Fist-Pumping Seditionist Josh Hawley So Unpopular In Missouri A Democrat Could Possibly Beat His Pasty Ass

So, that's good news.

Jan 08, 2024

Josh Hawley hasn’t yet finished his first Senate term, but he’s packed a lot of awful into the past five years. Most people might’ve waited until their second or third terms before attempting to overturn a presidential election, but Hawley is lean and hungry, which helped him sprint away like the Cowardly Lion in Oz when the MAGA mob came calling.

Hawley rightly should’ve been impeached and removed from office for his role in Donald Trump’s coup, but the Republican Party is wholly corrupt. Instead, Hawley was free to later smear the good name of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson during her confirmation hearings. (An honorable body would’ve booted him for his shameless, deliberate lies but this is the US Senate.)

So, we guess it’s up to Missouri voters to hold this scumbag accountable. You might consider that unlikely because Missouri is a deep-red state that Trump carried in 2020 by 15 points. However, there is some reason for optimism: Hawley’s former political ally, Jared Young, announced Friday that he’s running for Senate to unseat him.

Young, in an op-ed for the Kansas City Star, compared Hawley to former Vice President Aaron Burr, specifically as he was depicted in the musical Hamilton, by which he means Hawley’s an overly ambitious, morally bankrupt opportunist and not that he looks or sounds anything like Leslie Odom Jr. or Nik Walker.

At one point in the show, Hamilton asks Burr in frustration, “Is there anything you wouldn’t do?” Burr’s responds with, “No. I’m chasing what I want.” Eventually, Hamilton chooses to support his own archnemesis Thomas Jefferson over Burr in the election of 1800. Hamilton succinctly explains his reasoning: “When all is said and all is done, Jefferson has beliefs. Burr has none.”
These Hamilton-Burr exchanges came to mind this week as I pondered the three-year anniversary of the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and Sen. Josh Hawley’s role in them.

Young voted for Hawley in the 2018 midterm elections when he defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill by just five points. He also gives Hawley more credit than he deserves for dressing up his coup efforts in more concealing legalese compared to Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell’s full frontal power grab. Hawley still attempted to disenfranchise millions of Pennsylvanians who voted for Joe Biden in good faith.

However, Hawley’s actions after January 6 are what truly disgusted Young. Rather than show the slightest remorse for the part he willingly played in the insurrection, Hawley instead “doubled down and leaned into his role in the events of that day, believing it would endear him to the Republican primary voters he hopes will one day choose him as their presidential nominee. Today, you can buy coffee mugs and T-shirts on his website that glorify and celebrate his Jan. 6 role.”

Yeah, you can’t look at one of those coffee mugs featuring Hawley’s punchable mug and believe that the senator is in any way an honorable man.

Young is running as an independent — probably because he knows Republican primary voters wouldn’t embrace an anti-coup message. That doesn’t mean Hawley is safe from an upset. Missouri’s former Democratic Secretary of State Jason Kander pointed out that Hawley’s approval ratings in the state are even lower than Rick Scott’s in Florida and Ted Cruz’s in Texas.

Kander wrote in a Kansas City Star op-ed:

After decades of Republican-led culture wars, the national Democratic Party struggles in states like Missouri. But in races where well-funded candidates can set themselves apart and make it clear to voters that they’ll fight for them in office, Democrats can outrun the party. And they can defeat divisive and corrupt opponents.

Recent polls have shown Democratic primary frontrunner Lucas Kunce within striking distance of Hawley. Polls were never that favorable for Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine against Republican Eric Schmidt, whose won by double digits in 2022. (Hawley’s hometown paper also shredded the senator on the third anniversary of January 6.)

It might seem too much to hope that Kunce could send Hawley packing, but you could probably do a lot worse with your money than donating to this very good cause.

[Kansas City Star]

PREVIOUSLY: