Mitch McConnell to Exit Republican Leadership

 

This afternoon on the floor of the Senate, Mitch McConnell announced that he will resign from the leadership after the November elections.

“One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,” he said. “So I stand before you today … to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.”

McConnell turned 82 last week. A spokesman said it is not health related. Speculation has been rampant since 2 instances the Senator seemed to “freeze up” in public.

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  1. Postmodern Hoplite Coolidge
    Postmodern Hoplite
    @PostmodernHoplite

    Well, he has been in the Senate since 1984. If the Republicans re-capture the Senate in the 2024 elections, he would become President Pro Tempore, traditionally awarded to the senior-most senator of the majority party, Senator Patty Murray (D-Seattle) currently occupies the seat.

    • #1
  2. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    The second time that Senator McConnell publicly froze up, his staff didn’t even seem alarmed, which suggests to me that this has probably happened a few other times out of public view.  I wonder who Republican senators will choose as their leader to replace him?  South Dakota’s John Thune seems like a likely prospect.

    • #2
  3. EJHill Staff
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Randy Weivoda: South Dakota’s John Thune seems like a likely prospect.

    Thune is the minority whip.

    • #3
  4. EJHill Staff
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Postmodern Hoplite: If the Republicans re-capture the Senate in the 2024 elections, he would become President Pro Tempore, traditionally awarded to the senior-most senator of the majority party…

    Not as long as there’s a beating heart in the chest of Chuck Grassley.

    • #4
  5. Susan Quinn Member
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    I sure would like to see him retire–period.

    • #5
  6. Bishop Wash Member
    Bishop Wash
    @BishopWash

    Too bad he can’t get out of the way now so maybe the Senate could have a strong message for November, instead of the “we don’t stand for anything” message of 2022. Guess he wants to kneecap Trump, aka the Tea Party, one last time. ­¡Adios!

    • #6
  7. CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill
    @CarolJoy

    So the Chinese-spy controlled “Republican leader” finally leaves his position behind.

    Does this means that Red China’s and the UN’s huge goal of turning NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, LA, and Seattle into Commie states has been achieved?

    I for one think that is the case.

    Additionally, the unlimited open border’s new allowance of 7 million new Dem voters into the nation pretty much destroys any chance of the R’s getting this reversed.

    • #7
  8. Al Sparks Coolidge
    Al Sparks
    @AlSparks

    EJHill (View Comment):

    Postmodern Hoplite: If the Republicans re-capture the Senate in the 2024 elections, he would become President Pro Tempore, traditionally awarded to the senior-most senator of the majority party…

    Not as long as there’s a beating heart in the chest of Chuck Grassley.

    If the Senate caucuses insist on basing president pro-tempore installation on seniority alone, they should pass legislation removing that office from the order of presidential succession.

    • #8
  9. Al Sparks Coolidge
    Al Sparks
    @AlSparks

    I’m glad that McConnel decided to step down.  I suspect that it’s not all that voluntary.

    • #9
  10. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    So the Chinese-spy controlled “Republican leader” finally leaves his position behind.

    Does this means that Red China’s and the UN’s huge goal of turning NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, LA, and Seattle into Commie states has been achieved?

    I for one think that is the case.

    So Mitch McConnell is responsible for the way those cities are run, not the voters of those cities?  And how did you figure out that McConnell is controlled by a Chinese spy?

    • #10
  11. She Member
    She
    @She

    As Shakespeare once  said, though the character of Lady Macbeth (Act 3, Scene 4):

    “Stand not upon the order of your going, but go at once!”

    • #11
  12. CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill
    @CarolJoy

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    So the Chinese-spy controlled “Republican leader” finally leaves his position behind.

    Does this means that Red China’s and the UN’s huge goal of turning NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, LA, and Seattle into Commie states has been achieved?

    I for one think that is the case.

    So Mitch McConnell is responsible for the way those cities are run, not the voters of those cities? And how did you figure out that McConnell is controlled by a Chinese spy?

