Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the cesspool. Mitch McConnell just can’t seem to catch a break, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer creep, could it? He had to put his Trumpcare zombie back in its coffin again, and now he tries to find a way to deal with tax cuts while dodging incoming from the Inglorious Basterd. But don’t worry Yertl, the fun is just beginning.
Tonight in Alabama is gonna be bigger than Ali vs Frazier, Leonard vs Hearns, Tyson vs Holyfield, the Roadrunner vs Wylie E Coyote even. It’s Trump vs Bannon! Luther Strange and Roy Moore are nothing but corner men, The Day Glo Nightmare and Mr. Multi Shirt are the real main event. McConnell has already dumped $30M into Alabama supporting Strange, and it shouldn’t be a surprise. Moore has already said that he too would vote against the Trumpcare repeal ecause it didn’t kick enough Americans to the curb. With friends like that, who needs enemas?
But there is something more important than whether Strange or Moore settles into a fancy office, stuffs his pockets with special interest loot, and begins suckling greedily at the public teat. Trump vs Bannon is the existential fight to date for the soul of the Republican party, and depending on how it goes, it could not only mean the difference in the tenor of the Tiny Thumbs Diktator’s next twitter tantrum, but it could literally cost McConnell his leadership of the Senate.
Steve bannon has already sworn a mighty oath that he is going to remodel the US congress into the mold of what Trump needs to be successful, whether Trump wants his help or not. Apparently Bannon thinks that a guy who draws a pea shooter at a rally is a truer conservative than a guy who got his job by giving a pass to his disgraced, randy Governor. But it has already been reported that Bannon is openly seeking unhinged Breitbart subscribers to run against incumbents whose lips are not sufficiently lampreyed to Trump’s ass. Apparenty Trump’s insistence that Luther Strange is a sufficiently docile Hereford isn’t good enough for Sleazy Stevie.
If Strange wins, Trump will take sole ownership for the victory, and McConnell can at least take a deep breath that his incumbents may be a little safer with the base if Trump just supports them. Fortunately, McCain, Rand Paul, Susan Collins, and lisa Murkowski are not up for reelection, so he doesn’t have to worry about Da Boss mugging them in an electoral alley somewhere. But his problems are by no means solved.
If Moore wins, Bannon becomes a much more major player in 2018. This can only mean we should all buy stock in Maalox tomorrow, because McConnell is going to be ordering it by the caseload. Roy Moore will be a constant thorn in the side in the Senate, and Bannon will only find more and more radical challengers to run against GOP incumbents up for reelection in 2018. McConnell was able to scrape up $30M for a runoff in an off year, but how does he support a plethora of incumbent Senators in primaries in 2018 from Bannon backed insurgents? And eslecially if Bannon has the Breitbart base wind at his back in traditionally conservative states?
But the problem goes even deeper than that. His original master plan was to pick off Joe Manchin in West Virginia, and Heide Heitkamp in North Dakota, increasing his majority, and making passing the agenda easier. But he has two problems. First, it’s never an easy task to unseat an incumbent. Second, with Trump’s piss poor performance, McConnell and the GOP are already having trouble finding high quality candidates to run in any even questionable races in 2018 for fear of voter blowback against Trump. Who are you going to find to not only run against an entrenched incumbent with an unpopular party, but have to go against a primary opponent endorsed by Steve Bannon, with Robert Mercer’s deep pockets behind him, and the entire Breitbart media bbble behind them?
Bob Corker just announced that he is definitely not running for another term in 2018. Steve Bannon will land on this with both feet.Now, McConnell not only has the specter of a primary challenge to Corker, but now he has to recruit somebody mainstream to run, and good luck with that, he has to shepherd the newbie through a brutal primary, and a sure fire Democratic challenger in November.
Up until now, all of the emphasis on next November had been on the possibility of flipping the House, due to the number of GOP seats in districts where Trump won the state but Hillary won the district, but also where GOP incumbents were in districts where Hillary won the state. But now, both Flake in Arizona and Heller in Nevada are already facing severe primary challenges, and Trumpcare is going to be a flash point issue in both states. You can say what you want about Danny Tarkanian in NV being a total loser, but he seems to have a knack for getting through a primary before he goes belly up. Both of those seats are in serious play. Heitkamp and Manchin may no longer be in anywhere near as much danger as they were 6 months ago. Corker already potentially puts Tennessee in play, and McConnell doesn’t have the wriggle room for this. And even the hated Hugh Hewitt just said on MSNBC that a .Moore victory in Alabama might open the door to a Democratic victory in December, Moore is so toxic that mainstream Republicans may just sit out rather than be saddled with him.Don’t touch that dial.