We've rightly focused most of our attention on exorcising Mitch McConnell's stranglehold on the Senate, but the burgeoning blue tsunami is also coming for the Republican minority in the House. Politico has an over-under on Republicans losing seven more seats, while Dave Wasserman at Cook Political Report thinks that number could go as high as 15. Will all those former representatives find a home at the Fox News orphanage?
ICYMI from @CookPolitical's new House overview: Dems poised to expand their majority, perhaps by 5-15 seats, as GOP… https://t.co/SFov1wMw87
— Dave Wasserman (@Dave Wasserman) 1602442966.0
We are currently enduring a Trump-driven catastrophe — his presidency in general and COVID-19 specifically, but Republicans want to avoid any accountability for helping put this racist buffoon in office. They can try to run but they can't hide. We won't let them.
Republicans had hoped 2018's blue wave was just a brief fad. For instance, Republican Karen Handel staged a rematch against Democratic incumbent Lucy McBath in Georgia's sixth, but McBath is still polling ahead of Handel in the once-conservative district. The GOP had probably hoped that Democrats would nominate a candidate without the suburban coattails that Joe Biden offers.
Oh, and remember anti-impeachment “Democrat" Jeff Van Drew who switched parties in December? He's getting his butt whooped by real Democrat Amy Kennedy in a Republican-leaning district.
If House Republicans take it on the chin, who gets the blame and can we watch? The most likely victim is Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The man who won't be speaker admitted in June that he was “concerned" about Republican chances if the election were held that month, when Biden was only up by single digits.
"Joe Biden hasn't really been out of the basement yet," he said of the likely Democratic presidential nominee. "I think when you have that contrast going, I think President Trump will get reelected.
Yeah, Biden was such a wimp, adhering to public health guidelines intended to slow the spread of a deadly disease. It's been four months and a contrast has developed between Biden's sensible leadership and whatever it is the president's doing. The result is Uncle Joe leading Donald Trump in almost every swing state, including Arizona and maybe even Georgia. If a working mother can attend Zoom meetings while her kids attend school remotely in the same room, Biden can beat the stuffing out of President Pandemic from the comfort of his basement.
McCarthy blamed his party's losses in 2018 on their push to remove protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions. Who would've guessed that was a political loser? He hasn't come up with an alternative to the Affordable Care Act other than empty promises, and he wasn't able to convince Trump to stop trying to have the ACA overturned in court. (Oh yes, and currently confirmation hearings are happening for a Supreme Court nominee who sure seems likely to kill the ACA.)
But the GOP wouldn't be the dumpster fire we know and loathe if it didn't find a way to blame a woman for its misfortune. Back in July, during a closed-door meeting, Republicans piled on their conference chair, Liz Cheney, because she had sided too often with Dr. Fauci and his pagan voodoo science. She was also charged with not regularly pledging allegiance to Trump and the republic on which he tramples.
Nestor's dad, GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, tweeted afterward that Cheney was actively obstructing Trump's agenda. That's neither true nor a negative outcome, because roughly 90 percent of Trump's agenda these days appears to be killing us all with the coronavirus.
We already have one Mitt Romney, we don’t need another... we also don’t need the endless wars she advocates for. https: //t.co/RDkJDA9UOZ
— Donald Trump Jr. (@Donald Trump Jr.) 1595348949.0
Cheney and McCarthy are both terrible, but if they take the fall for the GOP's upcoming rout, it's possible that Trump stooges such as Jim Jordan or even Matt Gaetz might try to replace them in leadership. Fortunately, they might be too busy walking into rakes to pose much a problem for Nancy Pelosi, but they'll still prove a nuisance.
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And their lunch money.
If the GOP gets the ass kicking they so rightly deserve, how are they going to ever come back from pledging fealty to Trump? The last defeated GOP presidents were loathsome but never approached Trump loathsomeness. I'm looking forward to a very painful process for them.