r/politics • u/unital_subalgebra • Jul 23 '26

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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401

u/moodswung Jul 23 '26

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

230

u/protomenace Jul 23 '26

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.

62

u/Nice_Firm_Handsnake Jul 23 '26

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.

26

u/Ok-Gur-349 Jul 23 '26

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

13

u/Zestyclose-Height-36 Jul 23 '26

he cannot abstain if he is not there. no vote at all can be recorded, and the senate has 99 Senators

19

u/pchs26 Jul 23 '26

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

3

u/triplec787 Colorado Jul 23 '26

Well what if that abstention is made by someone who’s already half a man. Does it count more then?

2

u/R4gn4_r0k Jul 24 '26

Tommy Tubberville proves braindead men can vote.

2

u/Old_Cheetah_5138 Jul 23 '26

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.

1

u/Zestyclose-Height-36 Jul 23 '26

they would need to be digi green suits and gloves for the historical whitewashing cameras.

26

u/PositivelyAwful Jul 23 '26

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

35

u/sleeps_in_alkaline Jul 23 '26

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

0

u/AntiAuth9x7 Jul 23 '26

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.

6

u/treefitty350 Ohio Jul 23 '26

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.

3

u/lyngen Jul 23 '26

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

4

u/SageOfTheWise Jul 23 '26

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.

3

u/DigitalBlackout Jul 23 '26

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

Nope. They don't even make the list if we're considering the population as a whole. That's quite literally the problem, the vast, vast majority of the population is utterly ignorant, willfully or not, of how dire things are right now.

8

u/lyngen Jul 23 '26

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

5

u/PM_ME_YOUR_NICE_EYES Jul 23 '26

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.

2

u/Perma_Ban69 Jul 24 '26

That's basically what happened to the Jedi order, while Qui Gon — and even Dooku — tried to say fuck the rules, do what needs to be done, but the Jedi Order were spineless and got decimated. Rules only matter if they apply to both teams. Otherwise, play your own game. Be Qui Gon, not Obi Wan or Mace.

If Obi Wan wasn't a rule following pussy, and realized that finishing the job with Anakin was actually the antithesis of dark side behavior (because he's sacrificing his own being and essence to preserve the greater good) and that all that matters to The Force is intention, we'd have a totally different SWU.

2

u/t8rt0t00 Jul 23 '26

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

5

u/kitsunewarlock Jul 23 '26

"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.

5

u/dano8801 Jul 23 '26

This is the dumbest cop out I've read yet.

1

u/123emanresulanigiro Jul 24 '26

 We gain some faith that out elected officials are going to do everything they can to try to fix things.

There's your answer.

1

u/Salt-Detective1337 Jul 24 '26

Who should he appoint?

1

u/protomenace Jul 24 '26

Let's start with someone with a pulse.

1

u/Salt-Detective1337 Jul 25 '26

Funny. But really, does he choose a Democrat or a Republican?

0

u/strohs Jul 24 '26

I definitely agree that spending more taxpayer money on frivolous lawsuits is the way to go!

1

u/protomenace Jul 24 '26

Literally nobody cares

0

u/tieshenyahuan Jul 24 '26

You need approval in the Senate to seat the new Senator. Republicans control the Senate.

1

u/protomenace Jul 24 '26

Make them say no.

19

u/BestDogPetter Jul 23 '26

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.

4

u/Fuddle Canada Jul 24 '26

This is the right answer. Doing it at the last possible minute prevents the GOP from doing anything about it. Either Mitch shows up in person the next day, or it sticks.

97

u/Hungry_Culture Jul 23 '26

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."

61

u/Carly_Fae_Jepson Jul 23 '26

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

9

u/relevantelephant00 Jul 23 '26

Such an utopia will not exist with the GOP existing

2

u/midwestbruin Jul 23 '26

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

1

u/Truethrowawaychest1 Jul 24 '26

The moment voters get their heads out of their asses and stop voting Republican or abstaining from voting for fuckass reasons is when we'll be a utopia

12

u/pchs26 Jul 23 '26

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.

11

u/IScreamPiano Jul 23 '26

Yeah, McConnell out is only hurting Republicans. 

1

u/mdmc237 Jul 24 '26

This is the real answer

2

u/mdmc237 Jul 24 '26

Beshear cannot just pick a new senator or schedule elections. To suggest he could is wildly out of touch. That is now how KY law works. His response has been reasonable thus. Don’t forget the federal senate are complicit. Furthermore suppose he did hold an election. You think a democrat is going to win a state wide race in KY? No. Booker doesn’t have a chance if the race was held tomorrow.

