By Jeffrey A. Rendall
Ultimate hanger-on Mitch McConnell clings to the vision of the GOP establishment
If you saw any of the Republican Midterm Convention last week, I think you’d agree that a sizeable portion of President Donald J. Trump’s keynote pitch was directed towards Republicans and independents who voted for the former president to return to the White House in 2024 so as to realize his agenda.
A big part of the argument Trump made was that he wouldn’t be able to complete the Make America Great Again mission without a solid backup group of agenda supporters in Congress to codify many of his/their promises into law.
Trump didn’t state it plainly, but it seemed obvious the president included Republican RINO saboteurs in the United States Senate among those who he’d need to overpower if the good times are to continue rolling for the rest of his tenure in the White House.
Two of the supposedly friendly obstructionists are certain to be gone by 2027. North Carolina RINO Republican Senator Thom Tillis decided not to run for reelection. Good riddance. Senator Mitch McConnell, a man who many conservatives would wonder, “Is he still there?” – opted for retirement as well, though his failing physical condition would’ve mandated some sort of practical concession from the Kentuckian regardless of his career longevity preferences.
Well informed folks understand McConnell has long since overstayed his welcome in the Trump-led Republican party. Yet the establishmentarian not-so-affectionately known as “Cocaine Mitch” and “The Turtle” lingers to thwart the rest. Apparently. The leader of the intra-party Trump opposition returned to the senate recently after a lengthy absence to combat serious health issues.
Some think he should’ve stayed away for good. Literally. In an opinion piece titled, “Mitch McConnell: Do the job, or step aside”, the always insightful Joe Concha wrote at the Washington Examiner shortly after the Convention’s conclusion:
“McConnell, or perhaps at least his team, decided that Sept. 14 would be the time to return to the Senate. But simply clocking in and voting isn’t enough. McConnell must hold an open press conference, take questions from all sides on all topics, and prove he has the cognitive and physical abilities to do the job. And if he continues to hide behind his staff, he needs to resign. Full stop.
“As for Republicans losing a crucial seat in the House, that’s not going to happen. Under a resignation scenario, a special election would be held in Kentucky, and the governor, Democrat Andy Beshear, would not be able to name an interim replacement from his side of the aisle. And given the fact that the Bluegrass State has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in 34 years (Wendell Ford in 1992), a special election would almost assuredly result in a GOP replacement for McConnell.
“And by the way, losing McConnell would be a huge net-positive for President Donald Trump. McConnell, for example, opposes the SAVE America Act, along with the petulant Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Susan Collins (R-ME). ‘Mitch McConnell. He’s very disloyal to [Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD)],’ Trump said recently. ‘John Thune was a very good person for him. I mean, he’s a very loyal person, and Mitch McConnell’s against him almost all the time because he’s angry, I guess. Probably at me.’”
Yes, it’s true. The haughty McConnell appears to relish the gobs of negative feelings he engenders, taking an “Anything you can do, I can do better” attitude towards Thune and Trump, especially. Conservatives and Republicans remain grateful to the doddering senate procedures dinosaur for saving the Supreme Court majority (by refusing to hold confirmation hearings for then-nominee Merrick Garland), but it’s difficult to pinpoint another matter where Mitch has furthered the conservative cause by choice.
What was it George W. Bush said in the aftermath of 9/11? “You’re either with us, or against us.” The perception fits McConnell perfectly.
Mitch’s reasons for doing so haven’t been lucidly explained, though it seems to be personal animosity between Trump and McConnell that’s responsible for much of it. McConnell has become the symbolic head of the old Bush/Romney/John McCain/John Boehner/Paul Ryan Republican establishment, and he doesn’t seem ready to shut the curtains on the bluebloods just yet.
It could also be argued conservatives rely on party primaries to cull the proverbial establishment fat before the much larger stakes of the general election, but, now that the respective state primaries have concluded for this year, the only recourse for conservatives, as far as McConnell is concerned is, (as Concha suggested) for him to resign so a special election would replace him with time left to spare in the present term.
McConnell’s multitude of health scares could’ve provided the perfect excuse for him to gently fade into the background if he would only acknowledge the writing on the wall and agree to remove his name from the Senate roster. But he won’t do it.
Concha’s column detailed the elaborate political ruse Democrats staged during senile Joe Biden’s entire presidency, particularly how the liberal power-hungry elitists masked the faltering pol’s shortcomings by fixating on – and limiting – the man’s public appearances so as to further mask his deteriorated cognitive capacity.
It all came to light after the disastrous June 27, 2024 debate where Biden’s inadequacies all-but forced his party apologists to admit something just wasn’t right. The rest is history, though the Biden family, in characteristic fashion, continues to insist he was capable of serving out a second full term.
McConnell, to my knowledge, doesn’t enjoy the same kind of Joe Biden look-the-other-way blanket support among Republicans. Other than the people who are paid to state publicly that Mitch is alive, well and functioning, McConnell is pretty much on his own to insist that he gets up every morning and does proverbial cartwheels and crunches to demonstrate his fitness.
Conservatives aren’t fooled. McConnell’s virtual absence the past few months exposed his delicate, hanger-on existence.
What could Mitch’s motivations for staying be?
It certainly wasn’t because his resignation would mean his seat would be filled by Democrat Governor Andy Beshear. The vacancy would trigger a special election in a similar manner to what happened in South Carolina after the sudden, unexpected death of Senator Lindsey Graham over the summer.
No, from an objective standpoint, McConnell must surmise he needs to keep the Republican establishment relevant for just a little longer. The GOP bluebloods have endured a horrific bludgeoning in the era of Donald Trump, starting with presidential Bush brother Jeb in the 2016 campaign. You may recall Jeb was competitive, if not leading, the Republican field before Trump swooped in to consume all the oxygen in the presidential primaries that year.
The establishment had managed to nominate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan four years earlier, signifying that the Republican Party under the old guard would still be about big government spending, lax immigration enforcement (i.e., amnesty), a go-along-to-get-along wishy-washy reputation and the occasional tax cut victory when Democrats let their guard down.
McConnell’s career has been more significant for obstructing elements of the Democrat agenda than for forging new pro-America paths and legislative successes under Trump’s leadership. Republicans famously promised to repeal Obamacare at their first opportunity last decade if given power, yet Mitch was unwilling/unable to put a dent in the government healthcare monstrosity when he was gifted with the numbers.
Much of the swamp inertia was due to McConnell’s authority being challenged and hindered by an active RINO contingent that undermined conservative attempts to hold fast on the federal budget, debt ceiling increases and, frequently, government shutdowns.
Democrats may be evil, but they’re not stupid. Barack Obama, Harry Reid and now “Chucky” Schumer understood that Mitch would always cave first, because he figured conservatives had nowhere else to go with their contributions and votes.
Donald Trump altered the historic advocacy imbalance, demanding action and results from his Republican congressional leaders. McConnell didn’t take kindly to the new Republican president’s frequent calling-out of Mitch in the media. Their ongoing feud was no secret. McConnell didn’t vote for impeachment when Trump was tried twice, but he didn’t clamp down on Republican RINO defectors, either.
By refusing to resign, Mitch McConnell has guaranteed himself a preeminent spot in the political infamy hall of fame. Rather than championing the conservative causes he purported to represent, McConnell held true to the status quo, do-nothing preferences of the DC swamp establishment.
McConnell’s last days in Washington will pass quietly with no honorariums, awards or fanfare. Mitch is the poster child for hanging around well past his sell-by date.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .