There is some merit to what Chris says. But we should be wary of assuming that all 112 Republicans who voted for Jordan to drop out are secretly sensible moderates.
Far more likely, they just want to avoid a series of humiliating defeats, and would happily support another one of the election deniers who've announced their candidacy.
Because they want to stay in Congress - I don’t even think they want to be there for the purpose of legislating, they just want to be there. It’s shameful.
I just learned this past week that Jordan has been in Congress for 16 whole years and has not written a single piece of legislation in all that time. It's pathetic.
This (public vote on the floor vs secret ballot within each party's conference/caucus) is exactly what the situation was in each of the Trump impeachment votes - impeachment in the HOR and trial in the Senate. I'm 99.9% confident that if the Senate vote were a secret ballot, Trump would have been convicted at least in his post-J6 impeachment trial and then disbarred from any elective office forever. Feckless GOP, except for a few brave ones like Romney and some others post-J6 who had little to lose, e.g. those who were not running again or were in a safe position [Murkowski, Collins] or were looking for an out anyway [Ben Sasse]. And of course the honorable mentions in the HOR like Cheney, Kinzinger, and the other 8... in the post-J6 impeachment.
Another smart piece, Chris. You say "Their first imperative is to do nothing — publicly at least — that imperils their chances of getting reelected." Exactly right. Let's face facts: being a Rep in Congress is not a job for the best and the brightest. The pay is good in the abstract, but not when one considers the need for keeping two homes. And having to run every two years causes constant worry about raising money and avoiding a primary challenge. The upside is that b/c of gerrymandering your job can be secure if you avoid a primary challenge. Losing in the general is a much lower risk. To get sanity back in the HOR, we need to end abusive gerrymandering and /or perhaps go to the open primary system used in California. As long as the only threat to a seat is from a primary challenge from extremists, the House will remain dysfunctional.
Exactly... Electoral reforms needed on a state by state basis are:
[a] jungle primary (i.e. all parties in a common primary, not simply an 'open' primary where voters from one party can cross over and vote in the other party's primary) with ranked-choice voting (like Alaska), and
[b] minimizing gerrymandering (on either side of the aisle, like Ds in NY & IL... just like the Rs in most red states).
Hopefully [a] will in the long term lead to [b]. But a faster way to getting to [b] is putting state constitutional referenda/initiatives on the ballot in each state that does not already have an independent redistricting commission doing its thing after every decennial US-wide census.
And I believe wholeheartedly that what we did in California, over years and using our ballot initiative system that can speak to what “the people” want (unfortunately, mounting the signature campaign required to get on the ballot takes bodies and money, and can and has been abused by wealthy self-interests that use obfuscating language), we have arrived at a place where there is ZERO gerrymandering (lines drawn by a non-partisan committee) and the primaries are TRULY open, with the top 2 candidates facing a run-off, regardless of Party.
I don’t hold out much hope that we’ll see anything like this in red states, as gerrymandering is literally the ONLY way that Republicans stay in power. They’re not going to give that up without a literal fight for their lives.
The more I think about politics in 2023 and beyond, the more disheartened and depressed I get...
Missouri by 60+ majority voted for that in 2018, it has failed to be implemented by the state legislature which is solidly against having to offer anything yo it’s citizens but draconian restrictions on women’s bodies, racing to the bottom for the lack support for eduction, guns guns guns make us safer, restrictions on libraries etcetera. Winning the theoretical end of gerrymandering at the ballot box, has not resulted in any change in the construction of legislative districts.
The Republicans Reps. who won in Biden's District are obviously not afraid of Trump. They are more sensitive to the concerns of Biden's voters( not afraid of course) than they care about Trump's feelings and in the end they won. Jim Jordan, Trump endorsed candidate lost!
What a sad commentary on the GOP. If all of those who secretly loathe Trump would have stood up against him in the first place, then maybe we wouldn't be where we are today.
That’s why the republicans and Trump specifically will get well and truly beaten in the next election. After all, votes are anonymous so people will be free to express their utter disgust with republicans!!
