You know, once in a while I wax optimistic about something politically, and when I do, I am almost invariably met with a time tested mantra in my remarks. “Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line”. That may have to be retired. If the healthcare vote was an example of the GOP “falling in line”, I never want to see what the command “Fall out!” makes happen.
Everybody in Congress wants to blame Hair Furor. How many times during the healthcare SNAFU did you hear almost everybody on the GOP side say things like “this will be fine, the President is ‘the closer’”, of “Trump is the closer”. I’m coming to love that word. It just hit me a couple of days ago. Take the word “closer”. Now, remove the letter “C”. What’s left? L-O-S-E-R! Those guys had Trump nailed the whole time, they were just adding one too many letters.
But Trump is not the biggest loser here. That privilege goes collectively to Paul Ryan and Ditch McConnell. Paul Ryan is in the greatest danger here. Trump’s “Pearl Harbor” tweet for everybody to watch Judge Jeanine the other night on Fox was a clean political shiv in the back. But that’s not Ryan’s only problem. It became more and more difficult for Ryan to whip his caucus into line when it was becoming more and more clear that the Senate would not pass the bill. Why should GOP representatives hang themselves with their constituents for a bill that the President would never get to sign, and the Senate wouldn’t hang out there with them?
McConnell now has the exact same problem. He didn’t have, or shouldn’t have had anywhere near as many recalcitrant Senators to deal with as Ryan had in the House. They all ran on repealing and replacing Obamacare too. This failure alone may put the Gorsuch nomination in jeopardy. If the Democrats decide to filibuster the nomination, McConnell’s only way to get Trump his win is to go nuclear on the filibuster. There are several old time GOP Senators who like the filibuster just like it is, they know it’s value. If they hold a finger up to the winds following their town halls, and especially if the administration continues to be rooted in scandal and inefficiency, they may not be in the world’s biggest hurry to nuke the filibuster when they may need it in the not to distant future. A defeat like that may be worse for McConnell than Ryan’s defeat was.
But there is one more problem that both McConnell and Ryan share, and it has the potential to be even bigger than their other current ailments. Over the weekend, facing the “loser” label for his own forehead, Trumpenstein came out and stated that he’d love to work with the Democrats for a better healthcare bill. Today in the press briefing, Lie Spice removed it from just healthcare, saying that the administration was dead serious about working with the Democrats. But, work with them on what?
My guess? With whatever they’ll work with him on. Ryan and McConnell have deluded themselves for months that The Orange Julius is actually a Republican. He is nothing of the sort. He is a freebooter, and he’d sell them out for the deposit on a glass bottle. He craves, and needs to show his supporters results. Trump complained over the weekend that he was stunned by the amount of dissent and rancor in the House. He obviously hasn’t been paying the slightest bit of attention to GOP politics for the last 7 years. But make no mistakes, Trump has no principles, and no morals, if Ryan and McConnell can’t get him what he needs, he’ll go to somebody that can help. Right now, Das Donald seems to be rather sour on the GOP in congress being able to come through. If his wall and tax reform gets bogged down in the process, especially for an extended period, that may be the straw that breaks the tiny thumbs Diktator’s back. He needs results, and like now!
If Trump starts talking to the Democrats, this places Ryan and McConnell between a rock and a very hard ‘nother rock. Especially Ryan, he has a 44 seat majority in the House, if Da Boss has to go running to the other side for help, that could be a death knell for Ryan. But even worse, everybody outside of the beltway, Democrats, Republicans, independents, junkyard dogs, they’re all sick of the obstruction in Washington. Only the Teahadists are as happy as pigs in slop. If the President is willing to “give peace a chance”, how do his congressional leaders obstruct him on this? That would be political suicide.
Look, we have a lot of work to do in our own garden. But if we can find quality candidates, especially in local and state races, we can keep the grassroots energy alive and well for 2018. But we can’t keep yakking away about grand sweeping visions. We have to go to the streets and freakin’ listen! Find out what these people really need, and tailor the message specifically to the state or community. The local GOP in a lot of places are great at this. They hold scheduled open meetings, fish fries, Ryan himself holds an annual district event every fall. This serves two purposes, it raises funds for the local party, and it gives people the impression, often mistaken, that the party is listening to them. It’s a nice con, since if your bank account isn’t at least 7 digits, they have no time for you, but like a Cheshire cat, the rubes love being stroked and petted.
Please Democrats, one more favor. Whatever you do, do not try to “claim” or “assimilate” Indivisible and the other grassroots movements. They weren’t protesting for you at the town halls and in the streets, they were protesting against policies and politicians they strongly disagreed with. You want their support? Get your asses out there and listen to them, find out what’s important to them, and talk to them honestly about what you think the Democratic party can and will do to work for a positive outcome. They know shit when they smell it, and they’re not going to take any more of it from either side. The longer Trump belly flops on his pie in the sky promises, the better your chance to show them real nuts-and-bolts plans and solutions. Thank you.