I view the Wisconsin election as a glass half full. Decent turnout for a special election but I would have thought the threat to eliminate the Department of Education might prompt more interest in local and state school elections.
I hope we don't have to have catastrophic damage before people wake up.
Worse but less powerful than McConnell was for the longest time. And to think, McConnell became a Republican originally because he was a strong supporter of civil rights back in the 60s, when the Kentucky Democrats were segregationists. Is he going to have pangs of conscience on his deathbed like Lee Atwater? He chose amorality, and I have no respect for him.
KY Dems had a mixed record on civil rights. There was a segregationist Dixiecrat contingent, but also officials like Lawrence Wetherby, who was governor at the time of Brown vs. Board of Education who endorsed that decision and worked to implement desegregation, and Ned Breathitt, who passed a state civil rights act in the same year as Congress did so nationally (a measure opposed by his Republican successor, Louie Nunn).
McConnell came up through politics in Louisville, which early in his career was both more liberal on issues like civil rights and more competitive on a partisan basis than most of the state. Today it's one of Kentucky's few reliably blue regions.
Thanks for giving us some more nuanced details. I read that McConnell didn't try to come up in the Democratic Party because the powers that be were segregationist and I think the article that I read years ago also said that it would have been hard for him to break in, with all the older politicians entrenched in the party.
wouldn't suprise me if part of the reason he is quitting is he hates trump but doesn't have the balls to stand up to him and trump is very glad he is leaving town
For some reason I thought McConnell's retirement was already official. Shows just how presumed it was, I guess.
Easily one of the most damaging political leaders in our modern history. I am not enough of an expert to evaluate relative to our whole history, but I assume he has to be merit worthy for a top 20 list or something of the like. He will never admit it but McConnell played a huge part in bringing the GOP to where they are today and the resultant damage to our institutions and nation.
I fully expect his replacement to be even worse than him. The only potential upside is that they may not be as intelligent, hampering the efficacy of their vileness.
Except for spiking the conviction. He is the epitome of someone who believes that he who fights and runs away may love to fight another day. He forgot that his own aging and mortality are a limiting factor of that strategy.
Honestly I think he would have had good odds of it. Once they know they aren't going out on a limb seemingly all by themselves, the calculus changes a lot.
I'd point to McConnell's successor — chosen in a secret ballot — being Thune rather than the crazier Cornyn or much crazier Scott. There's a majority of their caucus that is willing to do sane things that help their party in the long run, if they think they won't be punished for it by the base and/or Fox.
I fully agree. Moreover, since the last impeachment trial, it has come to light that several of the senators who voted not to convict, did so because they feared for their own safety and that of their families.
Likewise I fault McConnell for not using his influence to try to block the horrible Trump nominees that he voted against. As a consequence, his Nay votes became purely performative.
It’s painful to realize that Trump is making Dubya look like an intellectual, and making Nixon and McConnell look like paragons of political integrity.
That said, I can think of few Congressional leaders who did more damage in the pre-Trumpian era than Mitch McConnell and Newt Gingrich. Through their rhetoric and power plays, they made American politics destructively hyperpartisan.
Almost like Mitch coordinated with his preferred successor or something ^^
Daniel Cameron is officially in.
Huge shame Beshear doesn't want the Senate. He could be strong in a rematch. I would gamble there are a lot of racist Republicans not excited to vote for Cameron in KY.
I’d like to see Rocky Adkins take a shot at the race.
Beshear's campaign manager, Eric Hyers, told NBC News that the governor will not run for Senate.
One Democratic strategist with experience in the state pointed to Beshear adviser Rocky Adkins as a potential strong candidate. Adkins is a former state legislator and Democratic leader in the state House.
I don't hate her and she's young. I just hope we don't have a huge primary. August is very late to have a primary with multiple people and have the winner turn around.
The Republican may well have the race to themselves all summer.
Sorry to hear. He was 83, which used to be considered a ripe old age but isn't that long a lifespan, nowadays, although a lot of my friends didn't make it to 60.
Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York plans to announce on Thursday that she will not exercise her authority to remove Mayor Eric Adams from office for now, but will seek to impose strict new guardrails on his administration of New York City, according to two officials familiar with her thinking.
