1 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:21,120 We're back with another edition of The Federalist Radio Hour. I'm Emily Dashinsky, 2 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:23,879 culture editor here at the Federalist. As always, you can email the show 3 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,879 at radio at the Federalist dot com, follow us on exit fdr LST. 4 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,079 Make sure to subscribe wherever you download your podcasts, and of course to the 5 00:00:31,079 --> 00:00:35,359 premium version of our website as well. I'm joined today by Christopher Bedford of 6 00:00:35,399 --> 00:00:41,000 the Common Sense Society. We have year old Natty lights in our hands that 7 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,200 we kept in what I've dubbed the beer drawer. They had been in there 8 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,560 for a while, but our colleague Eddy Scarry had recently moved them to the 9 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:53,479 fridge, and we thought on this heroically heroically moved them to the fridge. 10 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:57,960 So we're about to find out what's happened in the last I think it's probably 11 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:03,920 been like sixteen months to the these natty lights in honor of Mitch McConnell's retirement 12 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,040 announcement. So, Chris, are you ready? Yeah, taste tests time. 13 00:01:07,159 --> 00:01:14,239 I'll let Crisco first cheers. It's just delicious. It's the same great 14 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:19,319 taste since nineteen seventy seven, brewed in America. Naturally, late tastes just 15 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,599 like water, like sex in a canoe. Okay, well, I don't 16 00:01:23,599 --> 00:01:29,680 know that it's appropriate even to be toasting the sort of retirement announcement of Mitch 17 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:34,879 McConnell yesterday, because, to be honest, the odds that McConnell is replaced 18 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,200 by as everyone is now enjoying one of the three John's, John Cornyn, 19 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:44,519 John Thune or John Barrasso, but particularly John Thune or John Barrasso. How 20 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:49,000 does this work? Does does Zelenski get to pick the next just who gets 21 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:53,400 to a point the new Mitch? Is it Zelenski? I don't know. 22 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:59,079 That's a good question. I don't know. You think Zelenski gets to a 23 00:01:59,159 --> 00:02:02,680 point the next the senator from Ukraine steps down, Ki's still in power, 24 00:02:04,879 --> 00:02:08,840 and then Zelensky chooses John Dune. Yeah, maybe that's right. No, 25 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:14,759 No, I mean I actually think you'd be You would have a hard time 26 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:21,719 with maybe the exception of Lindsay Graham finding somebody as dedicated to defending every centimeter 27 00:02:21,879 --> 00:02:24,199 of the dombas as Mitch McConnell himself is. Well, I mean, it 28 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:28,159 depends on which version of Lindsay Graham you get. He's like one of those 29 00:02:28,199 --> 00:02:32,719 last actual politicians. He'll never commit to a vote. For example, when 30 00:02:32,719 --> 00:02:37,280 he's talking to his colleagues, he'll never say, you have my vote on 31 00:02:37,319 --> 00:02:39,439 this. He's like, that's where I'm leaning. So so I think, 32 00:02:39,479 --> 00:02:46,360 actually, I mean much McConnell's staked his legacy to the war in Ukraine. 33 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:51,879 He really did, which is why he moved, because it's that there's not 34 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:55,439 even anyone in DC who's saying that the extra sixty million dollars would allow Ukraine 35 00:02:55,479 --> 00:02:59,400 to win. No, literally, nobody's making that argument. It's just making 36 00:02:59,439 --> 00:03:01,960 the argument this is essential for them not to lose. But you're right, 37 00:03:02,159 --> 00:03:07,120 and actually Mitch McConnell's legacy being pinned to Ukraine is going to intensify I think 38 00:03:07,159 --> 00:03:10,479 between now and November. I think that's partially why he made this announcement when 39 00:03:10,479 --> 00:03:15,199 he did, because he is now going to use this as a bargaining chip, 40 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:19,240 I think, and then they sort of I mean, some people might 41 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,520 call it, yeah, but he's going to fight for every dollar that he 42 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:28,560 wants to get Ukraine over the next several months. There's a question about it. 43 00:03:29,039 --> 00:03:34,800 There's a lot of rumors going around over what exactly caused Misch McConnell's resignation. 44 00:03:35,479 --> 00:03:38,039 I mean, well, let's start with this, because actually that's actually 45 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:40,080 exactly where I wanted to start. One, what you're hearing, I'll say 46 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:44,120 what i've heard. We've probably heard the same thing from people on the hill. 47 00:03:44,199 --> 00:03:46,439 And then two, I want to take a walk down memory lane so 48 00:03:46,479 --> 00:03:50,439 that we can kind of have come away with an accurate picture of the arc 49 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,759 of Mitch McConnell's career. And there's a lot to talk about with the tea 50 00:03:53,759 --> 00:03:55,960 party. So start you start with what you're hearing. And I think, 51 00:03:57,039 --> 00:04:00,360 I mean, I've heard it from you maybe off for me, from Sean 52 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:02,120 and from some other people, and I'm actually I've actually I'm not so sure 53 00:04:02,159 --> 00:04:05,680 about it. How do you mean, well, say it off at lot 54 00:04:05,719 --> 00:04:10,919 fish, Okay, So Sean say your truth. It's not my truth. 55 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:15,879 It's the truth as told to as Sean reported it out yesterday, which is 56 00:04:15,639 --> 00:04:21,360 that Senate insiders are saying this is in some ways a power grab from Mitch 57 00:04:21,439 --> 00:04:27,839 McConnell because he could step down now. Right. Mitch McConnell yesterday said that 58 00:04:27,879 --> 00:04:30,800 one of the great like hallmarks of leadership, and I'm paraphrasing, is knowing 59 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:35,240 when to hang up your hat, which is sort of hilarious because since you 60 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:39,839 know, around twenty fourteen, and again Mitch McConnell said in his speech that 61 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:45,759 for all of his faults, reading the political tone of the moment is not 62 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:47,800 one of them. He's actually good at understanding politics. But again, since 63 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:53,879 about twenty fourteen, Mitch McConnell has been consistently wrong