaps the worst of them.

“I have many faults,” intoned Mitch McConnell after announcing he would be surrendering his leadership of the Senate GOP at the end of the 2024 term. “Misunderstanding politics is not one of them.”

That McConnell would provide this assessment of his own career was predictable. He was just echoing the take of the average GOP establishment politician or D.C. operative. He was also completely wrong.

In fact, throughout his career, few people understood politics more poorly, and of the many flaws he had as a leader, his misunderstanding of the nature and purpose of politics was perhaps his worst.

Start with the fact that he had an incredible 6 percent (not a misprint) approval rating and 60 percent disapproval among American adults in a recent poll from respected pollster Monmouth (even among GOP voters, he was at just 10 percent approval!) Even politicians who have committed sex offenses have polled better. But while these ratings were particularly anemic even for McConnell, voters’ disregard of McConnell was par for the course. For years, even among the raft of unpopular GOP politicians, McConnell stood out as the most unpopular major political figure in America.

<..snip..>

https://thefederalist.com/2024/02/29/mitch-mcconnells-entire-legacy-is-misunderstanding-politics/

[Bigun]

McConnell is great at counting votes, seeing what egos need massaging, making the threats he needs to make, etc. These are very useful skills for climbing the greasy pole in D.C. — and for a party whip whose job it is to wrangle votes — but they are not the primary skills needed for a party leader who sets the agenda. McConnell could have been a very useful cog in a machine led by a strong majority leader who would have set the ideological tone for the party in alignment with the voters and then relied on someone like McConnell to twist the arms to get the votes to execute that vision. But we never had that.

 

[Free Vulcan]

And what continues to suck is that the GOP Senators we elect will vote to put more of the same back in that position.

This is why I have no more faith or use for DC politics. Doesn't matter who we elect, it's more of the same, and most of the time we keep putting the same jokers back in there.

[Bigun]

And what continues to suck is that the GOP Senators we elect will vote to put more of the same back in that position.

This is why I have no more faith or use for DC politics. Doesn't matter who we elect, it's more of the same, and most of the time we keep putting the same jokers back in there.

My only hope is that SCOTUS decides the CHEVRON case correctly and that forces the worthless pricks to do their damned jobs!

[Free Vulcan]

My only hope is that SCOTUS decides the CHEVRON case correctly and that forces the worthless pricks to do their damned jobs!

Same.