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Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona has held the #2 slot in the Senate Republican leadership for the last several years, but he's retiring next month, creating a new opportunity for an ambitious GOP senator. Yesterday, we learned who's getting the gig.
Though there were other possible candidates, Texas Republican John Cornyn quickly emerged as Kyl's successor after Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) announced his intention to stay on as Senate Republican Conference chairman rather than seek a promotion. This is, of course, the same Cornyn who's wrapping his tenure as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Ed Kilgore picked up on the problem here.
Man, that's some serious social promotion. This cycle Cornyn, with the most favorable landscape (Democrats holding 23 of the 33 seats up) in living memory and with more money behind him than Croesus, managed to lose two net Senate seats. Sure, Romney didn't help by losing, but by my quick count, Republican Senate candidates ran behind Mitt in 23 states.
Since he's not exactly known as a legislative dynamo, either, you have to figure Cornyn is either personally popular with his peers, or just reflects their views unusually well. But his upward mobility makes you wonder about the GOP's supposedly overriding commitment to rewarding success.
Quite right. On Capitol Hill, chairing the campaign committees is generally seen as a high-risk/high-reward proposition. If you, your caucus, and your slate of candidates do well, it gives your career an enormous boost (see Emanuel, Rahm circa 2006). If the cycle goes poorly, be prepared to take a lot of blame. It's why so many Democrats turned down the 2012 DSCC gig, before Patty Murray did such an impressive job.
But Cornyn offers an example of falling up -- he failed rather spectacularly at the NRSC, and for that, he'll be promoted by his Republican colleagues.
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I say Ashly Judd should immediately declare to run against McConnell. If she does this, it will reign in the bad behavior to a degree. All of this is related, the pressure is on the Senate, because you can't gerrymander in the Senate. Grab the popcorn...
Good god, seriously ... Ashely Judd? She wants to be a politician now?
80sgirl,
do you know anything about Ashley Judd?
why don't you learn something about her before you question her capabilities/motivations?
I would love to see her run against mcConnell.
run, Ashley, run!
Great. Now I have that freaking Chumbawamba tune running through my head again (sort of).
They fall up!
But they get down again!
They're always gonna be these clowns...
Pissing the right away.
Pissing the right away.
Got Enraged and Engaged:
Mooched the Vote 2012!
;-)
Suzette, calm down. The only thing I know about her is from watching her interviews over the past decade or so. She comes across as churlish, self-obsessed and smug. So sorry to have offended you for not being a fan of hers.
I'll be more than happy to see her run if she isn't doing what I've seen her do in the past, strive desperately to get out from under her family's shadow by any means possible.
Actually Ashley Judd is pretty damn smart - I do wonder about how she continues to be a Republican, but there you are. She'd at least be the kind of Southern Republican who knows 2+2 does not equal 22.
Well...if you've seen the new Heritage Foundation Action Fund video the GOP doesn't think they did ANYTHING WRONG and will continue on...they just believe that voters are DUMB. Honestly.
I honestly wouldn't want to be a Republican senator for the next couple of years and definitely not a high profile one. There are elements of their base and some of the talking heads that are already saying that the failures in this election were because they weren't sufficiently conservative enough. Anyone in a position of authority is going to automatically have a giant bulls-eye on them and everything they do is going to be dissected to the 'inth degree by the base and they are not the forgiving kind.
It reminds me of the Kremlin in the 1970s and 80s, another example of old white guys caught in an epistemic loop.
"...he failed rather spectacularly at the NRSC, and for that, he'll be promoted by his Republican colleagues."
And you are surprised by this because why, again? These are the same people that refuse to recognize reality, so why are you flummoxed about upward failure by the GOTP? These are the same people that elevated Sarah Palin, Rust Limberger, Hannity, Ann Coulter - and while they may be "nice people" they know nothing. These are the same people that took a shallacing on Tuesday night and on Wednesday started spewing for the same nonsense about how "the President needs to move farther to the right before they will talk about the deficit", really dudes?! These people will deserve their implosion, they've worked really, really hard to make it happen!
I agree with you Zora, especially in Business they use that same principle and that is why you end up with people like Romney the walking misfit running for President. In business it is not about any real brains, except how fast you can screw over the workers and customers to make huge profits.
Republican leadership in denial.
What will REALLY be interesting is the upcoming fight between Boehner and Cantor.
Cantor's position should be weakened significantly by tea party loses. Boehner is going to act as if nothing has changed from a year ago and will act as if he still has control of everything. Add Reid changing the filibuster rules and things are going to get VERY interesting.
Is it me, or do the Republicans seem poised to break out with either Salem Witch Trials Part II, or drink a lot of Kool-Aid waiting for the UFO to take them away to Jesus? Because they are seriously delusional and crazy, and it's scary. How can that many people be that bone-headed?
Oh, and they aren't completely wrong about some voters being stupid. Think about it. Who on earth voted for Scott DesJarlais and Kerry Bentivolio? Who does that?
So, another tool with the Princess of Power bracelets.. Is that all we get?! I was hoping for something more entropic..
With all the money that was spent on this election, especially with Republicans, rich people can definitely pay their workers more money, worker safety, and benefits. Rich people sit there and complain about cutting costs but pay millions and millions of dollars in attempts to rig elections. What kind of royal joke is this? And this election proved on how corrupt, power craving, deceiving, greedy, arrogant, and hypocrites these rich people are. People are suffering in this world, because of these rich people and with Global Warming that rich people want to keep going, until everybody, except themselves is in absolute abuse, misery, despair, and death. And for what just so some rich bastard can feel like he or she is much better than someone else and deserves all the fruits of what life brings? Surely, if anything these rich people and the ones that are in this with the rich deserve to go to Hell. No wonder Jesus spoke about being watchful of these rich people and clergy, because these certain people certainly do not have any redeeming qualities in them and lacks any form of real humanity. Their outright actions have spoken volumes to the American people and the world. And it doesn’t matter what religion they are, they are very much representative of what is evil in this world.
"Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music." George Carlin This is apropos for the gop looking for outside reasons for their inside failure.
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." Friedrich Nietzsche
Why does George Carlin get credit for *everything*?
What better way to get rid of a loser than to set him up in a promotion, to fail?
Interesting theory, this.
Got Enraged and Engaged:
Mooched the Vote 2012!
;-)
I used to think that, too, but since they still haven't gone away, I am beginning to wonder, lol.
He's just following the personnel policies of the average Republican CEO. Fail upward and get your golden parachute.
Further proof they're just a collection of morons.
Isn't this the Peter Principle? How else do you insulate against him?
I'd entitle this piece "Failing Up"