about the political wins. 64 00:04:54,079 --> 00:04:57,959 So anyway, all that is to say, Mitch McConnell comes out and claims 65 00:04:57,959 --> 00:05:00,759 that he has this great skill of knowing when to hang up his hat, 66 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:06,160 but is not giving up his Senate seat and is only resigning from his purchase 67 00:05:06,199 --> 00:05:14,160 Senate Minority leader in November, and Senate insiders told Sean that it really because 68 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,399 of that, because he now gets to cling to power through another election cycle, 69 00:05:17,519 --> 00:05:20,680 and he is very powerful in these election cycles. In some sense, 70 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:25,160 it's a power grab. He'll also be able to basically groom a replacement and 71 00:05:25,199 --> 00:05:29,480 make it very clear, and he's you know, he's he is cunning, 72 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,240 So he can, you know, to some extent read the political tea leaves 73 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,040 and know that one of the names that's been sort of thrown around is like 74 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:39,240 a Tom Cotton, who has been close to McConnell. Even if he is 75 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:42,399 also a guy who's introduced a minimum wage bill and been close with kind of 76 00:05:42,399 --> 00:05:47,000 the populist wing, Mitch McConnell knows who's going to carry on his foreign policy 77 00:05:47,079 --> 00:05:50,759 legacy, that's for sure. Is that similar to what you've heard? Uh, 78 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,120 yeah, I've heard that a little bit. But I was referring to 79 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,399 more was how he was forced out at the end by because he knew his 80 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,000 days were numbered. Yes, that's a great point. There's a group of 81 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:04,480 kind of his conservative senators who've been starting the band together more and more, 82 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,839 like the way the Freedom Caucus does, and it's much bigger than it used 83 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:12,279 to. It used to just back in the day it was like Helms the 84 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,439 mint later and then it sort of grew. He had the wacko birds, 85 00:06:15,439 --> 00:06:18,680 But now it's more and more people who are doing this, and they were 86 00:06:18,759 --> 00:06:24,759 kind of taking credit for uh being able to push him out. But I 87 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:28,759 actually think there's a couple of things that have combined to lead to what I 88 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:33,720 what is an intelligent play by him. It wasn't the hard right, the 89 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:38,519 American right that has always disliked him that pushed him out. It was the 90 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:43,160 rank and file who lost faith in his leadership ability after the immigration debacle. 91 00:06:44,079 --> 00:06:46,959 I mean, he put Republicans in a really bad spot, and he's continued 92 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:51,000 to put them in a bad spot. Mitchmacono doesn't care about these ten or 93 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:56,839 so senators. He cares about the other twenty five another another twenty five who 94 00:06:56,879 --> 00:07:00,000 might say, hey, you know what we're done with you, and would 95 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:08,680 have allowed those ten and ten hardliners to actually be able to push him out 96 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:14,399 beforehand. I think, yeah, it's intelligent because he staves off that coup, 97 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:18,000 from that rebellion from a lot of the more moderate Republicans who do not 98 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:25,600 want to see the Republican Senate descend into the disarray that they've seen in the 99 00:07:25,639 --> 00:07:30,519 House over the speakership battles. They don't want to see that. They'd rather 100 00:07:30,639 --> 00:07:33,839 just go as long as miss McConnell says he's leaving, then they'll say, 101 00:07:33,839 --> 00:07:38,560 we just wait in November. And in the meantime, Mitch McConnell controls a 102 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:43,120 huge amount of money, He controls where it goes. He maintains that power, 103 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:46,279 and he puts an end date on it, which means that there's no 104 00:07:46,639 --> 00:07:50,879 actual rebellion. He gets to leave on his own terms and takes the wind 105 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:56,399 out of the sales of those rebels, who, to their credit, finally 106 00:07:56,439 --> 00:08:00,160 got to a place where everyone else said, yeah, you're right. But 107 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:05,000 he also like, we can't overlook the fact that this is not you know, 108 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,199 sixty five year old Mitch mcconnald losing power. No, he can, 109 00:08:07,279 --> 00:08:13,879 he can barely walk. He needs age to get through meetings. But he 110 00:08:13,959 --> 00:08:16,639 knew when to hang up his hat. Chris. The freezing in public that 111 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:18,600 we've seen is just what's caught in public, and you see him less and 112 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:24,120 less in public, in private and in meetings. He's really just not where 113 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,839 he was where he was. I mean, we're seeing this in national stage 114 00:08:26,879 --> 00:08:31,959 with Joe Biden. It's not as bad as that, but he's not capable 115 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:35,480 of holding on. So you combine all that and you've got it's time to 116 00:08:35,519 --> 00:08:39,080 hang up your hat. A little while ago, he also reached the record 117 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:45,360 of longest serving party leader in the Senate, Yes, which was something he 118 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:50,399 really went after. Yeah, that's another good point. And your point about 119 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,799 the brewing mutiny is a really really important one, if not the most important 120 00:08:54,799 --> 00:08:58,360 one. What we saw after the open border deal that was broken between Mitch 121 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:03,360 mcconnald's Langford, Chuck Schumer, and ostensibly Joe Biden to the extend that Joe 122 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:05,960 Biden and Mitch McConnell are able to negotiate such things. It was such a 123 00:09:07,039 --> 00:09:09,399 joke and and embarrassment. You even had people that are very close to McConnell, 124 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,120 like John Corny and ultimately even McConnell himself saying, you know, the 125 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:18,240 politics have changed, which is just another idiotic statement, like a week after 126 00:09:18,279 --> 