If Mitch McConnell's posture on this wasn't so pompous, this story would be laughable.
The blogosphere has grown to far greater power than mainstream media will ever hold again. In the conservative blogger world, there are a few kingmakers. Erick Erickson is one. His blogging platform with 'diary' ability is not only one of the largest communities out there, it is populated by both conservative and democratic politicians of national caliber.
Anyone who brushes aside the power of avatars in commentary, social media and the blogosphere is locked in the past. And probably should stay away from running for public office as they do not stand a chance in this day and age if they are not participating or at minimum, keeping their finger on the pulse.
This response to McConnell's very poorly thought out statement that Erickson has 'no audience' is beautifully responded to by Erick today.
Out there in Red State:
"....I grew up thinking Mitch McConnell was a right wing warrior. It turns out he’s just a typical Washingtonian appropriator who has presided over a massive expansion of the welfare state doing not much more than issuing bold platitudes as he cuts deals to expand government spending and along the way made some major tactical and strategic blunders that groups like ACORN were able to thrive.
Let’s review the record.
In the 1990′s Mitch McConnell, then the Republican manager against the Motor Voter bill, made the brilliant tactical decision to not filibuster the motion to take up the bill. Consequently it passed. ACORN and other left-wing groups were emboldened to do what they’ve done over the past two decades. Yes, people forget that it was Mitch McConnell’s tactical decision to let Motor Voter get to the floor of the Senate despite the warnings of what would happen. Passage of that law made it ever easier to engage in voter registration fraud. McConnell had the votes to stop it from being considered, but once it got to the floor of the Senate everyone knew there were enough wobbly Republicans who would not dare go on record actually opposing it on passage.
In the early 2000′s when McCain-Feingold went through the Senate, McConnell yet again cut out the legs of its opponents telling them not to worry because he’d let the Supreme Court do their dirty work for them and kill it. McConnell lost in the Supreme Court.
Mitch McConnell’s more recent record makes clear he is more interested in being Majority Leader than advancing any sort of conservative principles. It’s all about McConnell.
He is an appropriations cardinal in the Senate who has routinely stymied fiscal conservative efforts to rein in spending by Senators Coburn, DeMint, and even John McCain.
Recall, if you will, Senator McConnell didn’t just vote for the Wall Street bailouts, he rescued it from near defeat by adding earmarks to TARP after it failed in the House.
As I mentioned, in 2010 Mitch McConnell backed Arlen Specter against Pat Toomey, Charlie Crist against Marco Rubio, Robert Bennett against Mike Lee, and Trey Grayson against Rand Paul.
After House GOP made a stand on payroll tax this past winter, McConnell pulled the rug out and cut a deal with Harry Reid that paid for a payroll tax cut with increases to home mortgages. Allen West said he felt betrayed over this.
McConnell personally recruited Senator Roy Blunt to stop conservative Ron Johnson from winning a key leadership spot.
McConnell vowed to block conservatives from forcing votes on full repeal of Obamacare this year, then flipped and said he’d force votes in March when RepealIt.org threatened to run ads for him to resign, He has yet to keep his promise to force votes. McConnell’s loyal lieutenants in the Senate, at the time, explained that forcing full repeal votes on the Democrats would undermine their ability to cut deals with Harry Reid.
Senator McConnell just last week voted with Senate Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee against Paul Ryan’s budget spending levels. Last year McConnell refused to whip support for Ryan’s budget when it came up for a vote in the Senate.
Senator McConnell and his allies frequently say he has to do what he does because they must keep the moderates to be in the majority. Except 2010 gives the lie away. In races conservatives absolutely could win, McConnell sided with the moderates. Behind the scenes, on issues like Obamacare that remain hugely unpopular with the American people, McConnell cuts deals with the Democrats instead of forcing votes.
McConnell is emblematic of all that is wrong with Washington, D.C. He covets power relentlessly and only acts when it is threatened, then only doing so much as to stop the threat without actually leading. Along the way, he has been deeply complicit in putting our Republican in a position of bankruptcy.
I may be a nobody with no audience, but Mitch McConnell is a leader with no spine to lead."
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
1 comment:
My exposure to conservative publications has come from you, Nanny. One of my regular stops now is Mr. Erickson's Red State.
He usually has powerful messages but I have noticed that it is when he feels the voices of the conservative voters are not being recognized is when he becomes both strong and powerful in his delivery.
That is commendable, in my eyes. Tells me he has built a platform to enable weaker voices to be heard. This appears to be a fairly serious error in judgement by Mitch McConnell.
Post a Comment