    Chicago has been run by a very  organized Dem party machine, which very tightly controls its elections. The one exception to its control was the election of Jane Byrne in 1980, when she ran against the machine party’s widely despised selection. (Both candidates were Dems, IIRC.)

    Seattle is not much different, except that its over one hundred years of radical union members indicate its Dem party people lean even more to the Left.

    LA hasn’t got a chance in hell of going to the Center, not with the huge influx of immigrants that arrive daily.

    San Francisco is an enclave of progressives and immigrants.

    NYC might be a Lefty province simply because it is the home of not only immigrants but many East Coast “progressives.”

    But unless the open border is stopped, all states face similar fates. When even the governor of Nebraska announces his commitment to carbon neutral policies, the handwriting is on the wall.

     

    • #12
  13. CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill
    @CarolJoy

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    So the Chinese-spy controlled “Republican leader” finally leaves his position behind.

    Does this means that Red China’s and the UN’s huge goal of turning NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, LA, and Seattle into Commie states has been achieved?

    I for one think that is the case.

    So Mitch McConnell is responsible for the way those cities are run, not the voters of those cities? And how did you figure out that McConnell is controlled by a Chinese spy?

    So I went out on a limb with a statement that he is “spy-controlled.”

    I do not have proof of that.

    But he definitely has had huge economic gains that have come his way from China, going all the way back to the early 1990’s:

    https://thenewamerican.com/us/politics/are-mitch-mcconnell-and-his-wife-financially-tied-to-communist-china/

    https://humansbefree.com/2020/12/mitch-mcconnell-has-family-ties-to-bank-of-china-top-chinese-shipping-firm.html

    https://newswithviews.com/communist-red-china-enriches-mitch-mcconnell-and-elaine-chao/

    ####

    • #13
  14. MWD B612 "Dawg" Inactive
    MWD B612 "Dawg"
    @danok1

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    So the Chinese-spy controlled “Republican leader” finally leaves his position behind.

    Does this means that Red China’s and the UN’s huge goal of turning NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, LA, and Seattle into Commie states has been achieved?

    I for one think that is the case.

    So Mitch McConnell is responsible for the way those cities are run, not the voters of those cities? And how did you figure out that McConnell is controlled by a Chinese spy?

    Chicago has been run by a very organized Dem party machine, which very tightly controls its elections. The one exception to its control was the election of Jane Byrne in 1980, when she ran against the machine party’s widely despised selection. (Both candidates were Dems, IIRC.)

    Seattle is not much different, except that its over one hundred years of radical union members indicate its Dem party people lean even more to the Left.

    LA hasn’t got a chance in hell of going to the Center, not with the huge influx of immigrants that arrive daily.

    San Francisco is an enclave of progressives and immigrants.

    NYC might be a Lefty province simply because it is the home of not only immigrants but many East Coast “progressives.”

    But unless the open border is stopped, all states face similar fates. When even the governor of Nebraska announces his commitment to carbon neutral policies, the handwriting is on the wall.

     

    So, all of them were controlled by Dems long before Mitch appeared in the Senate, with a few controlled by the Dems & Left before Red China turned Red. Go it.

    • #14
  15. Yarob Coolidge
    Yarob
    @Yarob

    She (View Comment):

    As Shakespeare once said, though the character of Lady Macbeth (Act 3, Scene 4):

    “Stand not upon the order of your going, but go at once!”

    Also Oliver Cromwell addressing the Rump Parliament in 1653:

    “You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!”

    Not that I agree with the sentiment with regard to McConnell, of course. We still need someone to keep the Trumpist hooligans in line and give some spine to the weak and feckless who would otherwise surrender to them. 

    • #15
  16. DrewInLowerOrderAutonomousZone 🚫 Banned
    DrewInLowerOrderAutonomousZone
    @DrewInWisconsin

    I would like to align myself with the words of Jeremy Carl:

    McConnell has *no* understanding of politics and that was the worst thing about him as a party leader.