00:09:22,519 the bill came out, saying the politics have changed. Like where were you 127 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,879 for the last and the Gang of six or Gang of eight or whatever they 128 00:09:26,879 --> 00:09:30,080 were called. Yeah, that was twenty twelve. Yeah, that was years 129 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:31,919 and years ago. Well this is a great well I was going to say, 130 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:39,720 that's discovered that. Yeah. So this Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rick 131 00:09:39,799 --> 00:09:41,679 Scott, it really started with Rick Scott and Chris. You and I were 132 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:45,519 there a few years back. This must have been three years ago at this 133 00:09:45,519 --> 00:09:48,399 point. We were at a meeting with Rick Scott when some of the stuff 134 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:54,279 started to brew over and Rick Scott at the time was confident that other senators 135 00:09:54,399 --> 00:09:58,759 rank and file senators were losing faith in Mitch McConnell, not just sort of 136 00:09:58,799 --> 00:10:03,879 your hardcore conservatives, but that there was a vibe shift when it came to 137 00:10:03,919 --> 00:10:07,440 Mitch McConnell. It wasn't you know, the heady days of the Kavanaugh victory 138 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:13,480 or the Merrick Garland victory, which didn't Mitch McConnell go on to recommend Merrick 139 00:10:13,519 --> 00:10:18,519 Garland like for AG. Yeah, so that was a futures Mitch McConnell had 140 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:26,320 given his most vicious and devastating attacking speech maybe of of his late career against 141 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:31,279 Donald Trump. Yes, and Mitch McConnell who'd stuck to that even though it 142 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:33,879 was becoming clear that that was not where the rest of the party was, 143 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:41,799 and he really spared himself from the legacy tarnishing public mutiny that could have easily 144 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:45,279 and I think probably would have bubbled to the surface. We saw just in 145 00:10:45,279 --> 00:10:48,399 the last month after that immigration deal fell apart, a lot of people finally 146 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:52,840 speaking out, people who had said this in private or had indicated it to 147 00:10:52,879 --> 00:10:56,639 people like Rick Scott or Ted Cruz indicated privately. Ten we know ten senators 148 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:01,919 voted against Mitch McConnell becoming minority leader. Just what a year ago somewhere around 149 00:11:01,919 --> 00:11:07,840 there. So again, after that immigration deal fell apart, Mitch McConnell and 150 00:11:07,879 --> 00:11:13,039 the Senate still has this really heavy lift of if you're Mitch McConnell getting that 151 00:11:13,159 --> 00:11:18,519 Ukraine funding pass, but having House Republicans and people like Mike Lee insisting that 152 00:11:18,559 --> 00:11:22,720 there's border security, but a Democratic party that is so utterly broken it cannot 153 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:28,039 come to the table on meaningful border security because it cannot give up open borders, 154 00:11:28,039 --> 00:11:31,919 It cannot give up on asylum. When Obama detained families per the law 155 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,720 as part of a strategy to determine Yeah, Obama started this. This is 156 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,879 what I'm saying. This is what I'm saying. So Democrats now could never 157 00:11:39,919 --> 00:11:43,200 put kids in cages, so called kids in cages again they do. How 158 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:46,639 do you mean they're still detained at the borders as you don't get the same 159 00:11:46,639 --> 00:11:50,360 photograph. No, No, they let them go though that's the thing. 160 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:52,679 They don't detain them until they process their asylum claims. They let them go, 161 00:11:54,159 --> 00:11:58,600 so they can't they cannot in any way take meaningful steps to secure the 162 00:11:58,639 --> 00:12:01,480 border. And so it's an impossible conundrum for Mitch McConnell Over the next few 163 00:12:01,519 --> 00:12:05,960 months and so yes, there is a cunning aspect to this. I think 164 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:09,759 Mitch McConnell's sort of strategic genius is wildly overstated, but the strategy here is 165 00:12:09,759 --> 00:12:13,360 smart. He would have faced a really rough year ahead of him, There's 166 00:12:13,399 --> 00:12:18,480 no question about it. Physically frail, his conference is starting to totally lose 167 00:12:18,879 --> 00:12:24,960 a fat him. He'd just betrayed nominee No, and he just betrayed other 168 00:12:26,279 --> 00:12:31,159 senators by putting them in this positions with this bill, which Democrats immediately started 169 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,480 running ads on saying Republicans turned down an immigration bill, which is exactly the 170 00:12:35,519 --> 00:12:37,799 trap that Chuck Schumer intentionally set. Chuck Schumer knew that bill was not going 171 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,200 to pass. We talked about this at the time, and Mitch McConnell allowed 172 00:12:41,639 --> 00:12:45,840 his party to be used as the useful idiots by the Democrats who were wildly 173 00:12:45,919 --> 00:12:50,679 unserious on immigration. All to fund Ukraine, all to fund Ukraine. It's 174 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:56,440 disgusting. He's the Republican I choose, but that it is now, and 175 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:03,799 the goodwill is more than squandered. History, economics, the great works of 176 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:07,480 literature, the meaning of the US Constitution. Did you study these things in 177 00:13:07,519 --> 00:13:11,279 school? Probably not, or if you're like me, maybe it's just time 178 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:13,879 for a refresher. Even if you did study them. If you listen to 179 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:16,480 this podcast, you know I talk all the time. I don't know that 180 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:20,960 I actually studied these things with the best content in the first place. Time 181 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:24,759 and technology have changed a lot of things, but they have not changed basic 182 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:28,000 fundamental truths about the world and our place in it. 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That's Hillsdale dot edu slash Federalist to register Hillsdale dot 200 00:14:41,559 --> 00:14:48,440 edu slash Federalist. So, speaking of Marcar Rubio, this is a segue 201 00:14:48,679 --> 00:14:54,279 into the kind of arc of McConnell's career. Now, Mitch McConnell has been 202 00:14:54,279 --> 00:14:56,960 in politics longer than just the Tea Party. He long predates the Tea Party. 