Patterico's Pontifications

2/28/2024

Mitch McConnell to Step Down After Election

Filed under: General — JVW @ 12:30 pm



[guest post by JVW]

From National Review Online:

Mitch McConnell announced on Wednesday that he will step down as the Senate Republican leader in November, ending his tenure as the longest-serving Senate leader in history.

“This will be my last term as Republican Leader of the Senate,” the 82-year-old veteran of the chamber said to his colleagues on the Senate floor. “I’m not going anywhere… It’s time for the next generation of leadership.”

McConnell leaves behind a formidable and expansive legacy as the steward of the Senate GOP. In 2016, he rallied the Republican caucus and the then-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley to prevent Barack Obama from installing abortion-advocate Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court. Such an effort made possible the appointment of Justice Gorsuch and the eventual reversal of Roe v. Wade. Amid the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation circus, McConnell unified his party, and Republicans again retained their majority for two more critical years.

Besides health issues, one reason that Sen. McConnell might be stepping down is the difficulty of uniting a fractious party, especially in the Age of Donald Trump, as shown by the recent failure of what I saw as a decent immigration compromise:

“I’m unconflicted about the good within our country and the irreplaceable role we play as the leader of the free world,” he said. “It’s why I worked so hard to get the national security package passed earlier this month. Believe me, I know the politics within my party at this particular moment in time.”

Those of you who have read my posts over the past decade know that I am a fan of Cocaine Mitch, though I do believe that the time has come, especially after we all witnessed the rapid deterioration of the late Dianne Feinstein. He’s up for reelection in 2026, and it’s pretty clear at this point that he should leave the Senate then, if not sooner. Kentucky currently has a Democrat governor, so perhaps Senator McConnell needs to hold on to his seat until the next midterm elections to prevent the governor from replacing him with a Democrat.

Nevertheless, here’s saluting Addison Mitchell McConnell III (gotta love those Southern gentry families) for his faithful service and stalwart leadership. I fear the GOP will find him hard to replace.

– JVW

12 Responses to “Mitch McConnell to Step Down After Election”

  1. “It’s time for the next generation of leadership.”

    JD Vance.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  2. Good riddence! All the evil you have caused cannot easily be undone.

    asset (fb8f55)

  3. He;s definitely not running for re-election in 2026.

    Sammy FInkelman (1d215a)

  4. “It’s time for the next generation of leadership.”

    JD Vance.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/28/2024 @ 1:09 pm

    Konrad Adenauer.

    nk (6c45b4)

  5. Thanks for the SCOTUS justices, but it’s been time for a while.

    So long, Kentucky Tortuga.

    SaveFarris (79ab12)

  6. It wasn’t all bad! Thanks to cocaine mitch The abortion ruling discredited corporate establishment third way democrats and radicalized the democrat party forcing even the corporate democrat stooges to behave themselves.

    asset (7cbff8)

  7. Konrad Adenauer.

    Octavius

    Kevin M (8676e4)

  8. Step down today. He knows the votes are there to boot him so he’s trying to delay it in the hope of strong-arming people and clinging to power longer.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  9. Mitch gets a lifetime mu

    lligan from me. While he did some things that I disagree with…his pinnacle achievement is his SCOTUS pick management.

    @2

    Good riddence! All the evil you have caused cannot easily be undone.

    asset (fb8f55) — 2/28/2024 @ 1:20 pm

    Everytime a commie complains about Mitch, an angel gets his wing.

    whembly (5f7596)

  10. NJRob —

    if he steps down today, all the Senate gets is some Trump-bot. That’s working so well for the House.

    November may find Trump underperforming again and the GOP (like you) looking in a different direction for the future.

    Appalled (937965)

  11. https://www.newser.com/story/347101/trump-shakes-up-the-race-to-succeed-mcconnell.html

    Prior to Thursday, the smart money in DC was that one of “three Johns” would take over Mitch McConnell’s leadership position in the Senate in January. But now it appears that a “Steve” might be a top contender—Montana Sen. Steve Daines. And the reason is Donald Trump.

    Trump is encouraging Daines to run for the post, reports Politico, adding that the development “significantly” alters the race. It’s also bad news for the trio of Johns—Thune, Cornyn, and Barrasso.

    Axios reports that Trump has been “quietly” campaigning for Daines, and he began even before McConnell announced his impending departure from the post. Daines is a Trump supporter who was one of the first senators to endorse the former president’s 2024 run.

    However, it’s unclear whether Daines himself is eager to take the role. He chairs the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, and Axios quotes an unnamed source who says that the senator “appreciates the president’s support but needs to focus on taking back the Senate” in November…

    By the way, Trump got a very pro-Trump Congressman from Montana, to withdraw from the race for the Senate seat now held by John Tester, evidently because he really. really wants a majority.

    Sammy Finkelman (1d215a)

  12. @9 As I said in earlier post cocaine mitch evilness helped the left as court abortion ruling radicalized the democrat party discrediting third way corporate democrats. I am not a commie I own my own business I am a capitalist wage slave master ;but don’t have any capitalist wage slaves as I am an owner operator. Establishment democrats must be radical or get primaried.

    asset (ba70d2)


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