    He has consistently completely misread the mood of his voters and the country since well before the Tea Party and he continued to misread them through the Trump and Biden eras.

    He also had zero charisma and zero ability to articulate a vision to inspire and create change.

    McConnell IS great at counting votes, seeing what egos need massaging, making the threats he needs to make, etc. That is a very useful skill– for a PARTY WHIP– but not for a PARTY LEADER who sets the agenda.

    McConnell could have been a very useful cog in a machine led by a strong majority leader who would have set the ideological tone for the party in alignment with our voters and then relied on someone like McConnell to twist the arms to get the votes to execute that vision. But we never had that.

    Instead, we had “leadership” from a backroom pol who was regularly the most unpopular politician in the country and almost never delivered on his voters’ priorities.

    A true leader who understands politics is someone who understands his voters priorities and then maneuvers electorally both at the ballot box and within his party caucus to deliver on those priorities.

    That is the exact opposite of Mitch McConnell’s legacy.

    And also:

    • #16
  17. DrewInLowerOrderAutonomousZone 🚫 Banned
    DrewInLowerOrderAutonomousZone
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):
    I wonder who Republican senators will choose as their leader to replace him? 

    Someone willing to do the Democrats’ bidding, I’m sure.

    • #17
  18. Painter Jean Moderator
    Painter Jean
    @PainterJean

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    So the Chinese-spy controlled “Republican leader” finally leaves his position behind.

    Does this means that Red China’s and the UN’s huge goal of turning NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, LA, and Seattle into Commie states has been achieved?

    I for one think that is the case.

    Additionally, the unlimited open border’s new allowance of 7 million new Dem voters into the nation pretty much destroys any chance of the R’s getting this reversed.

    “Spy controlled”? 

    • #18
  19. DrewInLowerOrderAutonomousZone 🚫 Banned
    DrewInLowerOrderAutonomousZone
    @DrewInWisconsin

    • #19
  20. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Yarob (View Comment):
    We still need someone to keep the Trumpist hooligans in line and give some spine to the weak and feckless who would otherwise surrender to them. 

    Feel free to elaborate. 

    • #20
  21. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Painter Jean (View Comment):

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    So the Chinese-spy controlled “Republican leader” finally leaves his position behind.

    Does this means that Red China’s and the UN’s huge goal of turning NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, LA, and Seattle into Commie states has been achieved?

    I for one think that is the case.

    Additionally, the unlimited open border’s new allowance of 7 million new Dem voters into the nation pretty much destroys any chance of the R’s getting this reversed.

    “Spy controlled”?

    He was very anti-China before he got married to a Chinese woman that has a family that owns a bunch of Chinese stuff. He’s very compromised in that sense.

    • #21
  22. EJHill Staff
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    His favorable ratings suck but primarily because of the way he handled the court vacancies from Scalia’s death onwards.

    It was never enough to cost him reelection. Huge amounts of out-of-state money poured into his opponent’s coffers last fall. And he still won handily.

    • #22
  23. Chris O Coolidge
    Chris O
    @ChrisO

    EJHill (View Comment):

    His favorable ratings suck but primarily because of the way he handled the court vacancies from Scalia’s death onwards.

    It was never enough to cost him reelection. Huge amounts of out-of-state money poured into his opponent’s coffers last fall. And he still won handily.

    It wasn’t last fall, he was re-elected in 2020 and apparently felt the need to ask for a Trump endorsement due to the prospect of a difficult primary round. Given the results, I’m guessing the person who was the threat didn’t stay in.

    Might have asked for it for the general, Amy McGrath made a pretty good splash for a while, fading at the end.

    • #23
  24. tigerlily Member
    tigerlily
    @tigerlily

    Postmodern Hoplite (View Comment):

    Well, he has been in the Senate since 1984. If the Republicans re-capture the Senate in the 2024 elections, he would become President Pro Tempore, traditionally awarded to the senior-most senator of the majority party, Senator Patty Murray (D-Seattle) currently occupies the seat.