203 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,440 But the Tea Party was sort of the apex of McConnell's power in Washington, 204 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:07,120 or McConnell's influence over the Republican Party, because he hadn't really lost any 205 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:09,679 goodwill with Conservatives at that point to my knowledge, Chris, you may have 206 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:13,240 a different understanding of this time period. I'm sure there were some cracks in 207 00:15:13,279 --> 00:15:18,840 the foundation, but Marco Rubio yesterday just tweeted sort of like a squeamish face 208 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:26,080 emoji after the news broke, which immediately conjures the fact that Mitch McConnell this 209 00:15:26,279 --> 00:15:31,320 genius at reading political tea leaves. He's still to this day self aggrandizing as 210 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:37,720 a master of reading the political tea leaves of understanding where the political winds are 211 00:15:37,759 --> 00:15:45,639 going. He endorsed Charlie Christ over Marco Rubio in Rubio's initial Senate run down 212 00:15:45,639 --> 00:15:48,559 in Florida. Charlie Christ. This was two thousand and nine, Rubio one 213 00:15:48,559 --> 00:15:52,720 in twenty ten. In twenty twelve, Charlie Crist just openly came out as 214 00:15:52,879 --> 00:15:56,720 a Democrat and has been a raging Democrat. However, has openly come out. 215 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:02,799 He's openly come out as a man who loves as a Democrat. He 216 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:08,639 came out of the closet as a much tannerman. But he loves to endorse 217 00:16:08,879 --> 00:16:15,399 people who are anti sort of populist wing or and Tea Party was absolutely a 218 00:16:15,399 --> 00:16:19,519 populist movement. But so he also endorsed this is another great one, Arlen 219 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:26,159 Spector, Arlin Spector, and this is all in the same like two year 220 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:30,240 time period and moved to twenty fourteen. He endorsed at the time the state 221 00:16:30,279 --> 00:16:33,759 treasurer over Rand Paul, so he really lost a lot of go well, 222 00:16:33,799 --> 00:16:37,759 him and Rand just go way back. I mean they didn't like each other 223 00:16:37,799 --> 00:16:41,519 at all at first. And that was a little while when Mitch McConnell was 224 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:52,600 getting primaried by Bevin Yes, where Mitch McConnell worked really hard to try and 225 00:16:52,879 --> 00:16:56,360 pretend to be friends with Ram Paul. I remember that. That was one 226 00:16:56,399 --> 00:17:04,599 of my first like really hostile calls with a comm staffer was I had to 227 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,720 cancel going to a cookout that weekend because he was going to be there in 228 00:17:07,799 --> 00:17:12,119 the host said please don't come. An old enough friend. He was an 229 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,599 old enough friend who was hosting, so he could call me and be like, 230 00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:18,400 this is a work relationship that's coming. I can't tell him not to 231 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,240 come. You and I were in the same fraternity together, Like I can 232 00:17:21,279 --> 00:17:22,759 tell you, like, don't come, that's fine, to stay away. 233 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:33,240 But a senior age to Rand Paul had told me that that Mitch quote Effine 234 00:17:33,279 --> 00:17:37,519 hates him. Oh I know who that was, And I ran it and 235 00:17:37,599 --> 00:17:41,400 the McConnell. People called me saying it's not true, it's not true. 236 00:17:41,799 --> 00:17:44,519 How dare you? I was like, what do you mean, how dare 237 00:17:44,559 --> 00:17:48,200 you? It's like, you have to retract it. I it's a quote. 238 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:52,599 You have to take that back. It's not true. It's a quote. 239 00:17:52,599 --> 00:17:53,599 Why don't you send me something to add to this? And they were 240 00:17:53,599 --> 00:17:56,559 flipping out, what have I said? Chris Badford Beach's wife, And I 241 00:17:56,559 --> 00:18:00,440 was like, I don't. I don't have a wife, doesn't. He 242 00:18:00,519 --> 00:18:03,599 kept talking so mad that he would hang up and then call me back when 243 00:18:03,599 --> 00:18:07,799 you calm down. And that's when Alex Pappus, now in book publishing, 244 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:11,680 taught me the trick of just telling people I hear you, man, I 245 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:15,200 hear you man, which is not a commitment to do anything. It just 246 00:18:15,799 --> 00:18:19,400 makes them feel like they've been heard, validates them. Men need that, 247 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:22,960 they need to be heard. What actually kind of works? It didn't really 248 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,720 work in this this this case, but it was true. They hated each 249 00:18:26,759 --> 00:18:32,039 other. They really just like and it's kind of come out since you see 250 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:36,759 they don't pretend to love any to have that love loss anymore. Butvin ended 251 00:18:36,839 --> 00:18:41,880 up I guess going on to the governor of Kentucky one term. None of 252 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:44,680 the worry is now, but they're all if you go back, there are 253 00:18:44,759 --> 00:18:48,359 all of these stories in Politico at the time, like c q rowe call 254 00:18:48,559 --> 00:18:52,799 about how Mitch McConnell was leading this like brave campaign to quash the Tea Party. 255 00:18:52,799 --> 00:18:57,440 That's like brave and ruthless, cunning campaign to quash the Tea Party. 256 00:18:57,559 --> 00:19:00,640 And a lot of people were doing that. I mean, if you went 257 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,039 to the yeah you mentioned the wacko birds comment, if you went to the 258 00:19:03,079 --> 00:19:07,640 galas around time, remember I was sitting there at a I think back when 259 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:08,480 I used to go to gala's. I thought it was cool and I couldn't 260 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:14,240 afford my own drinking. Go there and you'd hear speeches from some of these 261 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:18,079 old timers at like Seapac galas saying the Tea Party is a really dangerous movement. 