Across the world, the historic quote of "...never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity" seems good. My girlfriend was telling me that there's some Federal money that's supposed to help with congestion pricing in Manhattan, and of course Trump is trying to unilaterally cut it off, but the State Legislature passed $15 congestion pricing and Hochul somehow unilaterally cancelled it, then reinstated it at $9. I don't know how she got away with that, but she should just fucking increase it to the legally passed toll.
That could be a reason for her holding off, to try and parlay it into getting funding. But that's giving her credit that her track record suggests she doesn't deserve.
My take: Hochul has spent her time at the top of the party kneecapping any part of the party that is to her left. If Adams is removed from office, the new mayor will be public advocate Williams, a staunch progressive. She likely also has some bad blood for him due to him running in the 2022 gubernatorial primary.
I think she's more concerned about the potential advancement of a progressive than she is about anything else.
The dithering and delay is frustrating. Officials need to strike while the iron is hot, in politics. Any course that involves waiting for something more to act is rank cowardice and an acknowledgement (intentional or not) that they have no intention to act. Society adjusts to events quickly and the societal acceptance/willpower to react to events decays rapidly as nothing is done about those events.
Williams is a weirdo who has said questionable things about choice and gar rights. He also has something like 50+ speeding tickets. Replacing Adams with him would be an improvement but... Eh. NYC has a lot of problems and not that many serious people in charge.
“I thought it was a huge slap in the face to hardworking folks who go into New York every day.”
His comments are in response to remarks Gov. Hochul made during a press conference about congestion pricing on Wednesday.
“New Jersey residents, come, you’re welcome,” said Hochul. “But you’re not forced to come here. This is the flaw in their argument. They have choices. Keep coming. We love you. That’s great. But the people who live here who are really New Yorkers, they’re the ones who I have to listen to and I’ll always fight for.”
Gov. Hochul has vowed to keep the cameras on after President Donald Trump announced congestion pricing is over.
New Jersey residents we spoke to want it to end as well.
For sure. I just find it interesting that Hochul has angered Gottheimer of all people on this particular issue.
That said, I also don't even think the whole state of NJ outside of Gottheimer's district cares what he thinks either. Maybe this is why he's behind in the polls for the NJ-GOV race.
That's a typical MSM half-truth. In 1932, Governor FDR forced massively corrupt Mayor Jimmy Walker to resign, or he'd be removed by FDR using this law.
That was like how it was true that Nixon was never impeached nor removed from office. Saying so is not inaccurate. But knowing this is still useful context.
Michigan Constitution of 1963 Article 5 Section 10: Removal or suspension of officers; The governor shall have power and it shall be his duty to inquire into the condition and administration of any public office and the acts of any public officer, elective or appointive. He may remove or suspend from office for gross neglect of duty or for corrupt conduct in office, or for any other misfeasance or malfeasance therein, any elective or appointive state officer, except legislative or judicial, and shall report the reasons for such removal or suspension to the legislature.
Past few days have been getting alarmist texts from area code 771 asking for donations to prevent trump 3rd term. don't know who they are from as I read the headline and then delete and block.
Trump himself has teased running for a third presidential term on multiple occasions despite doing so being clearly illegal due to the 22nd Amendment. Trump could appoint a SCOTUS justice to every seat that has a Biden, Obama, GWB, or GHWB appointee on it currently, and there still probably wouldn't be five votes for SCOTUS to effectively write the 22nd Amendment out of the Constitution.
However, there is a possible legal loophole, due to an apparent ambiguity on how the 12th and 22nd Amendments interact with each other, that may allow Trump to run for vice president and ascend to the presidency through a nominal GOP presidential nominee either declining election or resigning after taking office. However, I don't know how SCOTUS would rule on the case, and even if they ruled in favor of it, I don't know if Trump's pride would let him run for the lower office on the national ticket.
In any case, it wouldn't surprise me if secretly pro-Trump groups (or at least scam groups with no intention of actually doing any political advocacy or supporting political candidates) are trying to get donations from left-leaning voters through scare tactics like what you described.
That is giving me Joe Crowley vibes, to be honest. However, I don't think Jeffries's district would be as receptive to an AOC-style insurgent primary challenge as the 2010's NY-14 was.
