It is normal to have people in both parties aligning themselves in camps but wanting to keep fights inside and away from the media. But modern Republicans aren’t normal. They cannot even seem to align themselves and thus have every reason to make the fight itself public… off the record, of course. Some simply follow Donald Trump. All of them act like they’re following Trump and then divide themselves to retain personal independence. Weirdly, wherever Rep. Jim Jordan believes he stands, he thinks he’s also a bridge among the camps.
Bear with this a minute because it gets even wackier than Jordan himself. The famous shirt-only man isn’t working behind the scenes back-slapping and selflessly talking with everyone for the good of the party, trying to minimize divides. No, he is an extremist who may be vying for leadership by acting more moderate no matter how absurd that sounds.
The Washington Post breaks down some details and then we will look at the context:
A review of his fundraising and interviews with dozens of GOP lawmakers and aides suggest he is making an early and informal play on the chance that the unruly and often times ungovernable GOP conference loses their majority in November — or that the conference becomes so disenchanted with Johnson they are looking for an alternative.
Well, now the “dozens” of lawmakers talking off the record to the Post need to address whether they just want to scuttle Jordan and his “solutions” entirely. The Republicans are called unruly above, which doesn’t distinguish them from Democrats. They are unruly in taking the fight to the Post. Maybe. Additionally, take notice that by remaining off the record they don’t risk upsetting Speaker Mike Johnson. Some more background is needed:
For the first 15 years of his career in Congress, Jordan gave zero dollars to the NRCC and kept most of his campaign contributions for himself. But a lot has changed this cycle. Jordan has given a hefty sum — $1.7 million — to the NRCC and contributed to a range of his colleagues’ campaigns.
First, look above and question whether Jordan ever really had money to give and then consider whether the money he has is really a challenge to current leadership. Jordan may be making up for lost time and wants to just stay in his current job as leader of the House Judiciary Committee. Or he’s just afraid. Tough to tell.
By the money measure, Jordan wants to take the leap as a hard-line conservative and jump “out” toward the moderates like Rep. Dave Joyce and Rep. Tom Cole (from his own state). Okay – Jordan remains an extremist jumping to moderate and yet doesn’t know where he will land. No one does.
He might want to make leadership more in his image, taking the party to ever-increasing extremes. But he should look at Speaker Mike Johnson – Johnson was very extreme but now finds himself building bridges with Democrats, all to just to keep the government open. Does Jordan really believe he can be more extreme while doing the same? That’s cute.
But by throwing money around he is serious. He has been attending campaign events for moderates in their districts all to help these centrists to appease their own fanatic right-wing voters. It helps with primaries. That sounds reasonable and flirts with effective party management. Leader!
Leadership or not, the Post doesn’t know Jordan’s ultimate plan either which leaves us to conclude his scheme is simple at heart. He wants all options and to have it all. Smart. The House Republicans are a bit of a snake pit, holes are often occupied. There is no question that he doesn’t have the votes to become the outright leader today – the dynamic hasn’t changed much from October of last year. Is he trying to erase past unruliness? Or is he looking forward and preparing for a possible Trump administration?
Almost everyone tends to stay in comfort zones, whether in politics or not. But Jordan is unique in so many ways. He remains angry at Democrats, of course. But this time he may also be mad at his own party, too. Are they opposed to him or are they opposed to his extreme nature? Anyone trying to build bridges wants to stop fights and smooth things out.
That’s not typical Jordan or MAGA, which is weird.
God Bless:Â I can be reached at [email protected]
I understood that the convention was to spell his name as ‘Gym’ in celebration of the scandal which still remains his only achievement in his pathetic, self-serving life.