262 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:19,599 I mean, we've made a lot of progress in the Republican Party, 263 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:25,039 done this and that, and these guys they're real rabble rousers. And then 264 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:29,400 there was some point like a lot of power was lost. The party mechanisms 265 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:34,400 lost a lot of power, Outsiders gained more influence, the conservative gad flies 266 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:37,680 became kind of a consolidated thing. And at the end of the day it 267 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:41,079 was misread. I mean, the mandate was misread. They were like, 268 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:45,200 the Tea Party just wants us to be more fiscally conservative. He's like, 269 00:19:45,279 --> 00:19:48,680 no, it turns out it was like a revolt the elites, revolt, 270 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:56,519 revolt of the masses, the late Great uh from Clermont. I'm just gonna 271 00:19:56,519 --> 00:20:02,839 say, Angela condavilla ri torum. There were people maybe New Gingrich has got 272 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:06,319 the cover of the American Spectator piece. Yes, the revolts of the revolt 273 00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:10,279 of the masses. He called it exactly as it was. He sure did. 274 00:20:10,519 --> 00:20:14,720 I'm probably more prescient than anybody. And at the time, again, 275 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,440 yes, there were some even there really were some people, even in the 276 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:22,519 kind of political establishment, that were eagerly latching onto the Tea Party because they 277 00:20:22,559 --> 00:20:25,720 saw young as a way to regulate. Yes, yeah, that's a great 278 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:30,400 example Tarren McCarthy. But at the time, yeah, and Paul Ryan is 279 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,759 a good example of a guy who saw in the Tea Party this sort of 280 00:20:33,839 --> 00:20:38,440 fiscal conservatism, which I think still exists in the populist wing. And I 281 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,200 think you see that a lot with there. I mean absolutely, when you 282 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:47,759 hear people talk like the Freedom Caucus right now is talking consistently, couching consistently, 283 00:20:47,839 --> 00:20:51,519 or framing consistently their opposition to all of this in terms of the national 284 00:20:51,559 --> 00:20:53,640 debt, Like the voters don't care anymore, they never really did. No, 285 00:20:53,759 --> 00:20:57,240 I think there are some voters who care about the and I actually I 286 00:20:57,279 --> 00:21:03,720 think politicians need to putting this into words, but about how we're bankrupting ourselves 287 00:21:03,759 --> 00:21:07,480 for foreign causes, and bankrupting ourselves for the sake of and going into further 288 00:21:07,559 --> 00:21:11,279 debt, borrowing money from places like China, which has like a fifth of 289 00:21:11,319 --> 00:21:14,039 our national debt. Yeah, well, you better come up with better messaging 290 00:21:14,079 --> 00:21:17,640 because that hasn't exactly my entire life, so I don't see it working. 291 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:19,920 No, that's exactly right. And there is some better messaging coming up of 292 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:23,000 people like JD. Vance and actually Tom Cotton is a good example of that 293 00:21:23,039 --> 00:21:27,079 too. But all this is to say, if you were openly trying to 294 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:32,160 quash the Tea Party, and you're somebody who, on the eve of your 295 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:34,000 retirement says, you know, I have a lot of problems, but one 296 00:21:34,039 --> 00:21:41,279 of my problems is not understanding American politics. And you're the guy who staked 297 00:21:41,279 --> 00:21:45,000 out even like you didn't even take the Paul Ryan route on the tea party. 298 00:21:45,559 --> 00:21:48,759 And it wasn't it wasn't merely a moral stance, because Mitch McConnell's moral 299 00:21:48,799 --> 00:21:52,200 stance is about power. And this is one of the things you wanted to 300 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:56,200 talk about, I know, and it's probably the chief criticism of Mitch McConnell. 301 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,000 It's you know, the real problem with Mitch McConnell is not reading American 302 00:22:00,039 --> 00:22:07,359 politics wrong, having immoral sentiments against the American people and the voters of Kentucky 303 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:08,640 that he represents one of the poorest states in the country, one of the 304 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:12,599 most conservative states in the country. That's not the real problem with Mitch McConnell. 305 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:17,599 The problem with Mitch McConnell is that he amassed all of this power and 306 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:23,079 did virtually nothing with it, except for a point some really great judges not 307 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,920 so great judge at all. That was an important battle. The fight Dobbs 308 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,440 is overturned because of Mitch McConnell. Yeah, absolutely, And that's a long 309 00:22:30,519 --> 00:22:34,400 legacy. I mean, Roe was overturned. And that's one thing that he 310 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,240 did really well that I think he gets enough credit for. I have to 311 00:22:38,279 --> 00:22:44,119 say, but what do you think about impeachment? Democrats don't. Republicans often 312 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:49,599 don't want to do the hard grinding work of creating institutions that that van guard 313 00:22:49,599 --> 00:22:53,880 your revolution, and they don't want like the Republicans do not often like I'm 314 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,640 going to I'm going to fill the professors of these different universities with conservatives. 315 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:00,240 It takes a lot of work, a lot of people. Mitch McConnell decided 316 00:23:00,279 --> 00:23:04,799 he wanted to do that with the judiciary, and that's been that's been something 317 00:23:04,839 --> 00:23:08,799 that's really helpful. What about impeachment, Well, Mitch McConnell, her colleague 318 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:14,119 Eddie Scary is being highly disruptive right now and opening some sort of what is 319 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:21,279 that Eddie? He's opening trail mix, So just with Eminem's okay, so 320 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:26,079 excuse Eddie. He hasn't had his natty light yet today. But Chris looks 321 00:23:26,079 --> 00:23:30,279 like he's going to strangle Eddie. No, which would be it's just my 322 00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:37,480 resting face. You know, Eddie go big time. But anyway, so 323 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,640 that's a hate crime, you know, on a couple of different levels. 