Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi’s replacement, seemed to be very upset about it. On Monday evening, he tweeted something that sounded like an insurgency.
There is a lot to say here, not the least of which would be that Jeffries or anybody else should meddle with a man who was properly elected by his voters. Should George Santos be subjected to an ethics investigation? Sure, that sounds like the correct thing to do, but halting the wheels of democracy because he pulled a Joe Biden and lied about his background? That is going a little too far at this point, and it is not a standard to which the Dems hold themselves. Otherwise, Richard Blumenthal would not be a member of the United States Senate. The best course of action is to seat Santos and proceed from there.
Regardless, Jeffries continues, Democrats must retake the House “quickly.” How exactly does he intend to accomplish this? By what means could Democrats reclaim the majority before the next election? Bill Kristol, a former neoconservative turned left-wing booster, offers a hypothesis that is little less provocative but still runs against to popular opinion.
You have to appreciate Kristol’s shilling for Jeffries, talking about election denial on the right while Jeffries is an outspoken election skeptic, but I digress.
If you have not been paying any attention, the “unity candidate” hopium Dems. have been huffing about losing control of the House is being alluded to. Unable to accept defeat, the strategy is a desperate attempt to retain government authority they did not deserve, with the hope that if Republicans can not agree on a Speaker, sufficient moderates will join with the opposition to appoint some unknown wimp instead.
Is that anything that will happen? I seriously doubt it. Still, there is some risk if Republicans do not resolve their leadership crisis sooner instead of later. There are between 5 and 15 GOP House members who have said they will not vote for Kevin McCarthy, but it is getting late for such games.
At this point, everyone should be asking themselves what they stand to gain by continuing this struggle. Republicans do not have control of either the Senate or the White House. That renders any disagreements over policy and law moot. McCarthy might or might not be a “RINO,” yet the only real question is whether he will accept the probes Republicans have demanded. Marjorie Taylor Greene has publicly supported him since he has kept his commitment. However, there are still dissenters.
When there’s a battle to be won, I’m all for fighting. I’m less enthusiastic about Republicans destroying their own majority for no apparent reason. If the large majority of the caucus accepts McCarthy, even if he isn’t preferred, then a compromise must be made. It would be one thing if the Republicans possessed the required legislative authority, but they do not. This is the time to plan ahead and make hay while the sun shines.