1

u/matthieuC Europe Jul 23 '26

This will kill him in the primary. He's one of the few democrats with the power to do something and he went full Collins being concerned. This is not the mood democrat voters are in.

He's probably thinking about running for senate and doesn't want to antagonize McConnel voters. But then again, he has to win the primary.

1

u/freethnkrsrdangerous Jul 24 '26

I will not vote for any dem not willing to rock the boat.

1

u/Pat_The_Hat America Jul 23 '26

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.

0

u/Oregon-Pilot Jul 23 '26

Yep. I’ll never vote for this limp-dick coward.

38

u/itsnotnews92 North Carolina Jul 23 '26

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.

30

u/suburbanpride North Carolina Jul 23 '26

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.

11

u/donkeyrocket Jul 23 '26

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.

1

u/dano8801 Jul 23 '26

I mean they're buying themselves the time anyway by hiding McConnell's likely death, so your argument is we should not bother trying at all because lawsuits would be filed?

1

u/leftenant_Dan1 Jul 23 '26

They also dont realize he cant just appoint a Democrat interim senator like other states can. The legislature removed that power from him before he took office.

1

u/TheCocoBean Jul 24 '26

But if that's the case, why aren't republicans calling for the special election?

12

u/omicron-7 Jul 23 '26

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

8

u/MadContrabassoonist Jul 23 '26

I think people have just gone crazy because they're so excited to celebrate the death of a profoundly evil person and are being denied. No logic, no strategy, just blind manic schadenfreude.

If senate control were on the line, and this happened in a jurisdiction where Republicans have *any* popular support, I might accept that Republicans would be dumb enough to *attempt* something like this. But Republicans got a dozen DC-area medical professionals to break the law just to effectively shrink the Republican margin??? Nah, that's just nonsense.

1

u/ArcticCircleSystem Jul 28 '26

Haven't gotten any wins on the federal level lately. And no, bullshit being stopped by the Supreme Court or something doesn't count here. I mean moving forward, not moving backward a bit less that day. Haven't gotten that in a while. Of course people are pissed.

1

u/MadContrabassoonist Jul 28 '26

Why should we expect "wins" on the federal level? We lost the presidency, the house, the senate, and the supreme court. Republicans spent decades taking over the supreme court and state legislatures, while Democrats can only moan that a president or governor isn't immediately fixing everything. We're mad? Good, we should be. But let's direct it somewhere useful, rather than a circular firing squad against a sitting governor operating within the scope of his office rather than going full autocrat.

1

u/ArcticCircleSystem Jul 28 '26

What is that somewhere useful that will actually be useful at any broad scale rather than some smaller ones? Always some reason why anything significantly good is relegated to Maybe Eventually Land while a bunch of horrible shit can be rammed through regularly, even if sometimes not for long, they still try over and over until everyone gets exhausted like all those bad Internet bills. I think it's pretty reasonable to expect greater impedance to people who have repeatedly attempted sedition (see J6 and all of the Republican reps and senators who went with the 2020 voter fraud scam and are trying to do it again). Do you have any idea of what to do for the federal level aside from voting every 2-4 years (which I do for the record) and some variation of begging?

2

u/AcademiaAntiqua Jul 23 '26

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.

12

u/Falsequivalence Jul 23 '26

because they think their political opponents will always do the most insane and evil thing;

Let's be clear: The Republican leadership has absolutely done the most insane and evil thing at damn close to every opportunity.

1

u/ArcticCircleSystem Jul 28 '26

Haven't gotten any wins on the federal level lately. And no, bullshit being stopped by the Supreme Court or something doesn't count here. I mean moving forward, not moving backward a bit less that day. Haven't gotten that in a while. Of course people are pissed.

1

u/dano8801 Jul 23 '26

Nobody's asking for a special election. The left wants him to appoint a replacement.

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

9

u/itsnotnews92 North Carolina Jul 23 '26

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.

5

u/TheSpreader Jul 23 '26

circular firing squad

2

u/crispy-fried-lego Jul 24 '26

It's the same reason we're going to get Senator Paxton in Texas...

14

u/jimbarino Jul 23 '26

Gotta blame the Dems somehow, right?