324 00:23:40,799 --> 00:23:44,960 If you strangle Eddie a bar from being wrong, leave him alone. Chris, 325 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:48,400 I didn't do anything just sitting here. I saw it in your eyes. 326 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:53,160 I'm off, you know. I was laughing at Sarah last night about 327 00:23:53,200 --> 00:24:00,720 like the difference between female intrusive thoughts and male intrusive thoughts. Women are like, 328 00:24:00,759 --> 00:24:03,039 yeah, I gave it a my astress of thoughts and got bangs, 329 00:24:03,759 --> 00:24:06,559 and men are like, thank god, I didn't grab that cops gun. 330 00:24:08,039 --> 00:24:11,680 I hear you, man, they didn't just like swing the car over the 331 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,960 other side of the highway and saw what happened. So but so, Mitch 332 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:19,640 mcconnell' staving off the impeachment and actually the way that he dealt with Trump in 333 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,039 general, is a great glimpse into the world view of Mitch McConnell being first 334 00:24:23,039 --> 00:24:27,759 and foremost about power right, because Mitch McConnell is not something to be envied, 335 00:24:27,799 --> 00:24:32,400 by the way, by these the right wing gad flies that, by 336 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:36,960 the way, are not gad flies that the people I agree with completely and 337 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:41,759 totally. But there has to be some acknowledgment from the ten the fifth growing 338 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:48,079 number of conservative Republicans that as far as conservatives, we are a minority faction 339 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:55,720 within a party. There's a reason why. There's a couple of reasons and 340 00:24:55,759 --> 00:25:00,839 it's not. It's mostly their fault. But why no conservative of is like 341 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:03,400 really a serious contender to be the next leader of the GOP. Yeah, 342 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,799 and you need to like this, there's got to be at some point. 343 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:12,160 I never forget that conservatism in the GP is a carjacking situation in active motion, 344 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:17,039 that the gun is kept on the driver and they don't want you there, 345 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,720 and they'll pull into a police station and have you arrested the first chance 346 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,480 they get, Like Mitchmconalds showed at the teap party and showed with Trump. 347 00:25:22,799 --> 00:25:26,079 When they want you out of there, they're not your friends. But you 348 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:30,000 have to at the same time make friends. You have to. You have 349 00:25:30,079 --> 00:25:34,440 to go out there and raise money for people. You have to get along, 350 00:25:34,799 --> 00:25:41,400 and there's no need for just the gratuitous this attacks when they're unnecessary. 351 00:25:42,039 --> 00:25:48,319 I mean it's fun, especially for us in the press. Yeah, but 352 00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:51,799 if you're trying to be part of a winning coalition, I mean, yeah, 353 00:25:51,799 --> 00:25:52,799 you have to be able to win in places like Maine. You have 354 00:25:52,839 --> 00:25:56,039 to be able to win in places like Massachusetts. I just mean like playing 355 00:25:56,079 --> 00:26:00,200 nice in DC with your colleagues. I thought you meant more like, if 356 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:03,079 you want to be the McConnell heir. Well, power, I mean the 357 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,559 populist right more than anything, but better understanding than I think a lot of 358 00:26:06,599 --> 00:26:11,160 the Tea Party and libertarian aspects is. There's none of this is important without 359 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:15,240 power. Yeah, but so like one of McConnell's, he controls the per 360 00:26:15,319 --> 00:26:21,119 strings, basically campaign per strings. And I went and what's going to happen 361 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:22,400 all his little minions? Well, I was just going to say, I 362 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:26,960 went and found a Josh Holmes quote from like twenty fourteen where he was basically 363 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:33,200 openly saying like this was a really cool, smart position that d C Republican. 364 00:26:33,279 --> 00:26:37,400 The DC basically just needed to pick the primary candidates from the voters. 365 00:26:37,799 --> 00:26:41,519 They needed to just like tell voters who to pick, which, you know, 366 00:26:41,599 --> 00:26:45,440 I guess we used to have different elections for senators. But I don't 367 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:49,799 think that's reading the Tea leaves very well because DC has really never been further 368 00:26:49,839 --> 00:26:53,400 apart from me. And this was after that was probably after from remembering correctly 369 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:59,160 in my years, was I get confused. A couple of really embarrassing losses. 370 00:27:00,079 --> 00:27:04,359 Sharon Angle, shar An Angle, who was the woman in Delaware, 371 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:07,920 Christine O'Donnell but that was a house race. I think, yeah, but 372 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:15,480 there was just a couple of high profile bad there's everyone, you know. 373 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:22,119 I think they're generally wrong, the established Republicans completely and totally, but sometimes 374 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,559 there's a lot there's just a very unforced error. But so there's something happening 375 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,519 right now actually in the Republican presidential primary, where the dynamic is very similar 376 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:37,279 in that Oh, I love it. So Republican voters are the sort of 377 00:27:37,279 --> 00:27:41,680 electability of a candidate that Republican voters pick. I'm not saying it's impossible, 378 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:47,920 but it is threatening the needle because Republican voters are upset with the Republican Party 379 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,599 for reasons that don't reflect why the rest of the country is upset with the 380 00:27:51,599 --> 00:27:55,680 Republican Party. Republican voters are upset with the Republican Party because I'm strong enough, 381 00:27:55,799 --> 00:27:59,599 because Miss McConnell spent all of these years in power not actually representing the 382 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:03,559 republic Can Party, not actually being a suber voters certainly took care of the 383 00:28:03,599 --> 00:28:07,000 party and it's backers, the voters. Yeah, exactly, not doing what 384 00:28:07,079 --> 00:28:07,839 was in the interests of his country. We also, by the way, 385 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:14,799 have not touched on the huge and legitimate issue of his wife's family shipping company 386 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:18,720 that made them extremely wealthy and has connections to the Chinese Communist Party and has 387 00:28:18,759 --> 00:28:22,400 for years. But will just set that aside because it's treated as though it's 388 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:26,680 wholly illegitimate and racist to say anything about it. Peter Schweitzer has written about 389 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:33,599 it. It's extreme retirement. We should have to We'll have Peter on absolutely. 