Well, as could be expected butt-hurt George Santos doesn’t want to go quietly into that good night. With constant refrains of folks singing a variation of Bye Bye Birdie (Bye Bye, Georgie; We’re glad to see you go!) ringing in his ears it was a safe bet he’s dumb enought to waste time lashing out instead of focusing full time on his defense on criminal charges up in NY.
Santos threatened to drop dimes on fellow House GOPers and seems to be carrying through on his threat. Of course given everything about his election to and “service” in the House has been one lie after another he’s going to have to have some serious actual “receipts” for any claims he makes to the Ethics Committee. It’s safe to say they aren’t inclined to take anything he says at face value. So it could be interesting and even entertaining to be sure. However, there’s another pissed off Republican to keep an eye on and this one actually can do real damage.
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Sure, he’s been going after Gaetz and that’s to be expected. Gaetz put him though hell and crippled his tenure from the start. Gaetz also regularly let America know he was ready to get McCarthy kicked out as Speaker, adding to the latter’s humiliation. And ineffectiveness in getting anything substantive passed. Well, there was that debt limit thing but McCarthy couldn’t have done it without Jeffries and Democrats and everyone knew it. Yet for all his “McCarthy is MY bitch” crap Gaetz expected ole Kevin to pull his nuts out of his own Ethics Committee investigation fire. Let’s just say their feud is personal and a steel cage “death match.” However, Gaetz isn’t the only Republican McCarthy is mad at. And reportedly he’s not just mad at those who voted to oust him. He doesn’t seem to think enough of the rest (most of the caucus) fought hard enough on his behalf.
Also, lest we forget during those three weeks of House GOP “what the hell do we do now?” McCarthy saw an opening to make a comeback. And it got shut down. He really thought the bulk of the caucus would rally to him and the whole thing fizzled out, adding to his humiliation. The upshot is that McCarthy feels scorned. And like other Speakers who’ve been forced out may resign. In fact, McCarthy said he was going to be spending a week talking to family and close friends/advisors about whether to stay or leave. There’s been talk he’ll resign after the first of the year but keep an eye out for what happens next week.
December 8 is the filing deadline in CA for him to run in the GOP primary. Of course, even if he files the paperwork to run he can resign whenever he wants. Still, we might know sooner rather than later and if he chooses not to run for re-election odds are he won’t stay in Congress much longer. Now you might be saying so what? No big deal. However it could be a very, VERY big deal and the matter came up after the House voted to remove him as Speaker.
Money. As in fundraising!
McCarthy was never much of a legislator and frankly not effective in the various leadership roles he managed to get before becoming Speaker. He was the political equivalent of a nouveau riche social climber. He wanted to be Speaker and had two skills that got him their. Awesome suck-up skills, and being a prodigious fundraiser. THAT is what got Republicans worrying during those three weeks it took to name a new Speaker, and frankly ever since. As Speaker his fundraising clout was enormous. Now that he’s out not nearly as much although he COULD still get out there and hustle. Work the donors both in support of Johnson and also teaching him the ropes.
The other option is that he could choose to be the rich kid who brings the ball to the game so everyone can play and when he feels mistreated and/or not appreciated says “Fine, I’m taking MY ball and going home”, leaving everyone else with no ability to continue the game. That my friends could turn out to be huge. The days of McCarthy being able to raise tens of millions at a gulp and actually writing checks to the RCCC and candidates is over. Johnson has other priorities like imposing his effed up version of Christianity on the country. And keeping the gavel and the extra salary that does with it.
If McCarthy actually is pissed enough and decides to both resign and limit his efforts to raise money to help the House GOP retain its majority House GOPers are well and truly screwed. So keep an eye on this. Trump is sucking up most of the small donor money and while fat-cat donors are trying to pick various candidates to support it doesn’t carry the same effect as a coordinated strategy that has an actual machine in place to use that money where it can do the most good.
Santos’ revenge antics might be fun to watch, but the real action that actually matters will be what McCarthy does or does not do when it comes to fundraising.
I’m waiting for McCarthy to drop Gaetz’s name. And House seat. “Revenge is best served cold.”
McCarthy started on Gaetz even before House GOPers fumbled their way to picking a new Speaker. They’ve been trading jabs, and most recently multiple outlets quoted McCarthy as saying Gaetz belongs in jail. Gaetz is terrified of what the Ethics Committee report will have to say about HIM. Since late spring he’s been pissed at McCarthy for not shutting down the investigation, something McCarthy couldn’t have gotten away with doing even if he wanted to. (Given the whole debacle in Jan. can you blame him?) I really thought after McCarthy did the debt ceiling deal Gaetz would make his move as that would have provided him some political cover for the REAL reason he wanted McCarthy out. I can see reasons ole Kevin managed to hang on for a while longer but by Sept. too much was becoming known about the Ethics Committee nailing Gaetz to the wall, and there was talk that GOPers were actually hoping for that very thing so they could use it as an excuse to expel GAETZ! (So much for the whining about due process and Santos not having been convicted in court that we had to put up with) Gaetz had his chance after the 45 day CR was passed to make his move and he took it.
I kind of doubt Scalise (who seemed to many a logical choice after McCarthy despite health concerns) would have destroyed his own career by giving Gaetz what he wanted but there was Jordan standing by and HE would have. It’s frightening to think Jordan got any serious consideration but common sense broke out quicker than I expected and only Jordan didn’t seem to realize it was never going to happen. Still, it’s troubling that he had enough support to get multiple floor votes in the first place.
Johnson as I’ve noted has other things than Gaetz to worry about but you can be sure Brarry Matty has been trying to get his attention! IF that Ethics Committee report on Gaetz turns out to be as damning as back in Sept. it was thought it would be House Republicans are going to be in a helluva fix. A special election for Santos’s seat might be a tossup but Gaetz’s district simply won’t vote for a Democrat so that seat is safe for the GOP. However, kicking out one of their own again soon after Santos will generate it’s own set of problems in an election year where they already face national headwinds.
I’ll go along with kevin skewering gaetz. He seems a revenge-seeking little twit who would do such a thing rather than moving on with his life-in congress or at home. Would he punish the entire ‘pube party because of his demotion from the speakership? Not so sure about that. If he is really petty then, yes, he’ll take his ball and go home. Question is whether he is that petty. My observance of pols, both sides of the aisle, are often petty individuals caring for their own power and aggrandizement and little else. There are a few who care for their constituents and a very few who care about the country’s needs. Most however spend a bit of time in the house or senate and all they’re interested in is spending more time there: I will point you to Feinstein, Collins, Thurmond… Strom was in the senate and he was loony-tunes f.f.s.
So what kevin does depends on just how petty he is and this does depend on whether he runs for re-election or not. If he runs for re-election he’ll have to participate in the fund-raising regardless of his feelings on the matter–the pols from each party are required to do this if they want ANY support from the national party apparatus. Al Franken writes about this in his “Giant of the Senate” book or maybe one of the previous ones. Point is, they are set down at a phone to dial numbers and speak to potential donors and donors who have given in the past. I’m not sure if there is any way around this unless they bring in boo-coo bucks from some other funding mechanism (s).