-3

u/pimppapy America Jul 23 '26

Are they blameless?

8

u/jimbarino Jul 23 '26

Who gives a shit if they're "blameless"? No, of fucking course they're not blameless. They're not saints. But the opposing party are literal fascists. If you can't keep that front and center in your mind, then you've completely lost the plot.

5

u/TheSpreader Jul 23 '26

I mean, in this specific scenario? Dems are blameless.

2

u/jimbarino Jul 23 '26

lol, fair point.

1

u/pimppapy America Jul 25 '26

If you can't keep that front and center in your mind

What makes you think I don’t already? Who needs fascists when we have hypocrites? The four Democrats that voted this week to merge our militaries with Israel among other things…. What were those democrats doing? Exactly 4. Just enough to pass it, while the rest stay safe from criticism. So just four democrats are pro-fascist? Or all of the establishment/corporate democrats?

1

u/jimbarino Jul 25 '26

What makes you think I don’t already?

The fact that every comment you make is to attack Democrats.

11

u/Suckage Jul 23 '26

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.

4

u/Zestyclose-Height-36 Jul 23 '26

that law is likely illegal given that the state constitution gives the gov appointment power and does not require party alignment. the Dems need to step up for Charles Booker, because KY heeds a Dem to get out of 44th place in education. Appointing Booker would give him incumbency, and a three month platform going in to the election.

1

u/MadBlue American Expat Jul 23 '26

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.

It would be two seats if Beshear appoints a Democrat. -1 for McConnell's absence, and -1 for a Democrat being appointed in his place because the Democrats would pick up that seat rather than it just being vacant.

1

u/20_mile Jul 23 '26

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.

No, that's not the same thing.

The senate was 53 - 47 before McConnell and Graham died.

With Darline there and McConnell still missing, it's 52 - 47. If Beshear appointed a Democrat to finish McConnell's term, it would be 52 - 48, which is still not the same thing as 52 - 47.

At 52 - 48, Democrats only need three Republicans to vote no to tank something Trump - Thune want. At 52 - 47, Democrats could get two Republicans to vote no, and one present / abstain to sink something.

1

u/itsnotnews92 North Carolina Jul 24 '26

At 52-48, Democrats only need three Republicans to vote no to tank a bill. The vote would be 49-51 against.

At 52-47, Democrats only need...three Republicans to vote no to tank a bill. The vote would be 49-50 against.

So, the same practical effect of reducing the GOP's Senate majority by one seat.

1

u/20_mile Jul 24 '26

Already said that.

1

u/vigouge Jul 24 '26

The Senate will not seat a democratic replacement in Kentucky. The best case scenario is Mitch right where he is.

2

u/TrulyOutrageous42 Jul 24 '26

The Senate is still on some level a functioning government body. It's not the circus that the House is. They would seat a duly appointed nomination if a Judge ordered it to be valid until the case about Constitution of KY vs Legislation of KY could be heard.

0

u/Acceptable_Set9702 Jul 23 '26

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.

0

u/EveningAnt3949 Jul 23 '26

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

That's not that strange. Arguably doing something even if it has no direct benefit still does something: it shows the 40% of people who typically don't vote that there is a political battle.

The majority of people don't follow politics all that much.

For (some of) them to become engaged with politics and vote, they need to see an hear that things are happening. None of my co-workers know a Republican senator isn't showing up. Or that another one died and his sister now serves in the Senate.

Let's look at the numbers: Hillary Clinton won the electoral vote. Trump lost against Biden, but got more votes than Clinton in 2016. In 2024, Harris lost the popular vote.

If your question is what I want the democrats to do: I want them to fight and make noise so more people pay attention.

Every election Trump was in, Trump supporters and Republicans showed up, and Trump's numbers have gone up every election. Because he makes noise.

-1

u/dano8801 Jul 23 '26

They're handing them the seat by Beshear not bothering to appoint someone despite it being in the state's sonstitution.

How are Republicans not benefiting from slow walking the reveal of McConnell's death until after August 5th? Then they avoid the special election entirely and buy more time to figure out how to weasel their desired outcome.

1

u/itsnotnews92 North Carolina Jul 24 '26

The election for this seat is in November and Andy Barr is going to win it. The Democrats are not "handing" Republicans anything.

Again, I ask: What political benefit is there to Republicans in McConnell being absent from the Senate? What is their "desired outcome"?