So many are scared to disagree publicly with their neighbours, family and friends but they will vote for Biden because they are intelligent enough to understand the consequences of allowing trump back in to Washington!
The headline reads, "Everything you need to know about Republicans etc. etc." Well, yes. But, let's be honest, all of us paying attention (which includes everyone who reads Chris Cillizza) already knew this about the GOPers. Heck, we haven't learned anything new about Jim Jordan, Kevin McCarthy or anyone else in that conference. It has all been in plain sight and, sadly, too many GOPers have refused to see it. Or, worse, they see it and they like it...a lot!
As I have said, this is an utter disgrace. They are spineless, gutless, corrupt, incompetent, elected officials who only want to keep their jobs and have power. What about the people of the United States? They are supposed to be working for us, yet afraid of Trump? They have caused so much chaos, shut down the government, we are heading to November 17 when we will run out of money. Good Lord, they are going to have this country in shambles and yet, they do not care.
My dad was in three wars. My son fought in Afghanistan. And I served in Iraq. I have been around real courage. The gutlessness of these people is disgusting. Shame on them.
One of the main reasons( and there are plenty of them) why Jim Jordan lost his House Speakership bid is his (Jordan) refusal to acknowledge the fact that Biden won the 2020 election and that Donald Trump lost the election. And to that point, one of the House Republicans Ken Buck had this to say of the Republicans in I think Huffpost : "If we don't have the moral clarity to decide whether President Biden won or not , we don't have the moral clarity to rule this Country, period" Rep Ken Buck is absolutely correct, and that includes Trump as well, he does not deserve to ever rule this Country again. And that's why he is going to lose in 2024 like his endorsed candidate(Jim Jordan) lost on Friday.
147 GOP Reps voted against certifying the election. Ken Buck is an outlier. I hate his politics, but he is a grown up and not insane. Election denial is not disqualifying for a significant majority of Rs. Jordan lost b/c even among a party of lunatics, he stands out as a particularly obnoxious pit bull of a man
Another relevant book recommendation is Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson. It's terrifying and succinct, draws a straight line from Reconstruction to where the GOP is today. The characters in the House drama of today are close relatives of those after the Civil War and during Jim Crow, and on up to Gingrich and his crew. This subservience to Trump was in the making for a really long time, just needed the right con man to light the fire.
Meanwhile congress is not working and that is the MAGA aim. They are winning.
BTW, each congressperson gets 174,000 a year plus great benefits. That’s over 430 a day. Total 75,343,000 a year. Where is the taxpayer outrage. All that money for absolutely nothing.
This is a great article and it reveals that politicians are terrible at thinking long term. Parties exist to get politicians elected but politicians don't actually care about the party as an institution. If they did all of these Republicans would say what they think out loud and make a definitive break with Trump and his movement. They would lose the 2024 election and a lot of Republicans would lose their jobs but the party would emerge in 2025 far healthier and able to return to its position as a true conservative party. But those in office now aren't willing to pay the price for that.
I live in Utah now where unfortunately one of my Senators is Mike Lee. He has sold out any position he ever held and says things all the time that a version of himself 10 years ago would be horrified by. But he does it without a hint of irony as runs after Trumpian voters like a dog chasing a car he'll never actually catch.
It’s mental what’s considered politics today. I know I’m thinking way too much into the future, but do you think the Republican Party can survive, say another 20 years? Let’s say Trump isn’t elected in 2024 and the MAGA side of the party starts to burn itself out. Do you think the Republican Party can come back from all the election deniers, chaos agents and bullies? I’m also thinking on an international stage, they might prove an unpopular partner of European allies.
“Being led by a man they are terrified of.” I still continue to ask the question, “Why?”
It really makes no sense to me.
Trump is not a person who deserves reverence of any kind.
Just my very humble opinion.
It’s a perfectly rational fear of his minions. They are strong in their belief.
Some are crazy.
Some are armed.
Some have violent tendencies.
And I bet the Ven diagram has lots of overlap.
Venn
There is some merit to what Chris says. But we should be wary of assuming that all 112 Republicans who voted for Jordan to drop out are secretly sensible moderates.
