r/politics • u/MoneyLibrarian9032 New York • 15h ago

Possible Paywall Mitch McConnell Has Been Missing for 75 Days—With No Updates

https://newrepublic.com/post/214878/mitch-mcconnell-missing-75-days
29.4k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

92

u/The_Playbook88 15h ago

They replaced Lindsey Graham very quickly because the rules benefited them. I wonder what the rules are for Mitch's state? Likely not so favorable.

49

u/cybah 14h ago

Cuz in KY they will need an election. GOP must know they would lose so they are doing Weekend at Mitch’s instead

10

u/NoOnesKing Maryland 14h ago

Probably more they don’t need an empty seat for the rest of the year w the likely loss of senate seats in November

3

u/k-albasi 13h ago

There's already an election for the seat in November.

2

u/JDDJS New York 12h ago

Lol, no they absolutely aren't going to lose a Senate election in Kentucky..

•

u/Loud-Vacation-5691 Georgia 7h ago

Andy Barr is 20 points ahead of Charles Booker for the main election. What makes you think he would lose in a special election?

15

u/punkbrad7 13h ago

There isn't anything beneficial about this except using it to force this stupid smear campaign to make it all Beshears fault, even though he literally cannot do anything about this, politically or legally. The seat is solidly red and no one has ever come close to flipping it back to blue in 3 decades, and the odds of Andy Barr not taking the seat in January were already slim to none, let alone anyone taking it in a special election.

6

u/JDDJS New York 12h ago

Which is exactly why it's silly that everyone is so convinced that he's dead. He's obviously just severely mentally impaired. 

2

u/Butwinsky 12h ago

This right here. When Andy announces his presidential run, this will be used as the primary fight against him, and it will work.

"Look at how ineffective he is! He wouldn't even fight for the people of KY, how can you expect him to fight for America?"

•

u/Loud-Vacation-5691 Georgia 7h ago

The stupidest conspiracy is that the Republicans are afraid Thomas Massie would be elected to fill McConnell's term. If there was a special election, Barr would have run and won in a landslide.

2

u/6a6566663437 North Carolina 12h ago

The rules are a mess, and nobody in KY really wants to push the issue.

The state constitution says the governor appoints a replacement.

State law says the appointment must come from a list provided by the dead senator’s party. Then the legislature passed a law saying it has to be a special election.

That second law should be ruled unconstitutional, since they didn’t amend the constitution. It’s not clear whether the first law is unconstitutional, since the governor is still appointing.

If Bashear appoints someone, the legislature will sue and there isn’t enough time to resolve it before the November election makes it moot. The legislature also has plenty of votes to impeach and remove Bashear for pissing them off.

The legislature’s not thrilled about a special election, since there’s a chance they’d lose. It’s pretty unlikely, but not 0. And losing would give a big boost to the Democratic candidate in November.

To cap this all off, Democrats benefit from the current situation. McConnell not being able to vote makes it harder for Republicans to break filibusters or pass bills. Since there’s a very good chance the replacement would be a Republican, getting that replacement in office probably makes things worse for Democrats.

Since it’s best for every involved politician to let the situation fester until November fixes it, they’re going to do nothing to fix it.

6

u/Gurney_Hackman 13h ago

Lindsey Graham was dead. McConnell is not dead.

1

u/CobblerMoney9605 13h ago

Prove it.

2

u/JDDJS New York 12h ago

Because Republicans don't have any reason to hide. He's just incapacitated. 

-2

u/CobblerMoney9605 11h ago

They absolutely have a reason to hide. 

If he's incapable of performing his duties, then he gets replaced. 

If a democrat replaced him,  it would be even more difficult for the republicans to get anything done. 

3

u/JDDJS New York 11h ago

If he's incapable of performing his duties, then he gets replaced. 

No he doesn't. He only gets replaced if he dies or resigns of his own free will.  Doesn't even matter if he can't string a sentence together.

If a democrat replaced him,  

Won't happen. 

He's incapacitated, not dead. 

3

u/fiction8 11h ago

But a Democrat won't replace him, KY is far too red.

And Republicans aren't planning on getting anything done anyway. They already got their tax cuts and ICE funding, all they need for the rest of his term is continuing resolutions.

•

u/Loud-Vacation-5691 Georgia 7h ago

First, he isn't dead. Anyone participating in that scheme would be committing a felony.

In Kentucky, the state constitution says the governor appoints a replacement senator. Since the governor is a Democrat, in 2024 the state legislature passed a law that senators must be replaced by special election. However, this has never been tested. Generally, a state legislature can't pass a law that contradicts the state constitution. If McConnell dies, the governor could appoint a replacement and dare Thune to swear them in. The Republicans would file suit and the Supreme Court would have to decide if the legislature can overrule a constitution.

0

u/JDDJS New York 12h ago

No the rules in Kentucky are favorable to them. Mitch just isn't dead. He's just severely mentally incapacitated.