Just yesterday,
Politico
reported that Senate GOP leaders plan to conduct leadership elections next
week, despite a growing number of Republicans requesting a delay following an
underwhelming performance during the midterms.
Senators. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) circulated a letter urging Senate colleagues to support their demand for the postponement of elections
According to Politico the letter states the following:
“We are
all disappointed that a Red Wave failed to materialize, and there are
multiple reasons it did not,”
“We need
to have serious discussions within our conference as to why and what we can do
to improve our chances in 2024.”
Scott has spent most of the year at odds with McConnell as he chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee. It was rumored that Scott was considering the possibility of challenging McConnell for the top GOP spot.
Johnson and Lee have often disagreed with McConnell’s management of the Senate GOP.
Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) also demanded a delay in the elections.
Hawley even
declared he will vote against McConnell, while Senator-elect Eric
Schmitt (R-Mo.) has said the Senate GOP needs new leadership.
Prior to the midterm elections with all the talk of the massive red wave, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell seemed poised to be re-elected to the GOP leadership position while the Republicans seemed set to secure a majority in the Senate. Those prospects seem uncertain now.
Despite the opposition, the GOP leadership insists it will conduct its leadership elections on Wednesday as planned and said the Senate GOP should have a discussion on Tuesday at its first post-election party lunch “so every senator has a chance to be heard.”
And “after
presentations from candidates, and there is every opportunity to address
questions from every member, we will complete leadership elections”
So is there
a case for postponement?
Firstly
let’s know the situation on the ground.
The swearing-in of the mid-term winners occurs on 3rd January, which means the Senate has 52
days to elect their leader, we can subtract a week for Chrismas and a couple of days for Thanksgiving.
Currently, the Senate has 49 Republicans and 49 Democrats, with the GOP needing to win two
of the outstanding races – the election in Nevada and the run-off Georgia to
regain the majority after two years out of power.
The run-off election in Georgia is to be held four weeks later. Should Hershel Walker wins, he will be denied a vote in the Senator leadership elections, if it is held next week. Disenfranchising Hershel Walker is the equivalent of disenfranchising Walker's voters.
It also makes sense for voting Senators to know if their party is in the majority or minority prior to casting their vote.
Hence postponement to a date after the Georgia Senate Run-off seems most reasonable.
In the
time available, all senators, including senators-elect must be encouraged to express
themselves freely about why they thought the GOP performed so underwhelming in
the Senate elections. They could also cite the lessons they learned, and
possible remedial actions to be taken.
All that
is discussed must be streamed live so that the public knows what
their Senators are thinking.
The Senate leadership contest must be seen like a primary except instead of voters, their representatives in the Senate will be voting.
This is similar to what happened in the UK after Boris Johnson announced his resignation as Prime Minister. The Conservative party conducted elections for party leadership. There were televised debates and interviews of candidates aspiring to be elected. The goal was for the public to learn about the vision of each leader the voters hold meetings with their Members of parliament who then use the information while deciding which candidate to vote for.
Back to the proposed Senate leadership elections.
Any GOP Senator who qualifies and desires to file nominations for the leadership position must be encouraged. Each candidate must present their vision for the party and how they intend to fix the wrongs. All of these ideas must be available in public.
Perhaps
there could even be a televised debate where each candidate for leadership
expresses himself.
How about Mitch McConnel?
A recent poll
revealed that among Senate Republicans just eight percent of voters view McConnell favorably, while an overwhelming 80
percent view him unfavorably.
Under
McConnell, the GOP performed underwhelmingly both in 2020 and during the recent
mid-terms. Many of the candidates that McConnell promoted did quite poorly. McConnell didn't financially support Blake Masters in Arizona and many other MAGA candidates.
In August, McConnell questioned the caliber of some of the Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate This was a veiled attack on MAGA candidates.
McConnell said that "there's probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate. Senate races are just different — they're statewide, and candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome."
This is shocking and unprecedented. In politics, candidates and their party leaders always display optimism and confidence irrespective of their electoral prospects.
Here, despite Biden's catastrophic misgovernance, McConnell was smearing his own.
After the mid-terms, McConnell should have accepted responsibility and voluntarily resigned. But instead, the GOP leadership and many of their mouthpieces are busy blaming Trump and suggesting that he shouldn’t contest in 2024.
Since McConnell seems to think of himself as a monarch who will be permanently perched on the GOP leadership throne, it is important for the GOP Senators to remind him about the existence of internal democracy.
The reason the GOP leadership seems eager to conduct elections next week is that challengers to McConnell will have no time to mount a campaign and spread their message resulting in McConnell emerging as the winner.
They may have many post-election lunches and dinners, but they will be meaningless because McConnell will still remain in the driving seat.
For the elections to be fair, each candidate must be given sufficient time to present their case.
A postponement
hence quite essential
Also appears on American Thinker
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