Far more likely, they just want to avoid a series of humiliating defeats, and would happily support another one of the election deniers who've announced their candidacy.
.
Because they want to stay in Congress - I don’t even think they want to be there for the purpose of legislating, they just want to be there. It’s shameful.
I just learned this past week that Jordan has been in Congress for 16 whole years and has not written a single piece of legislation in all that time. It's pathetic.
This (public vote on the floor vs secret ballot within each party's conference/caucus) is exactly what the situation was in each of the Trump impeachment votes - impeachment in the HOR and trial in the Senate. I'm 99.9% confident that if the Senate vote were a secret ballot, Trump would have been convicted at least in his post-J6 impeachment trial and then disbarred from any elective office forever. Feckless GOP, except for a few brave ones like Romney and some others post-J6 who had little to lose, e.g. those who were not running again or were in a safe position [Murkowski, Collins] or were looking for an out anyway [Ben Sasse]. And of course the honorable mentions in the HOR like Cheney, Kinzinger, and the other 8... in the post-J6 impeachment.
Another smart piece, Chris. You say "Their first imperative is to do nothing — publicly at least — that imperils their chances of getting reelected." Exactly right. Let's face facts: being a Rep in Congress is not a job for the best and the brightest. The pay is good in the abstract, but not when one considers the need for keeping two homes. And having to run every two years causes constant worry about raising money and avoiding a primary challenge. The upside is that b/c of gerrymandering your job can be secure if you avoid a primary challenge. Losing in the general is a much lower risk. To get sanity back in the HOR, we need to end abusive gerrymandering and /or perhaps go to the open primary system used in California. As long as the only threat to a seat is from a primary challenge from extremists, the House will remain dysfunctional.
Exactly... Electoral reforms needed on a state by state basis are:
[a] jungle primary (i.e. all parties in a common primary, not simply an 'open' primary where voters from one party can cross over and vote in the other party's primary) with ranked-choice voting (like Alaska), and
[b] minimizing gerrymandering (on either side of the aisle, like Ds in NY & IL... just like the Rs in most red states).
Hopefully [a] will in the long term lead to [b]. But a faster way to getting to [b] is putting state constitutional referenda/initiatives on the ballot in each state that does not already have an independent redistricting commission doing its thing after every decennial US-wide census.
Excellent piece, Chris!
And I believe wholeheartedly that what we did in California, over years and using our ballot initiative system that can speak to what “the people” want (unfortunately, mounting the signature campaign required to get on the ballot takes bodies and money, and can and has been abused by wealthy self-interests that use obfuscating language), we have arrived at a place where there is ZERO gerrymandering (lines drawn by a non-partisan committee) and the primaries are TRULY open, with the top 2 candidates facing a run-off, regardless of Party.
I don’t hold out much hope that we’ll see anything like this in red states, as gerrymandering is literally the ONLY way that Republicans stay in power. They’re not going to give that up without a literal fight for their lives.
The more I think about politics in 2023 and beyond, the more disheartened and depressed I get...
Missouri by 60+ majority voted for that in 2018, it has failed to be implemented by the state legislature which is solidly against having to offer anything yo it’s citizens but draconian restrictions on women’s bodies, racing to the bottom for the lack support for eduction, guns guns guns make us safer, restrictions on libraries etcetera. Winning the theoretical end of gerrymandering at the ballot box, has not resulted in any change in the construction of legislative districts.
"This is the reality of the modern Republican party. They are being led by a man they are terrified of."
If this doesn't sound like a dictator with his own police force ready to do his bidding, I don't know what does. Kim Jong Un comes to mind.
Also, Putin(Trump's friend ) Also come to mind.
The Republicans Reps. who won in Biden's District are obviously not afraid of Trump. They are more sensitive to the concerns of Biden's voters( not afraid of course) than they care about Trump's feelings and in the end they won. Jim Jordan, Trump endorsed candidate lost!
Yeah, I thought of Putin shortly after posting.
What a sad commentary on the GOP. If all of those who secretly loathe Trump would have stood up against him in the first place, then maybe we wouldn't be where we are today.