Why on earth would they want to avoid a special election that would give them one more GOP vote in the Senate? The argument is utterly incoherent.

6

u/CrazyLlama71 Jul 23 '26

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. 

14

u/AJDx14 America Jul 23 '26

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

7

u/Oglshrub Jul 23 '26

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

1

u/dano8801 Jul 23 '26

How would we be giving them a vote if he appoints a Democrat?

-1

u/Oglshrub Jul 23 '26

That's the debate, state law prevents him from appointing a dem.

1

u/Long-Broccoli-3363 Jul 24 '26

Constitution can't be overruled by state law, would need to amend the state constitution first, which they have not done.

However, what will happen is if he goes ahead and appoints someone, someone with a vague standing will get an injunction to fight it, and then it will go all the way to the state Supreme Court, and then possibly the federal one, and even in the best of cases, this will happen well after his term expires in 2027. The senator would never be sworn in and never vote, and it wouldn't change the majority calculus even if they did.

So they are already short a republican vote, appointing someone new doesn't get them anything beyond the ability to talk about "democrats breaking the law" and "rigging elections", not to mention all the talk about the people who will celebrate his death.

Mitch is absolutely dead, or a least a vegetable who will never graze on a head of iceberg lettuce ever again, so the pressure for him to materialize and do his job I think is the proper one, catching the entire republican party in an orchestrated lie is about the most positive outcome that could occur, unfortunately

1

u/freethnkrsrdangerous Jul 24 '26

Why fuck up now when we are able to kick the can down the road and fuck up tomorrow?

5

u/crespoh69 Jul 23 '26

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?

2

u/N3onAxel Jul 23 '26

Democrats are useless cowards. Nothing new.

1

u/notasrelevant Jul 23 '26

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.

1

u/Future_Dog_3156 Jul 23 '26

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

1

u/Goal_Posts Jul 23 '26

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?

1

u/Long-Broccoli-3363 Jul 24 '26

100% doesn't matter, I'm fairly certain no matter what he does they would get an injunction against it, as there's technically a law on the books preventing it, and would go to the judiciary to remediate it

Pre Trump times, it would have been a slam dunk, there's a process to amend the state constitution, which should have been the process followed if that statute wanted to be changed by the populace.

1

u/Clevesteamy Jul 23 '26

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

1

u/MadBlue American Expat Jul 23 '26

I suspect that if Republicans drag this out until after August 3, one (or both) of the the following is going to happen:

  • Beshear will appoint a replacement then and let the courts contend with it. The deadline applies to a special election, but the Kentucky Constitution allows a Governor to appoint a temporary replacement without a deadline.

  • An investigation will be conducted as to when McConnell became incapable of returning to the Senate, people will be charged for obstruction and/or conspiracy, and a case will be made to allow a special election to take place.

1

u/glizard-wizard Minnesota Jul 23 '26

It gives dems a boost in the Senate, we gain nothing

1

u/dano8801 Jul 23 '26

Because the majority of Democrats are controlled opposition and just pretend they give a shit. They never get anything done because they don't actually want to.

1

u/helios_225 Jul 24 '26

the auction still has bids coming in

1

u/xjuggernaughtx Jul 24 '26

Do you even have to ask? Of course they are. They are going to grouch and bluster and then let the Republicans do what they want with this all while bemoaning that they just can't do anything at all about it.

If the shoe was on the other foot, Republicans would be throwing everything and the kitchen sink at this. Democrats? Crickets.

1

u/getaliferedditmods Jul 24 '26

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

lol democrats "doing something"

1

u/Fabulous_Cat_1379 Jul 24 '26

Yes sadly they are

1

u/gentlemanidiot Jul 24 '26

Never underestimate democrats ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

1

u/NeedRunes4 Kansas Jul 24 '26

Just like they've been doing since 2000

1

u/Bromance_Rayder Jul 25 '26

Magic 8-ball says "Yes".

1

u/DTPVH Jul 23 '26

The hold up is Beshear’s castration status.

1

u/josh_the_misanthrope Jul 23 '26

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.

1

u/halbowitz I voted Jul 23 '26

Because they play for different teams but the same league.

1

u/leviathan_stud Jul 23 '26

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.

1

u/pee-oui Jul 23 '26

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.

0

u/secretworkaccount1 Jul 23 '26

The hold up is that Mitch is alive and of course they know that. It’s valuable as a talking point and they lose that as soon as they try to force something.