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Kevin McCarthy on the 2014 Election and its Aftermath
In this next clip from my recent interview with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, I ask him to handicap the outcome of the 2014 midterm elections — and to lay out precisely what a Congress under unified Republican control might be able to accomplish during Barack Obama’s final two years in office. Take a listen to his answers and let us know in the comments what you make of them:
Published in General
So… nothing.
What you can do with GOP majority is (a) prevent further legislative harm; (b) block pernicious actions and appointments; (c) investigate and embarass; and (d) set an agenda and build a record for 2016. In many ways it will be easier than actually governing because Obama will veto much of what is passed. Mostly a 2014 majority win would be a major bitch slap at Obama-Reid-Pelosi which is a great benefit all by itself.
One thing we can be sure of: the GOP leadership abhors the notion of activity. Their primary concern is not upsetting swing voters, so they fear action more than inaction. The fundamental strategy is to lay low while President Obama tarnishes the Democrat brand.
But occasionally you get activity like those immigration proposals, because upsetting their base doesn’t matter amid efforts to win “independent” voters. The portrayal of Republicans as heartless by Democrats suckers them in every time. The trap is obvious, but the cheese looks so delicious!
Of course, if Hillary runs, then the next election will not be about Democrats vs Republicans but will again be a contest of personalities. Hillary isn’t the young and pristine blank slate that Obama was. But enough Americans still couldn’t bring themselves to vote against a generic black man in 2012, so there might be plenty of voters eager to elect the first woman, whomever she might be.
I don’t know what gets accomplished in the next two years, probably not much, but I’m impressed with McCarthy. Finally a Republican who is both articulate and energetic.
Republicans get into office with a hubris that Obama and his MSM buddies end up whooping out of them over the course of the next two years. The Republican Presidential nominee ends up running against his co-partisans in Congress as much as the Democrat. Obama ends his term with over 50 percent approval on the grounds that — while he may golf as the world burns — at least he’s still better than the Republicans.