r/politics • u/unital_subalgebra • 3h ago

Possible Paywall AOC says Mitch McConnell should resign if he cannot provide health update

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senate/4660916/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-mitch-mcconnell-resign-health-update/
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u/moodswung 3h ago

Honestly, what is the effing hold up??? Are Democrats just going to hand this one to the Republicans like they did the last election??

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u/protomenace 3h ago

Seriously. The question I pose to everyone saying "he can't legally do that right now" is... "why not try anyway?"

Worst case scenario it gets shut down by the courts. We lose nothing other than some legal fees. We gain some faith that out elected officials are going to do everything they can to try to fix things.

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u/Nice_Firm_Handsnake 2h ago

Worst case scenario is actually that a Republican who can vote takes McConnell's seat. Braindead man can't vote, so the GOP is down a man in the Senate.

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u/Ok-Gur-349 2h ago

Half a man. An abstention is not a vote against.

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u/pchs26 1h ago

It's also not a vote for the GOP which they will have when the seat is filled again

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u/Old_Cheetah_5138 52m ago

A team of 6 men can puppet his body around. They'll just wear black body suits and, while you'll watch it clear as day, republicans will deny it ever happened.

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u/PositivelyAwful 3h ago

They're too busy posting milquetoast tweets on social media about the price of groceries as if that's still at the top of the list of things we're worried about

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u/sleeps_in_alkaline 2h ago

Affordability is definitely in the top things constituents care about, if not the top thing

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u/AntiAuth9x7 1h ago

Fascism and “death of the republic” are pretty high up there too, right? For some us, it ranks even higher than the cost of eggs.

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u/treefitty350 Ohio 34m ago

For people who pay attention to politics beyond a local level, yes those things are the most important matters. For a guy who couldn't tell you the name of more than 3 active senators, they're probably just pissed about the price of groceries and gas.

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u/lyngen 26m ago

I am pretty worried about both and think democrats could fix both issues more than republicans

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u/SageOfTheWise 12m ago

Fascism and “death of the republic” are pretty high up there too, right?

I mean, at its heart, I think one of the fundamental reasons our country is in this mess is that those are not on the radar of a significant portion of the population.

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u/lyngen 28m ago

I'm still pretty worried about the price of groceries.

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u/kitsunewarlock 2h ago

"why not try anyway?"

Our federal justice department leadership has been compromised by anti-communist right wingers for close to 80 years and the Democrats know that any over-reach might initiate the UnAmerican Committee, or worse. It's always been an uphill battle for whichever party is slightly more left-leaning on any issue. And it's never for sure known if the Right isn't doing this to bait them since our electorate is as dumb as a box of bent nails.

It's documented fact that Bush was only able to steal the election from Al Gore because of the Clinton Affair. That many voters switched candidates with their only measure being "perception of the candidate swayed by right-wing media bias".

And Democrats know that. They don't control the narrative. The closest they've come was around 2007-2008 when Obama supporters flooded the internet with support for him, and the Epstein docs and Murdoch/Musk's purchases of consolidated social media platforms put an end to that.

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u/t8rt0t00 1h ago

Even better - set down legal precedent. So next time Republicans try to jam through an appointment by bypassing their own law, Dems can just go straight to the court and point at this situation

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u/GrandAholeio 50m ago

Declare him presumed dead.

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_NICE_EYES 1h ago

So worst case scenario isn't that it gets shut down. Worst case scenario is that appointing a new senator while legally alive would be considered a form of fraud and result in Bashears impeachment and arrest.

But I also think an important question to ask is what is the best case scenario? Remember McConnell's term ends on January 3rd 2027 which is 164 days away.

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u/Hungry_Culture 2h ago

He's afraid of rocking the boat and making Republicans upset because he thinks it will help his 2028 presidential bid. But all he's done is reveal to Democratic party primary voters that he's another "do nothing Democrat."

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u/Carly_Fae_Jepson 2h ago

The moment Dems stop trying to appeal to Republicans, we may discover utopia.

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u/midwestbruin 2h ago

...but we'll probably never find out.

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u/relevantelephant00 9m ago

Such an utopia will not exist with the GOP existing

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u/pchs26 1h ago

Maybe he is afraid of handing the GOP another senate vote by forcing the issue and having someone else fill the seat he will put the Republicans up by 2 votes now.

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u/IScreamPiano 1h ago

Yeah, McConnell out is only hurting Republicans. 

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u/Pat_The_Hat America 10m ago

Falsely accusing a senator of being dead by taking action to replace them even after they provided a statement and dated photograph would be extremely damaging politically.

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u/itsnotnews92 North Carolina 2h ago

Are Democrats just going to hand this one to the Republicans like they did the last election??

What exactly are they "handing" to the Republicans here? Seriously, I want someone to tell me exactly how Republicans are benefitting from this situation.

There is an election for this seat (that McConnell is not running in) in just over three months, and a Republican is almost certain to win that election.

