The fight to succeed Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the top Republican in the Senate, is escalating. Candidates exchange ideas, commitments and funding in exchange for the support of their colleagues.
One suggestion that sparked Hill’s debate: A small number of vocal supporters Limit the terms of Republican leaders. Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) have publicly voiced this view. Another candidate, Sen. John Thune (D-La.), said: Said “I’m not opposed to having that conversation, but there’s a lot to think about,” he said.
If conservatives want to influence the state, they must seek power and use it aggressively.
However, there is good reason to put the brakes on this kind of Tea Party thinking: power, pure and simple.
But first, some history (or sentimentality) What’s behind the idea. Americans have a certain fondness for the concept, dating back to the 1787 Constitutional debates. At the time, anti-federalists like Thomas Jefferson supported legislating term limits for Congress and the executive branch, which they argued would curb the corrupting tendencies of power. They lost the debate, but President George Washington voluntarily retired after two terms, shocking the world with the historic precedent he set. Since then, term limits have enjoyed a romantic reputation in America.
We finally enacted a two-term presidential limit in 1951 (despite protests from President Harry S. Truman and subsequent criticism from Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton), but how necessary was it? And how effective was it? President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the first (and last) president to serve four terms in the White House, but fewer than half of his predecessors sought and were elected to a second term. Of those presidents, only Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt sought a third term, but both were unsuccessful.
Impeachment, assassination, old age, and plain old unpopularity have all acted as powerful checks in themselves since the 22nd Amendment was ratified. And yet the legend lives on.
“The Tea Party obsession with term limits is never going to go away,” one longtime senator aide told The Blaze News. “Everybody thinks they’ve found the only way to save the institution.”
In fairness to his supporters, McConnell in 2024 is a shuffle ad. Regarding term limits. The longest-serving leader in parliamentary history has used his 17 years in power to amass enormous power, building something of a third party in the process, and will effectively have to succeed him when he steps down as leader in November.
He’s not alone in this success: On the other side of the aisle, former Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada) built an equally powerful force, leading the Democratic Party for 12 years until his retirement.
But what’s the real issue here? Reid’s deep knowledge of the Senate — its history, its procedures, its machinations — was the envy of conservatives for a decade. So was McConnell, whose ability to use the tools of his office to press demands, force concessions and exert influence was feared by Democrats at the time.
Their example of power is worthy of the envy they generate. If conservatives want to influence the nation, they must seek power and use it aggressively. Their supporters sent them to Washington to change the country’s course, not to invent new norms that negate the experience and expertise of competent Republican leadership.
“The Democratic Party never [term limits]”So they’re putting themselves at a disadvantage,” a Washington politician and longtime Republican leader told The Blaze News. He noted that many of the conservatives who want to revive Democrats’ court fights seem to want “this restraint here.” There’s an irony there.
Conservatives have refrained from fighting back for decades, repeatedly warning that the power they have gained could one day be used against them. But that day will pass, and like the rising sun, it will come again and again every day. No matter what non-aggressive position conservatives try to tether themselves to, power will be used.
Term limits only weaken party leaders. If conservatives want to win, they want strong leaders who align with their values, not weak ones. The only time we burn down a captured fort is when we can no longer defend it. If the American right wants to stop sniping from the woods, they’d better start taking and defending forts.
Daily Caller: Senate Republicans back major reforms to prevent a repeat of the McConnell era
Federalist Society: Would term limits make any difference?
Bedford: McConnell’s retirement marks end of disastrous Bush era
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In other news
Hunter Biden’s Foolish Conviction
Hunter Biden was guilty of lying on a gun declaration. It was a strange case, even though his guilt was clear. Why? Because very few people are charged with this crime alone. You see it added to crimes like bank robbery and shooting, not just storing a gun in a box.
This reality lends credence to Democratic complaints that this is only happening because Hunter Biden is the president’s son. They’re right about that, but not in the way they think.
Hunter Biden has been given a lot of special treatment as the president’s son, including special treatment to stay out of trouble on both gun and tax evasion charges, as well as future investigations related to the millions of dollars he made overseas. But it was all too much, and it exploded last year when a judge hesitated, forcing special counsel David Weiss to work desperately to save face. Biden could have been charged with many other crimes, including alleged violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, but delays by the Department of Justice meant that only the simple gun case moved forward.
Well, Hunter is now answering some pretty frivolous charges, and next up is the tax charges, which he will likely be convicted of as well unless (spoiler alert) he takes a plea deal first.
(And prepare for Hunter’s conviction to become an argument for Democrats as they try to send former President Donald Trump to prison.)
audience: CNN hosts have to ask Biden tough questions about Hunter
Blaze News: Hunter Biden: Convicted Felon
Fires rising: Don’t crowd: Nigel Farage’s troops are marching forward
There is a lot of talk going around about the right wing coming to power in the European Union elections, but that’s not true, because the European Parliament doesn’t have much “power” to begin with.
What’s important to note is the mood of the voters who sent them there, and that mood is anger: angry at unbridled immigration, angry at environmental policies, angry at the disappearance of their values and culture, angry that no one in power is listening to them.
Their voices will be heard in the coming elections. And across the pond, too. British voters are furious that the Conservative government has not delivered Brexit, restricted immigration, lowered taxes and done nothing to improve Britain’s standard of living. Tom McTeigue reports:
Much has changed in just a week. Last Saturday I watched as Nigel Farage’s ragtag band of rebels in Great Yarmouth struggled to muster a final assault on the fortress of Westminster. Deep down they somehow knew it would fail. But now, seven days later, the wall protecting the Conservative Party has been breached, Farage’s supporters are on the march, and the smell of revolution is in the air. …
… [This] This week, some of the nation’s leading pollsters are predicting not just a predictable easy Labour victory, but an extinction-level event for the Conservatives. And that event is being driven not by unprecedented support for Labour, but by an unprecedented and steep decline in Conservative support, with much of it migrating directly to the Reform Party….
…”[The Conservative Party] “We had a great majority and we squandered it.” It’s hard to argue with her. The same party that was elected four times to reduce debt, taxes and immigration has instead exploded all three. And at the same time, living standards have barely improved since 2008 and public services have deteriorated. It’s no wonder that voters keep pressing the button to blow up the system, only to be angry when they discover the dynamite isn’t working at all.