    Murray’s got to be in the running for dumbest President Pro Tempore in U.S. history.

    • #24
  25. Dotorimuk Coolidge
    Dotorimuk
    @Dotorimuk

    Let him retreat into his shell.

    • #25
  26. DrewInLowerOrderAutonomousZone 🚫 Banned
    DrewInLowerOrderAutonomousZone
    @DrewInWisconsin

    tigerlily (View Comment):

    Postmodern Hoplite (View Comment):

    Well, he has been in the Senate since 1984. If the Republicans re-capture the Senate in the 2024 elections, he would become President Pro Tempore, traditionally awarded to the senior-most senator of the majority party, Senator Patty Murray (D-Seattle) currently occupies the seat.

    Murray’s got to be in the running for dumbest President Pro Tempore in U.S. history.

    I’m trying to remember who it was here who favorably suggested her as a replacement for Biden.

    • #26
  27. Postmodern Hoplite Coolidge
    Postmodern Hoplite
    @PostmodernHoplite

    tigerlily (View Comment):

    Postmodern Hoplite (View Comment):

    Well, he has been in the Senate since 1984. If the Republicans re-capture the Senate in the 2024 elections, he would become President Pro Tempore, traditionally awarded to the senior-most senator of the majority party, Senator Patty Murray (D-Seattle) currently occupies the seat.

    Murray’s got to be in the running for dumbest President Pro Tempore in U.S. history.

    She’s all that, AND a sack of hammers…

    • #27
  28. EJHill Staff
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Chris O: It wasn’t last fall, he was re-elected in 2020 and apparently felt the need to ask for a Trump endorsement due to the prospect of a difficult primary round. Given the results, I’m guessing the person who was the threat didn’t stay in.

    Yeah, I had a brain fart on that one. And the primary wasn’t close. McConnell still got 86% of the vote.

     

    • #28
  29. CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill
    @CarolJoy

    Pull quote from The New American article:

    McConnell has shown himself to be, if anything, an astute and cunning politician who knows how to stay at the center of Washington politics and use the influence of his office for his own financial benefit, constantly winning over the Republican base with some crumbs here and there but ultimately betraying the people to his masters in the establishment every time it really matters.

    Web page for the whole article: https://thenewamerican.com/us/politics/are-mitch-mcconnell-and-his-wife-financially-tied-to-communist-china/

    • #29
  30. CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill
    @CarolJoy

    MWD B612 "Dawg" (View Comment):

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    So the Chinese-spy controlled “Republican leader” finally leaves his position behind.

    Does this means that Red China’s and the UN’s huge goal of turning NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, LA, and Seattle into Commie states has been achieved?

    I for one think that is the case.

    So Mitch McConnell is responsible for the way those cities are run, not the voters of those cities? And how did you figure out that McConnell is controlled by a Chinese spy?

    Chicago has been run by a very organized Dem party machine, which very tightly controls its elections. The one exception to its control was the election of Jane Byrne in 1980, when she ran against the machine party’s widely despised selection. (Both candidates were Dems, IIRC.)

    Seattle is not much different, except that its over one hundred years of radical union members indicate its Dem party people lean even more to the Left.

    LA hasn’t got a chance in hell of going to the Center, not with the huge influx of immigrants that arrive daily.

    San Francisco is an enclave of progressives and immigrants.

    NYC might be a Lefty province simply because it is the home of not only immigrants but many East Coast “progressives.”

    But unless the open border is stopped, all states face similar fates. When even the governor of Nebraska announces his commitment to carbon neutral policies, the handwriting is on the wall.

     

    So, all of them were controlled by Dems long before Mitch appeared in the Senate, with a few controlled by the Dems & Left before Red China turned Red. Go it.

    That comment  is a decent and logical attack on some lazy thinking on my part.

    • #30
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