Be Careful What You Wish For

For Republicans, a narrow House majority might be more trouble than it’s worth.

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images.)

Behold what remains of the red tsunami, lapping gently at our ankles.

Oh dear.

Of the three House scenarios the party contemplated before Election Day, that might be the worst.

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  1. Mmiller

    Regarding the topic discussed further down in the article, about issues the Rs in the House should focus on, am I merely duped, or a naked partisan, in thinking that Hunter Biden's business dealings are not merely Hunter Biden issues but Joe Biden issues? It certainly looks like a fairly shameless trading on access with the apparent cooperation, and remuneration, of the "Big Guy" himself? No?

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    Lawrence D'anna

    Don’t you think it’s a bit weird to call the anti-war caucus the “authoritarians”. It’s not just weird, it’s ridiculous. War is probably the most authoritarian thing a free society ever does. You can call the trump cultists wrong on Ukraine. I think they probably are. You can’t call them authoritarians on that issue. Not without sounding like cable news anyway.

    Even if you forget about Ukraine, the whole maga=authoritarians thing seems like sloppy left wing name calling to me. I get where it comes from: Trump's personality cult. But it’s a personality cult that’s built on the paranoid rejection of public authority. On almost every issue the maga position is to disparage and delegitimize the existing authorities and institutions. They think the elections are fake, the news is fake, the vaccine is fake. They’re anti-war and anti-FBI and against the justice department. The only public authorities I can think of that they’re in favor of are the border patrol and local cops. They’re paranoid conspiracy nuts not authoritarians.

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    Mister D

    I would appreciate it if the moderates of each party maybe presented their own united front. No reason for the alphabet congress of AOC and MTG hold their speakers hostage to their insanity.

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    1. D

      My gut tells me we would have already had a centrist caucus created if leadership didn't threaten such a thing with heavy repercussions.

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    O,W.L.

    Is there any chance that the Democrats can flip a few normie Republicans who managed to win in blue districts and who know that they may pay the price in 2024 for being associated with the craziness that will run the Republican caucus for the next 2 years? If, as it appears likely right now, the R's end up with three more seats after hitting 218, the D's would only have to persuade 4 people to either go independent and caucus with them or to change parties.

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  5. Scianti7

    Cheney as speaker actually sounds like sanity... I can't believe I'm saying this. But I think her focus would be more traditional conservative policies, including appropriate defense against adversaries. She's not playing footsie with the Russians.

    Edit: Now that I think about though, no way it happens in our current climate.

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      C C Writer

      "Current climate." Could that be what Jonah means by straight-line thinking?

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      1. Scianti7

        Perhaps, but I just meant that the way things are unfortunately currently handled, I don't think that the Democrats will do that. I say that without saying it's right or wrong because I suppose I think there are valid arguments to be made both ways. I wish everyone put country first & foremost, civility, honor & honesty up top, acted with complete professionalism etc... but that's not where we are & sometimes right now they don't even seem to be valued (at least not as much as I would like). So humaness & failings play a role, but also the way both parties have handled their words & actions is what I'm refering to. I'm hoping that changes.

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    Jeff Younger

    I think you’ll get a lot of tough talk from the Trump faction, but they need party dollars if they want to be re-elected. Even the dumbest among them (MTG?) probably noticed how stingy Uncle Donnie was with the campaign cash from his PAC. Sure it won’t be easy herding these cats, but being in the majority is always better than being in the minority.

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      Probably Wrong

      Party dollars come with strings attached. They make you toe the line, follow the rules, wear pants in the chamber.

      Small dollar donations are easier to court with rage bait and stunts. Why gamble on a paltry and legally limited contribution from the Party apparatus when you can make a play for every cent in the wallet of angry people online?

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  7. CatoTheElder

    "House Republicans are on their own for the next two years, trapped in a white-hot spotlight as the governing majority with some of the craziest figures in the party, with no prospect of enacting any legislation and no near-term prospect of ridding themselves of Trump."

    Also to consider:

    Politically conservative Americans are on their own for at least the next two years, and probably longer, banished from the political stage as the cowardly House leadership of the now-majority party that was once their home will be continually at the behest of the rabidly insane members of the party, all fighting to display their devotion to the Pompous Narciss-Ass of Mar-a-Lago.

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  8. Cegoodman85

    "Deserving bunch of cowards" is right. If it weren't so bad for the country, I would really enjoy watching this play out. Actually, I will enjoy it a good bit.

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    O.M.G. calling from Vaudeville, AZ

    Oh boy, indeed. Here’s hoping and pipe dreaming the donkeys arse party and just two Republicans nominate the only woman in Washington D.C. with big enough balls to finally stand up to the not so stable evil genius monarch so Trumpystan is finally eradicated from God’s green earth. Can I press an I like Catman button. Peace through superior mental firepower

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    Xsearnold

    Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see that the MAGA wing has any power whatsoever. It will only take a couple of principled Republicans (I think there's still a remnant left) to side with the Democrats to defeat any legislation they would try to push through. Even if, by some miracle, it got through, it would face either defeat in the Senate or a Biden veto. I'm sure this will make for some useful "Short Attention Span" theater, but little more. These idiots will be too busy yakking on Fox News than to bother themselves with legislating, anyway.

    Bring back the Do Nothing Congress! (Don't bother, they're here.)

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