The chances of Democrats winning control of the U.S. Senate next year are looking better every day.
In fact, according to MSNBC anchor Lawrence O’Donnell, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) may be leaving the U.S. Senate within the next two years.
“Here are all of the Republican senators who are up for re-election next year who have not yet announced that they will run for re-election,†O’Donnell explained, showing on-screen the following graphic:
GOP Senators not running
O’Donnell then added:
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“They will look at their polling in their states and they will look at what their next six years of life in the United States Senate would be if they win re-election.â€
“And they will see that they will either be re-elected into another four years of humiliation in service to the madness of the Trump presidency, or they will be re-elected into the first four years of a Democratic president where their only function will be trying to block presidential appointees to federal judgeships.â€
“Both of those are dreary scenarios for Republican senators,†he then said.
“There will be more Republican senators announcing that they will not run for re-election, and the Republican senator with the strongest incentive to not run for re-election is the one with the very worst polling numbers back home in his state — a 33 percent approval rating,†he noted. “At the end of next year, he will have served 36 years in the United States Senate and the voters in his state do not appreciate the 35 years of service that he’s already given them.â€
“At 78 years old, will he really be looking forward to another four years of humiliation by Donald Trump?†he asked. “Or four years of nothing but trying to block the Democrats’ judicial nominations?â€
O’Donnell explained how “Trump humiliates†McConnell, saying:
“Donald Trump humiliated Mitch McConnell and became the first president in history to shut down the government when both houses of Congress were controlled by his own party. Mitch McConnell knew that was going to end very badly for the Republicans and Donald Trump — and there was nothing that Mitch could do about it.â€
“There has never been a more powerless majority leader of the Senate than Mitch McConnell, in his relationship with the president.”
“Why would Mitch McConnell want more of this, especially when Kentucky has no gratitude for the job that he’s been doing in the Senate. Polling shows that Mitch McConnell has a 33 percent approval rating in Kentucky — that is a deadly approval rating for an incumbent senator.â€
“Will Donald Trump drive Mitch McConnell out of office and possibly lose the Senate for Republicans while he is at it? Or will Kentucky voters drive Mitch McConnell out of office if he decides to run again?â€
“Next year could be the last year of the humiliation of Mitch McConnell,†O’Donnell concluded.
The Republican Party is in Huge Trouble
One thing that O’Donnell’s report points out is that the situation for the GOP in Washington is much more dire than has previously been reported in the press.
Donald Trump has completed his hostile takeover of his party, so the old Republican Party as we knew it is dead.
Every day, as Trump’s legal problems grow and his political situation worsens, the prospects for the Democrats look better and better to have another Blue Wave in the 2020 election and take control of both the Senate and the presidency.
Mitch McConnell has accomplished what he wanted to by installing an army of right-wing judges in the federal court system, including two Supreme Court justices. There is probably nothing left for him to accomplish in Washington.
McConnell is a savvy politician who has been around a long time, and he may now realize that the time for him to retire is now, while he has a shred of dignity left. And when he does, it will probably bring in a new era of Democratic control in Washington.
CLICK HERE to watch the video on MSNBC.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