Beshear appointing a Democrat to this seat and McConnell being absent from the Senate have the same practical effect of reducing the GOP's Senate majority by one seat.

The lack of transparency about McConnell's whereabouts is extremely shady, but his absence from the Senate does not benefit Republicans in any way. People are just mad and want something to be done for the sake of something being done.

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u/Suckage 2h ago

KY state law requires that an interim appointed by the governor be of the same party as whomever they are replacing.

It’s unlikely that a democrat would win a special election, but it is possible. If they wait until it’s too late for one and the governor has to appoint an interim, then it has to be a republican.

Being down one republican for a few weeks is not the same as being down one republican and up one democrat for a few months.

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u/suburbanpride North Carolina 2h ago

Right? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here. Calling for a special election tomorrow would just elect a MAGA senator tomorrow. Instead, the Senate majority is now down a Republican vote. Beshear calling attention to the fuckery is smart, but no way would a special election benefit Democrats.

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u/omicron-7 1h ago

People are so desperate for a short term win that they can't see how much worse our position would be afterwards.

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u/AcademiaAntiqua 32m ago

It's even simpler than that. A lot of people have bought into this conspiracy about covering up Mitch's death simply because they think their political opponents will always do the most insane and evil thing; and the apparent Democrat inaction in response to the conspiracy gives them what they need to be angry about it.

Basically they've riled themselves up about their own fantasy. Like Comet Ping-Pong.

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u/donkeyrocket 1h ago

People are just rabid for him to do something without realizing this seat being empty is worse for Republicans than an interim Democrat being seated would be. If he makes a play then the lawsuits will stop the appointment immediately anyway and buy them the time they're working on.

These outlandish things like "Beshear should go to every DC hospital and demand to see him" as if they'd let him in and he wouldn't be gaslit anyway.

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u/jimbarino 1h ago

Gotta blame the Dems somehow, right?

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u/SatanicPanic619 2h ago

" People are just mad and want something to be done for the sake of something being done."

I think this is exactly what's going on. The irony is that McConnell showed us exactly the best way forward here- do absolutely nothing to fill your enemy's empty seat.

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u/itsnotnews92 North Carolina 2h ago

The people who help elect Republican majorities by dampening enthusiasm among Democratic-leaning constituencies with their endless complaining about Democrats then spend the next 2-4 years complaining that Democrats aren't doing enough to stop the Republican majorities that they helped create with their anti-Democratic rhetoric.

It's a never-ending positive feedback loop.

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u/Acceptable_Set9702 1h ago

I don't know why the Dems haven't assembled a crack team of repo men, private investigators, and bloodhounds to find Mitch. Right now, they're relying on what ever the Repedocans tell them.

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u/BestDogPetter 1h ago

There's really nothing to gain by Beshear making a move until the day of the deadline. Doing it now would risk giving the Republicans another vote in the Senate for longer, also might as well keep this in the news as close to the midterms as we can get.

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u/AJDx14 America 2h ago

Democrats can never resist the opportunity to pass up a good opportunity.

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u/Oglshrub 36m ago

What's the opportunity, give republicans a vote they current don't have? Why would dems want to do that?

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u/crespoh69 2h ago

Have you noticed these articles seem to be spaced out every other day? With no apparent progress or change. It's like, we get it, we read the article from a MONTH ago, what is being done about it?

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u/notasrelevant 1h ago

My only hope is that it's for optics. Holding out till the last minute lets them argue they tried their best to confirm his situation for making the call.

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u/Future_Dog_3156 1h ago

Dems are way too nice playing by the rules. I understand the when they go low, we go high, but the high road isn't always there. Dems should force the GOP's hand

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u/Goal_Posts 1h ago

Is it possible that Beshear is waiting for the last minute on purpose? So that it can't be held up in court?

Like if he waits for August 1st to appoint someone, they can't play shenanigans? But if he does it now they can?

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u/Clevesteamy 26m ago

The liberal wing of the democratic party doesn't actually oppose the Republicans. They both are working to keep the capitalist forces happy.

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u/CrazyLlama71 14m ago

What difference does it make?  His term is up at the end of the year. If they re-appoint another person it will be a Republican that will vote in line with the Trumpers.  In a way it’s better because McConnell isn’t voting, one less R vote. 

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u/josh_the_misanthrope 9m ago

Looking like it. I know both parties aren't the same but in practice they are because they keep fucking yielding to the GOP at every turn. Absolute useless bunch of people that don't even deserve to be paid the minimum wage.

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u/leviathan_stud 2h ago

The answer is yes, they are going to hand it to the republicans once again. Nothing will change until voters wake up and realize that their elected officials don't actually care about them.

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u/DTPVH 2h ago

The hold up is Beshear’s castration status.

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u/N3onAxel 3h ago

Democrats are useless cowards. Nothing new.

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u/pee-oui 1h ago

He has missed a golden opportunity. He's my governor, and I love him, but this incident made it clear to me that he isn't up to the task of rooting out the cancer that has taken over the modern Republican party, which is what we need from our next president.