When was the last time a sitting House major-party leader (speaker or minority leader) lost an intraparty nomination contest?
I view the Wisconsin election as a glass half full. Decent turnout for a special election but I would have thought the threat to eliminate the Department of Education might prompt more interest in local and state school elections.
I hope we don't have to have catastrophic damage before people wake up.
If only more people throughout the land had woken up before November 5th.
The weather was really bad that day, so turnout was probably stalled
And in other news, water is wet. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/mitch-mcconnell-announces-retire-ending-decadeslong-senate-career-rcna182833
Once again, I have that familiar sentiment of "good riddance, he was an awful person... and yet the successor may very well be worse".
Same
Worse but less powerful than McConnell was for the longest time. And to think, McConnell became a Republican originally because he was a strong supporter of civil rights back in the 60s, when the Kentucky Democrats were segregationists. Is he going to have pangs of conscience on his deathbed like Lee Atwater? He chose amorality, and I have no respect for him.
KY Dems had a mixed record on civil rights. There was a segregationist Dixiecrat contingent, but also officials like Lawrence Wetherby, who was governor at the time of Brown vs. Board of Education who endorsed that decision and worked to implement desegregation, and Ned Breathitt, who passed a state civil rights act in the same year as Congress did so nationally (a measure opposed by his Republican successor, Louie Nunn).
McConnell came up through politics in Louisville, which early in his career was both more liberal on issues like civil rights and more competitive on a partisan basis than most of the state. Today it's one of Kentucky's few reliably blue regions.
Thanks for giving us some more nuanced details. I read that McConnell didn't try to come up in the Democratic Party because the powers that be were segregationist and I think the article that I read years ago also said that it would have been hard for him to break in, with all the older politicians entrenched in the party.
wouldn't suprise me if part of the reason he is quitting is he hates trump but doesn't have the balls to stand up to him and trump is very glad he is leaving town
For some reason I thought McConnell's retirement was already official. Shows just how presumed it was, I guess.
Easily one of the most damaging political leaders in our modern history. I am not enough of an expert to evaluate relative to our whole history, but I assume he has to be merit worthy for a top 20 list or something of the like. He will never admit it but McConnell played a huge part in bringing the GOP to where they are today and the resultant damage to our institutions and nation.
I fully expect his replacement to be even worse than him. The only potential upside is that they may not be as intelligent, hampering the efficacy of their vileness.
The fact that his fellow Kentucky Senator is a flat out Putin apologist speaks for itself.
And an opponent of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
And, perhaps, favoring repeal of the 14th and 19th amendments?
McConnell helped then-Senate Minority Leader and eventually Majority Leader Bill Frist bankroll the Iraq War. That’s when he lost credibility for me.
As reviled as Jesse Helms was, McConnell did more damage to the country by orders of magnitude.
I'll give him credit for standing firm on 1/6. But that's it.
Except for spiking the conviction. He is the epitome of someone who believes that he who fights and runs away may love to fight another day. He forgot that his own aging and mortality are a limiting factor of that strategy.
I don’t know if he’d have gotten to 67 if he’d publicly come out in favor, or even if he’d whipped privately.
But damn him to Hell forever for not trying.
Honestly I think he would have had good odds of it. Once they know they aren't going out on a limb seemingly all by themselves, the calculus changes a lot.
I'd point to McConnell's successor — chosen in a secret ballot — being Thune rather than the crazier Cornyn or much crazier Scott. There's a majority of their caucus that is willing to do sane things that help their party in the long run, if they think they won't be punished for it by the base and/or Fox.
I fully agree. Moreover, since the last impeachment trial, it has come to light that several of the senators who voted not to convict, did so because they feared for their own safety and that of their families.
I don't think of Cornyn as crazy, for a Republican. How is he crazier than Thune?
Likewise I fault McConnell for not using his influence to try to block the horrible Trump nominees that he voted against. As a consequence, his Nay votes became purely performative.
Acquitting him wasn't exactly standing firm. He completely crumbled.
It’s painful to realize that Trump is making Dubya look like an intellectual, and making Nixon and McConnell look like paragons of political integrity.
