Regardless of How the McCarthy Fight Ends, the Battle Itself Lays Bare the Larger War to Come

Red State ^ | 01/05/2023 | Mike Miller

[SeekAndFind]

Before the seventh round of voting for the next Speaker of the House began on Thursday — which Kevin McCarthy lost — the embattled Republican Party Leader was asked on his way to the House floor about his plan if he again failed to secure the 218 votes necessary to secure the gavel:

We’re just gonna keep working til we solve it. Look, look you’re going to go in here, we’re gonna have votes; nothing is going to change. What we’re doing is we’re having really good progress in conversations. … Nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to. I wouldn’t read anything into the votes today.

Translation: McCarthy remains in it to win it, no matter how long it takes.

Meanwhile, Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who voted on Wednesday for fellow Floridian Byron Donalds, on Thursday voted for Donald Trump, while Trump diehard, Colorado’s Lauren Boebert and Fox News host Sean Hannity — forever in Trump’s back pocket — engaged in a hissy fit debate over her refusal to support McCarthy. Hence, the stand-off continues — with no predictable end in sight.

Translation: Gaetz, Boebert, and like-minded holdouts are in it to win it, no matter how long it takes.

Obviously, this thing has to end somewhere — with hard feelings on both sides of the GOP internecine war presumably even more bitter.

Reality begs the question:

What have we learned — whether Republican lawmakers have learned anything or not — about what the battle itself portends for the broader fight to come, which will begin in earnest this spring as the race for the GOP presidential nominee begins to heat up?

And, like it or not, what lies ahead for Trump and the MAGA Republicans — who’ve laid bare their differences for the first time over the McCarthy battle?

In a related Wednesday article, I asked if Trump has lost his touch, given that his multiple calls for House Republicans to fall in line behind McCarthy have failed — now after seven votes. Has Trumpism failed, or has the former president lost control of Trumpism to the likes of Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, and like-minded Trump diehards?

I’m sure the majority of MAGA Republicans reject the notion but is MAGA in the process of kicking Trump to the curb? These are valid questions that need to be asked, and more importantly, answered — with an eye to the future vs. the past.

To be fair, as opined by Bruce S. Thornton, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Trump has been brutalized by the left, including the “mainstream” media sock puppets and the TDS-riddled Democrat Party:

• The Dems had weaponized the FBI and DOJ to peddle the Russia collusion hoax, and a Democrat House held multiple show-trial hearings and staged two impeachments that criminalized political differences.
• The political establishment and media were despicably unfair to Trump, indulging preposterous double standards like “election denier,” an epithet never applied to two noisy and bitter “deniers” like Hillary Clinton and Georgia’s Stacey Abrams.
• The Dem House made preposterous charges of fomenting an “insurrection” on January 6, based on specious evidence and hear-say, with the committee stacking the deck to make sure no Republican could cross-examine dubious witnesses.
• The bankrupt media, dead-tree and social, before the election colluded with the FBI to keep hidden the bombshell scandal of Hunter Biden’s laptop, which is filled with evidence of the Biden family corruption—a huge in-kind contribution to Biden’s campaign.

The above — all of it despicable — considered, Republican voters must be honest (those who are capable, that is) about Trump’s self-inflicted unforced errors. Regardless of how one views Trump, as I wrote on New Year’s Day, only Donald Trump can do to Donald Trump what the Republican establishment could not: bring an end to the former president’s political career.

We’ve covered Trump’s recent missteps ad nauseam — yours truly, included — which I’m not going to repeat in this article. The bottom line here is Trump no longer has a vice grip on the Republican Party. That is a fact — and it becomes increasingly evident.

Also evident, as revealed by the Speakership battle, the Republican Party — in my not-so-humble opinion — is desperately in need of a new vision and new bold policies. Why? It should be obvious to the objective among us.

Non-stop rehashing of the 2020 presidential election — regardless of on which side one stands — and ad hominem attacks against potentially promising candidates, as was the case in 2016, aren’t going to work in 2024. That shtick is old and tired. Moreover, the relentless claims about the “stolen” 2020 election no longer rally a sufficient number of Republican voters — or critical independent voters — to win in 2024.

In the end, the Republican Party will choose a 2024 presidential nominee, determined by which candidate receives the requisite number of delegates. In other words, voters will decide the outcome of the 2024 election, as it should be.

Given the disastrous state of America under the Democrat Party, let’s hope Republican voters make a wise choice in the primaries.

[Fungi]

Why do people use the idiosyncratic term “Look” when referring
to speech?

[BobL]

The decision by the Republican Leadership is VERY SIMPLE - Either structure the party to raise big money, and lose, or structure the party to represent its voters, and win.

The fact that McCarthy has difficulty picking which option to go with is enough of a reason to dump him.

[M-cubed]

in other words.... GIVE UP AND ACCEPT WE LIVE IN A BANANA REPUBLIC!!!....and maybe the republicans can help us except it better then the evil democrats ...

[bimboeruption]

You explained the situation extremely clearly, BobL.

[Svartalfiar]

Obviously, this thing has to end somewhere — with hard feelings on both sides of the GOP internecine war presumably even more bitter.