That’s why the republicans and Trump specifically will get well and truly beaten in the next election. After all, votes are anonymous so people will be free to express their utter disgust with republicans!!
So many are scared to disagree publicly with their neighbours, family and friends but they will vote for Biden because they are intelligent enough to understand the consequences of allowing trump back in to Washington!
The headline reads, "Everything you need to know about Republicans etc. etc." Well, yes. But, let's be honest, all of us paying attention (which includes everyone who reads Chris Cillizza) already knew this about the GOPers. Heck, we haven't learned anything new about Jim Jordan, Kevin McCarthy or anyone else in that conference. It has all been in plain sight and, sadly, too many GOPers have refused to see it. Or, worse, they see it and they like it...a lot!
As I have said, this is an utter disgrace. They are spineless, gutless, corrupt, incompetent, elected officials who only want to keep their jobs and have power. What about the people of the United States? They are supposed to be working for us, yet afraid of Trump? They have caused so much chaos, shut down the government, we are heading to November 17 when we will run out of money. Good Lord, they are going to have this country in shambles and yet, they do not care.
My dad was in three wars. My son fought in Afghanistan. And I served in Iraq. I have been around real courage. The gutlessness of these people is disgusting. Shame on them.
cowards - pure and simple
One of the main reasons( and there are plenty of them) why Jim Jordan lost his House Speakership bid is his (Jordan) refusal to acknowledge the fact that Biden won the 2020 election and that Donald Trump lost the election. And to that point, one of the House Republicans Ken Buck had this to say of the Republicans in I think Huffpost : "If we don't have the moral clarity to decide whether President Biden won or not , we don't have the moral clarity to rule this Country, period" Rep Ken Buck is absolutely correct, and that includes Trump as well, he does not deserve to ever rule this Country again. And that's why he is going to lose in 2024 like his endorsed candidate(Jim Jordan) lost on Friday.
147 GOP Reps voted against certifying the election. Ken Buck is an outlier. I hate his politics, but he is a grown up and not insane. Election denial is not disqualifying for a significant majority of Rs. Jordan lost b/c even among a party of lunatics, he stands out as a particularly obnoxious pit bull of a man
Agreed, another good reason why he (Jordan) lost
I recommend reading Mark Liebovich's book Thank You For Your Servitude. The whole thing is shameful and pathetic.
Another relevant book recommendation is Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson. It's terrifying and succinct, draws a straight line from Reconstruction to where the GOP is today. The characters in the House drama of today are close relatives of those after the Civil War and during Jim Crow, and on up to Gingrich and his crew. This subservience to Trump was in the making for a really long time, just needed the right con man to light the fire.
Agreed! One of the better political reads out there!
Meanwhile congress is not working and that is the MAGA aim. They are winning.
BTW, each congressperson gets 174,000 a year plus great benefits. That’s over 430 a day. Total 75,343,000 a year. Where is the taxpayer outrage. All that money for absolutely nothing.
This is a great article and it reveals that politicians are terrible at thinking long term. Parties exist to get politicians elected but politicians don't actually care about the party as an institution. If they did all of these Republicans would say what they think out loud and make a definitive break with Trump and his movement. They would lose the 2024 election and a lot of Republicans would lose their jobs but the party would emerge in 2025 far healthier and able to return to its position as a true conservative party. But those in office now aren't willing to pay the price for that.
I live in Utah now where unfortunately one of my Senators is Mike Lee. He has sold out any position he ever held and says things all the time that a version of himself 10 years ago would be horrified by. But he does it without a hint of irony as runs after Trumpian voters like a dog chasing a car he'll never actually catch.
It’s mental what’s considered politics today. I know I’m thinking way too much into the future, but do you think the Republican Party can survive, say another 20 years? Let’s say Trump isn’t elected in 2024 and the MAGA side of the party starts to burn itself out. Do you think the Republican Party can come back from all the election deniers, chaos agents and bullies? I’m also thinking on an international stage, they might prove an unpopular partner of European allies.
How does a party of anarchists pick a leader?