That said, I can think of few Congressional leaders who did more damage in the pre-Trumpian era than Mitch McConnell and Newt Gingrich. Through their rhetoric and power plays, they made American politics destructively hyperpartisan.
Almost like Mitch coordinated with his preferred successor or something ^^
Daniel Cameron is officially in.
Huge shame Beshear doesn't want the Senate. He could be strong in a rematch. I would gamble there are a lot of racist Republicans not excited to vote for Cameron in KY.
https://x.com/DanielCameronKY/status/1892622418113372645?t=oJf-Rj-JoNRo422UmnpsrA&s=19
Beshear is slated to lead the Democratic Governors Association next year, too
I’d like to see Rocky Adkins take a shot at the race.
Beshear's campaign manager, Eric Hyers, told NBC News that the governor will not run for Senate.
One Democratic strategist with experience in the state pointed to Beshear adviser Rocky Adkins as a potential strong candidate. Adkins is a former state legislator and Democratic leader in the state House.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna193010
Adkins is the next best option for Dems. Would run very strong in the eastern half of the state.
What about 2027 for Governor? Whom do you think we should run for that?
Peggy Flanagan is officially in for MN Senate.
I don't hate her and she's young. I just hope we don't have a huge primary. August is very late to have a primary with multiple people and have the winner turn around.
The Republican may well have the race to themselves all summer.
https://x.com/peggyflanagan/status/1892588090197217516?t=IoQj0JIZmvGiR86PMJQ_Jw&s=19
If she is in, then that's a pretty good sign that Tim Walz is not interested in running for the Senate.
Sad news from the Sooner State: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/02/20/oklahoma-governor-david-boren-dead/1441740082415/
Sorry to hear. He was 83, which used to be considered a ripe old age but isn't that long a lifespan, nowadays, although a lot of my friends didn't make it to 60.
This is Blake Gandebien, the dairy farmer running in Stefanik's special in NY 21, whenever that will be.
He is pledging to the Blue Dog Coalition should he win.
https://www.pressrepublican.com/news/gendebien-pledges-to-congressional-blue-dog-coalition/article_4070e48c-ee1c-11ef-aad3-bf848a507365.html
It's smart of him to do that in that district.
Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York plans to announce on Thursday that she will not exercise her authority to remove Mayor Eric Adams from office for now, but will seek to impose strict new guardrails on his administration of New York City, according to two officials familiar with her thinking.
Hochul never misses a chance to disappoint.
Across the world, the historic quote of "...never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity" seems good. My girlfriend was telling me that there's some Federal money that's supposed to help with congestion pricing in Manhattan, and of course Trump is trying to unilaterally cut it off, but the State Legislature passed $15 congestion pricing and Hochul somehow unilaterally cancelled it, then reinstated it at $9. I don't know how she got away with that, but she should just fucking increase it to the legally passed toll.
That could be a reason for her holding off, to try and parlay it into getting funding. But that's giving her credit that her track record suggests she doesn't deserve.
My take: Hochul has spent her time at the top of the party kneecapping any part of the party that is to her left. If Adams is removed from office, the new mayor will be public advocate Williams, a staunch progressive. She likely also has some bad blood for him due to him running in the 2022 gubernatorial primary.
I think she's more concerned about the potential advancement of a progressive than she is about anything else.
The dithering and delay is frustrating. Officials need to strike while the iron is hot, in politics. Any course that involves waiting for something more to act is rank cowardice and an acknowledgement (intentional or not) that they have no intention to act. Society adjusts to events quickly and the societal acceptance/willpower to react to events decays rapidly as nothing is done about those events.
Williams is a weirdo who has said questionable things about choice and gar rights. He also has something like 50+ speeding tickets. Replacing Adams with him would be an improvement but... Eh. NYC has a lot of problems and not that many serious people in charge.
I also just read that Hochul pissed off Rep. Josh Gottheimer of all people over the congestion pricing issues - By prioritizing NYers first.
https://pix11.com/news/local-news/nj-congressman-calls-out-ny-gov-over-congestion-pricing-slap-in-the-face/
NEW JERSEY (PIX11) — New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer is clapping back at New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I thought it was a huge slap in the face to hardworking folks who go into New York every day.”