390 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:37,960 But anyway, all that is to say, Republican voters want to give 391 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:42,119 them the sort of Republican establishment the middle finger. There are some candidates that 392 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,880 can do both, There's no question about it. We're talking on a presidential 393 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,480 level or on a Senate level. I think JD Vance is a good example 394 00:28:48,519 --> 00:28:52,039 of that. But yeah, at the same time, was Mitch McConnell was 395 00:28:52,039 --> 00:28:53,759 on the other side of the JD Vance primary, wasn't he? Yeah, 396 00:28:53,799 --> 00:28:57,359 there you go. So he has constantly staked out a position that is wildly 397 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:00,319 out of touch with the voters and is not been going to a mass more 398 00:29:00,359 --> 00:29:07,039 power for the Republican established. That's the thing about Republican voter. Republican candidates. 399 00:29:07,279 --> 00:29:10,880 Power is good. Terror is not necessarily bad, and it has lessons 400 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:12,599 to be learned from that. But what did Mitch mccony's his power for. 401 00:29:14,119 --> 00:29:18,920 I was talking about campaign finance and judges. So Nikki Haley's out there in 402 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:23,240 Utah getting ready for Super Tuesday, and her constant pitch to the voter is 403 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:29,000 I'm the one who can win the general election. And it's like I'm looking 404 00:29:29,039 --> 00:29:33,000 at that saying, all right, so you win, you get to be 405 00:29:33,039 --> 00:29:37,440 the president. What does the Republican voter win? So they get another couple 406 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:42,799 free uh free trade bills, They've got American industry, the Romanian aspects of 407 00:29:42,799 --> 00:29:48,359 it. Is there like a corporate tax cut? Do we get another another 408 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:53,599 war that America loses? So what is these politicians who talk about how it's 409 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:59,839 only about electability, which is obviously an extremely important part of politics in a 410 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:06,079 democratic republic to have to actually give something with that. You can't just have 411 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:10,160 these people who protect the status quo. When we live in a country where 412 00:30:10,839 --> 00:30:17,200 eight years ago Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump were like key contenders to be the 413 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:21,519 nominees for their party, that pressure that was building the twenty sixteen has not 414 00:30:21,599 --> 00:30:26,920 let off at all on either side of the electorate. Everyone's desperate for some 415 00:30:26,079 --> 00:30:34,079 kind of serious change, and Nikki Hadley promises like when with nothing, it's 416 00:30:34,119 --> 00:30:37,519 just controlled opposition, there's no reason, there's no reason to care that she's 417 00:30:37,559 --> 00:30:41,519 electable. And the same thing goes for a lot of the folks that McConnell 418 00:30:41,519 --> 00:30:45,960 pushed over the years, is like, yeah, that's a safe Republican and 419 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:51,920 hey, that can be important. Like Larry Hogan is running for Maryland Senate. 420 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:56,680 If you're conservative, he's not going to represent you. If you're a 421 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,240 conservative, it's probably good for you though, Yeah, because he's going to 422 00:31:00,279 --> 00:31:03,960 be an annoying gad fly. It's kind of like a romneyesque guy who's going 423 00:31:03,039 --> 00:31:07,839 to ping this and ping that against the potential president Donald Trump. But he's 424 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:11,279 going to be a Republican vote from Maryland. Yeah, and he'll probably win, 425 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:15,039 and that's important to have a Republican vote from Maryland. He's not going 426 00:31:15,079 --> 00:31:18,440 to be your leader. So I don't like Niekapham, there's no but there's 427 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:21,200 no one else who's going to win in Maryland. She's to kind of make 428 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:25,359 those from the Republican point of view, you're gonna have to make those calculations. 429 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:33,279 But also just Nicki Haley's argument in Utah demonstrates to me like the limits 430 00:31:33,359 --> 00:31:37,240 to the electability argument. Well, yeah, I'm eluctable, so what I 431 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:41,559 mean? Yeah, why would why would that? Why would I want you 432 00:31:41,599 --> 00:31:45,119 to be the president? Right? At least at least at least I can 433 00:31:45,079 --> 00:31:49,559 shake my fist and yell against Joe Biden and Republican Party can raise money. 434 00:31:49,799 --> 00:31:52,079 Well, back in the Tea Party, you're going to raise money against Nikki 435 00:31:52,079 --> 00:31:56,559 Haley. I don't know who's running in a primary with Larry Hogan. Leary 436 00:31:56,599 --> 00:32:00,200 Hogan is like, very very popular in Maryland on a bipartisan basis by Larry 437 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:06,400 Hogan lowered the bridge tollsarder the rain tax back in the two party years. 438 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:09,359 The point was that you might have people like a Larry Hogan, but the 439 00:32:09,359 --> 00:32:14,960 primary opponent might be equally electable, even if they're more conservative. They might 440 00:32:15,039 --> 00:32:17,680 like Marco Ruby and Charlie Cris Like Marco Ruby was very electable in Florida in 441 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:22,319 twenty ten. There was no reason for Mitch McConnell to enter those races and 442 00:32:22,359 --> 00:32:25,599 to talk basically trash about some of these candidates through his deputy. A lot 443 00:32:25,599 --> 00:32:29,400 of that stuff had to do with who was making money because mconnell has a 444 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,400 large network of consultants and they're powerful, and I'm curious to see. I 445 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:37,119 know some consultants whove crossed Mitch McConnell. They have a long memory, the 446 00:32:37,119 --> 00:32:43,160 Mitch McConnell team. When they cut you off over you ran a primary opponent 447 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:45,680 to this Republican you took the wrong side of this race. You're cut off 448 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:52,720 from all Republican Senate business. Yeah, it's a massive hit against you, 449 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:55,559 and you can make money elsewhere. I'm kind of curious what's going to happen 450 00:32:55,920 --> 00:33:01,039 to all those all those bad I mean, is the machine going to remember 451 00:33:01,079 --> 00:33:05,680 whenever one of the Johns takes over like this person's person of that run? 452 00:33:06,359 --> 00:33:08,799 Probably? Yeah, are the money making people still going to say the same 453 00:33:08,839 --> 00:33:13,200 should Like I'm like one of the only people on DC that Josh Holmes has 454 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,400 never been anything but pleasant to. But is he going to still going to 455 00:33:16,559 --> 00:33:20,000 should he start saving his money