There's probably two ways this works out. One, the Dems get bored, stop showing up, and eventually there's enough of them missing votes to where McCarthy gets his majority vote with the votes he has now. Scorched-earth on Conservatives all year.

Two, The Powers That Be get bored, tell McCarthy to get out, and then convince the Conservatives to let the #2 or #3 RINO take over instead. Everything goes about the same all year as if McCarthy had just taken it in round one, excepts Conservatives at home feel hopeful even though there's none to be had.

Third option that I hope I don't see happening, is our side gives in like usual and the Conservatives just vote for McCarthy. Course, that would take quite a few of them, so unlikely, but perhaps they'll orchestrate it to where half the Conservatives vote for McCarthy, then the Dems have a couple people miss the vote. McCarthy wins with 210 or so.

[Chad C. Mulligan]

As I see it, all that the freedom caucus is trying to do is roll back the accretion of power grabs Pelosi helped herself to. Status Quo Ante. What’s so hard about that Kevin?

[Secret Agent Man]

Who here seriously believes McCarthy will honor anything in any kind of agreement document that gets drawn up?

He still calls them “concessions” like its stuff he’d never do unless forced to agree. He doesn’t actually believe in any of the “concession points” otherwise he’d have them as part of the types of things he would plan to deal with.

Who is idiotic enough to believe he would honor such a document? Seriously? A WEF Klaus Schwab loving Uniparty dude. Who hates Trump.

[central_va]

chgogal posted:

Which POTUS was as successful as Trump? Look at what Trump accomplished:

1. Gas price per gallon was about $2.30;
2. Inflation about 1.4%, mortgage rates were half of what they are now;
3. Unemployment was low before Covid and before Blue Governors shut everything down and we were in the midst of a V-shape recovery until January 22, 2021;
4. Tax decrease; tax laws promoted small businesses as well as large;
5. US enjoyed energy independence - No Green Agenda, no war on energy, No Paris Treaty;
6. No war in Ukraine, no threat of nuclear war, NATO paid its way;
7. China was quiet and we were winning the trade war;
8. US companies were bringing home the jobs due to well executed tax treatments;
9. Peace in the Middle East aka Abraham Accords; US Embassy moved to Jerusalem; and Iran was isolated.
10. Got three non-left “I don't know what a woman is” Supreme Court Justices on the bench allowing Roe vs Wade to be overturned.

Who the heck can accomplish the above in four years while being impeached twice and investigated by Obama's Weaponized Agencies? Ryan said, “We probably likely lose the White House. We just did in ’20. So, I think we probably lose the White House with Trump.”

In 2020 Trump earned more popular votes than any Republican presidential candidate in United States history with 74.2 million popular votes. He also received more popular votes in 2016 than any other Republican. He out performed the 62.9 million votes he received in 2016 by 11 million.. Romney received 60.9 million in 2012. McCain received 59.9 million in 2008. George W. Bush received 62.0 million popular votes in 2004, and 50.4 million in 2000.

Biden ostensibly achieve 81.3 million votes in 2020. If Paul Ryan truly believes the 2020 election counts for both candidate were 100% accurate and not impacted by cheating, if Trump had not run for reelection in 2020, what Republican does Ryan believe could have earned enough votes to beat Biden? What Republican does Ryan believe can even beat Trumps 2020 74 million total in 2024 if Trump is not the nominee.

Does Ryan not realize that if Trump is cheated by the party establishment of the 2024 nomination, the conservative base will stay home and the establishment nominee (Pence, Haley, Pompeo, Hogan, etc) will receive far fewer popular votes than Trump did in 2000 or 2024? Ryan is either delusional or is already rooting for a Democrat winning in 2024 no matter who the Republicans nominate.

--Soul of the South

[Major Matt Mason]

Moreover, the relentless claims about the “stolen” 2020 election no longer rally a sufficient number of Republican voters — or critical independent voters — to win in 2024.

How do they expect to win in 2024 if they refuse to deal with election fraud? Election fraud is real, not fake news.

[SandwicheGuy]

👍

[nickcarraway]

The people voting against McCarthy have nothing in common with Trump.

[nickcarraway]

What conservatives?

[nickcarraway]

Hates Trump? Trump backs him to the hilt.

[Herakles]

Republican establishment uniparty fights for life, film at 11!

[MarMema]

Trump was a brief bit of heaven.

And now we have Hades running the country.

[Secret Agent Man]

Trump said he should get his shot. Hes had 11.

[nickcarraway]

Trump did nor say he should have a chance at being elected. He even reendorsed him after six votes.

[sauropod]

I saw the dust-up between Boebert and Vanity.

I’ve never been so ashamed of a so-called “conservative” that lives on LawnGuyLand as that night.

I will not watch or listen to him ever again. @$$ho.

[usconservative]

As I see it, all that the freedom caucus is trying to do is roll back the accretion of power grabs Pelosi helped herself to. Status Quo Ante. What’s so hard about that Kevin?

Clearly, McCarthy wants the power that Piglosi had and that is more than enough reason to deny him SOTH.