His comments are in response to remarks Gov. Hochul made during a press conference about congestion pricing on Wednesday.
“New Jersey residents, come, you’re welcome,” said Hochul. “But you’re not forced to come here. This is the flaw in their argument. They have choices. Keep coming. We love you. That’s great. But the people who live here who are really New Yorkers, they’re the ones who I have to listen to and I’ll always fight for.”
Gov. Hochul has vowed to keep the cameras on after President Donald Trump announced congestion pricing is over.
New Jersey residents we spoke to want it to end as well.
I doubt one single person in NY cares what that guy thinks about anything.
For sure. I just find it interesting that Hochul has angered Gottheimer of all people on this particular issue.
That said, I also don't even think the whole state of NJ outside of Gottheimer's district cares what he thinks either. Maybe this is why he's behind in the polls for the NJ-GOV race.
Doesn't Gottheimer represent a lot of high-salaried commuters who drive?
It blows my mind that the NY Governor has the power to unilaterally fire an elected Mayor.
Let's hope red state legislators don't start thinking to themselves: "Hey! That's a great idea! Why haven't we thought of having that ..."
I wouldn't be surprised if it was a power created to combat Tammany Hall.
I believe it was. FDR used it frequently haha
It's been repeatedly reported that no governor of New York has ever used this law to remove a mayor from office.
That's a typical MSM half-truth. In 1932, Governor FDR forced massively corrupt Mayor Jimmy Walker to resign, or he'd be removed by FDR using this law.
That was like how it was true that Nixon was never impeached nor removed from office. Saying so is not inaccurate. But knowing this is still useful context.
It’s not that uncommon - the Michigan Constitution of 1963 also gives the Governor that authority.
Unilaterally? Link?
Michigan Constitution of 1963 Article 5 Section 10: Removal or suspension of officers; The governor shall have power and it shall be his duty to inquire into the condition and administration of any public office and the acts of any public officer, elective or appointive. He may remove or suspend from office for gross neglect of duty or for corrupt conduct in office, or for any other misfeasance or malfeasance therein, any elective or appointive state officer, except legislative or judicial, and shall report the reasons for such removal or suspension to the legislature.
Guardrails like what?
Past few days have been getting alarmist texts from area code 771 asking for donations to prevent trump 3rd term. don't know who they are from as I read the headline and then delete and block.
You should just text back a link to the 22nd Amendment.
good idea...thanks! but then it might just be AI :-)
Did they request funds in bitcoins? ;)
Trump himself has teased running for a third presidential term on multiple occasions despite doing so being clearly illegal due to the 22nd Amendment. Trump could appoint a SCOTUS justice to every seat that has a Biden, Obama, GWB, or GHWB appointee on it currently, and there still probably wouldn't be five votes for SCOTUS to effectively write the 22nd Amendment out of the Constitution.
However, there is a possible legal loophole, due to an apparent ambiguity on how the 12th and 22nd Amendments interact with each other, that may allow Trump to run for vice president and ascend to the presidency through a nominal GOP presidential nominee either declining election or resigning after taking office. However, I don't know how SCOTUS would rule on the case, and even if they ruled in favor of it, I don't know if Trump's pride would let him run for the lower office on the national ticket.
In any case, it wouldn't surprise me if secretly pro-Trump groups (or at least scam groups with no intention of actually doing any political advocacy or supporting political candidates) are trying to get donations from left-leaning voters through scare tactics like what you described.
He could pull the same stunt Putin & Medvedev did.
Happening now: protesters are outside the Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago this evening.
People are in line to see House of Reps Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for an event tonight promoting his recently released book.
Crowd chanting at them, "we don't need a book tour!"
https://bsky.app/profile/unraveledpress.com/post/3linkppo6ls2j
So nice he has the time to go to Chicago on a book tour while congress is in session and Trump is running amuck.
That is giving me Joe Crowley vibes, to be honest. However, I don't think Jeffries's district would be as receptive to an AOC-style insurgent primary challenge as the 2010's NY-14 was.
When was the last time a sitting House major-party leader (speaker or minority leader) lost an intraparty nomination contest?
4 Nations Cup final USA v. Canada tied 2-2 going into overtime. Canada wins 3-2 in OT...trump soiled himself!