It is tempting to think that campaign money gets a bit silly. One can only run so many commercials and do so many meet and greets. After a hundred million dollars, it just seems ridiculous. But campaign money is still money and it’s a means to keep score, it does lead to some campaign advantages, and – this is important – money in the coffers helps pols to live like royals with private jets, Ritz banquets, Aspen adventures, a bigger and better staff, all of it. Campaign money is still money.
So it’s very telling and somewhat intriguing that Mitch McConnell is using money to battle with rivals Ted Cruz and Rick Scott. To be sure, the two are infamous for pureed hatred. But McConnell’s battle seems less to do with despising this pair and more to do with the ever-expanding war within the GOP conference. The battle lines divide traditional Republicans and the hardcore Trump-supporters. At this point it isn’t unfair to ask whether the party can still ride one elephant around the big red savanna.
McConnell sits on a fortune, all mined from the deepest Republican pockets and banked over years in a great savings account. It is called the “Senate Leadership Fund” (SLF). Aptly named, to be sure. McConnell is fastidious in keeping rivals away until he’s ready to anoint them. But now, hyenas Ted Cruz and Rick Scott are circling McConnell’s leadership and his green possessions such that Mitch is keeping the money-honey away from Cruz and Scott. It is now a thing, one that is making headlines. According to The Hill’s reporting:
“It’s been well-known for over a decade, that since SLF has started, that McConnell has used it to reward his allies and punish conservatives, and it’s never been more apparent than this year, when two of the strongest allies of President Trump, Sen. Rick Scott and Sen. Ted Cruz, are being left to fight for their reelection on their own,” said a conservative strategist.
See that? That is the divide. And those are Republican words, “Punish Conservatives.” If Mitch McConnell and the John Cornyn-types are no longer conservative, something is going on. Of course, it’s not so much about the political spectrum and “conservatives.” It is about Donald Trump – who doesn’t even know what he believes, just don’t label it as “conservative.” Trump is all for bigger government when it suits him and his power. The GOP’s issues are less principled and more peopled.
The divide goes further and this is just precious:
He warned GOP senators at a Tuesday lunch meeting that they would face “incoming” from the “center-right” if they backed Hawley’s bill and read off a list of senators who received substantial support from SLF, according to a CNN report of the discussion.
What? Incoming from the center-right, really? More like incoming over MAGA-land. There is no way that McConnell and say… TIM Scott aren’t true conservatives, neither is going to raise taxes or do a thing to protect environmental regulations. They aren’t getting in the way of private profits and socialized losses. This isn’t about “center” anything. It’s about power and McConnell keeps his massive influence tight, bestowing it on those who are for his agenda. Meanwhile, Trump is for Trump and Cruz and Scott see him as their path to power.
Back to the bigger questions. Can this party even survive as a whole? Well- yes, in one respect. It’s not like anyone will turn blue holding their breath as they seethe. They will likely hold the elephant’s tail together. But can they actually function as such? That is worth a review or two. IF Donald Trump is elected and IF there is a red senate, McConnell’s last two years of power will fortify such that he can dictate a lot of the agenda back to the White House.
If they both lose? Well, there will just be red everywhere.
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McConnell’s fund may be Cruz and Scott’s only outside help this cycle, since DonOld has all RNC funds tied up. Makes for a very interesting election cycle.
If cancun and scott lose it might make up for a Tester loss. shitty sheehy is outright lying–some of the lies are as outrageous as don-old’s. He is using actors and they’re pretending to be actual Montanans. What really puts this in shitty sheehy’s favor is the stupidity of the electorate in this state. This fucker shitty, has outright stated, in public, he will do what he can to make sure public lands end up in private hands. He has stated, in public, that he will do what he can to turn our healthcare system into a purely private healthcare system–this in a rural state with hospitals/medical centers in a lot of these towns near to closing already which would leave the closest medical care HUNDREDS of miles away.
Oh, and to put a cherry on the of shitty sheehy’s agenda, he wants a national abortion ban, wants contraception outlawed, and that tracking women’s periods thingy–yeah, he is all in on that.
But the idiots in this state seem to be ok with no more hunting/fly fishing/hiking/camping, staying healthy (or alive if injured badly enough), and fucking. And let’s face it, if there’s no more access to hunting, fly fishing, etc., there really is no reason to live in this state. The fucking thing, that’s pretty optional. Given how much revenue this state gets from outdoor tourism activities, this dumb fuck’s plan would beggar the state in short order.