right now? Or is he actually going to 456 00:33:20,039 --> 00:33:24,599 be able to guys like that gonna be able to maintain influence into the next 457 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:30,720 Senate Majority leader operation because a lot of those guys really did maintain their influence 458 00:33:30,799 --> 00:33:37,000 through intimidation and sharp elbows and threats it's not love. Well, so this 459 00:33:37,079 --> 00:33:39,000 is exactly what I was just going to say, is that, like, 460 00:33:39,079 --> 00:33:46,400 you cannot underestimate how influential and how much the army of McConnell consultants and Lackey's 461 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:51,240 and McConnell himself as the sort of leader of that movement, how much they 462 00:33:51,359 --> 00:33:55,880 shaped Republican or not even republican, how much they shaped the political establishments antipathy, 463 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:01,839 uh, and not even antipathy. Let me like the cartoonish perspective that 464 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:06,440 so many people in the political establishment, including the Washington media, who were 465 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:14,039 constantly lapping up leaks from this McConnell sort of movement and consultants, all of 466 00:34:14,079 --> 00:34:20,320 that, how much that influenced the way that Tea Party voters or just conservative 467 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:27,480 voters, real genuine, honest to god mainstream conservative voters were cartoonized and caricatured 468 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:31,920 and treated as quote wacko birds. When you go back and look at how 469 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:39,079 Ted Cruise has obviously like changed his disposition a bit because he realized he had 470 00:34:39,079 --> 00:34:43,159 to govern many times yes well not being you you know what I'm saying, 471 00:34:43,159 --> 00:34:45,559 Like, he realized he had to in order to have influence in Washington. 472 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:50,639 He was going to catch more flies with honey, and he's you know, 473 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:53,559 to some extent, to some extent he has actually tried to do that, 474 00:34:53,679 --> 00:34:59,079 but he's also still was like Winn of the booth saw pot of honey, 475 00:34:59,079 --> 00:35:05,199 trying to catch live But he's also still one of the guys who comes out 476 00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:09,079 against McConnell and all of that in recent days. But o this is to 477 00:35:09,119 --> 00:35:14,639 say like they were part of this very immoral effort to make average Republican voters 478 00:35:14,639 --> 00:35:19,360 look like freaks, like absolute freaks. And that's another part of his legacy. 479 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,199 It's not just being wrong about the politics of that, it's not just 480 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:28,519 not using his power wisely. It's also just treating voters with such contempt. 481 00:35:28,679 --> 00:35:34,400 And again, there are tens of thousands of babies alive because Mitch McConnell fought, 482 00:35:36,079 --> 00:35:39,719 fought for Brett Kavanaugh, fought for Neil Gorsich, fought for Amy Coney 483 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:45,599 Barrett. So but also even mind that that was that was great. May 484 00:35:45,639 --> 00:35:49,679 have been an instrument there, but it certainly wasn't his goal. And if 485 00:35:49,679 --> 00:35:52,960 he could have had them focus on corporate and election law, and if he 486 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:57,800 could, I bet you I would. I'm not positive this is a mean 487 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:01,639 thing to say it. I think think Mitch McConnell would prefer that the decision 488 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:05,920 did not happen. Yes, I agree with that, one hundred percent. 489 00:36:06,039 --> 00:36:08,440 Yes, because if not for the dob's decision, he might have a majority 490 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:13,280 in the Senate right now. And he Yeah, absolutely, I agree with 491 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:16,199 that completely, one hundred percent and fell and landed in one hundred thousand years 492 00:36:16,239 --> 00:36:21,800 of purgatory. Honestly, not the worst. Well, I was just gonna 493 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:24,559 round all of this out by saying the thing that drives me insane, And 494 00:36:24,559 --> 00:36:30,639 I'm curious what your perspective is on this with Nikki Heey is not a good 495 00:36:30,639 --> 00:36:35,840 example, but Mitch McConnell, in particular, Mitch mcconne exactly, that's exactly 496 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:38,440 exactly so Mitch McConnell. If you look at Mitch McConnell, he's sort of 497 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:44,960 the best. He almost embodies one of the biggest problems in the Republican Party, 498 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:50,239 which is that they keep making Trump himself. Most people aren't going to 499 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:53,320 see this as a problem. This is my sort of like Beltway journalist perspective, 500 00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:57,440 as somebody who is not the biggest fan of Donald Trump, like Rhonda 501 00:36:57,519 --> 00:37:00,800 Santis, I like jd Vance. I like all of the rabble rousers and 502 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:04,559 fire throwers, So but what I was gonna say is that if by Mitch 503 00:37:04,639 --> 00:37:09,760 mcconnald's own standard, that he is trying to just defeat Trumpism and stamp the 504 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:15,679 wacko birds out of the Republican Party to quash the Tea Party, that's quoting 505 00:37:15,679 --> 00:37:20,039 a Peter Hanby headline from like twenty fourteen. If that's Mitch mcconnald's goal, 506 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:22,760 he has done a horrible job at it, because all he has done is 507 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:29,960 made the country more divided and made Republican voters who again like had to swallow 508 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:34,920 Donald Trump like a pill back in twenty fifteen, most twenty fifteen to twenty 509 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:37,960 sixteen, most Republican voters cast votes against Donald Trump. In twenty fifteen and 510 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:43,639 twenty sixteen in the primaries, Donald Trump was wildly popular with thirty to forty 511 00:37:43,639 --> 00:37:47,000 percent of the Republican Party for good reason, but still most voters picked someone 512 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:52,480 else. So all Mitch mcconald did was drive the voters who then picked someone 513 00:37:52,519 --> 00:37:54,800 else into the arms of Donald Trump. And again, like, even I 514 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:58,559 have to support Donald Trump over people like Mitch mcconnald. And I'm not a 515 00:37:58,639 --> 00:38:01,000 huge fan of Donald Trump. Is Mitch McConnell is so freaking awful. And 516 00:38:01,039 --> 00:38:07,280 it's the same thing with Nicky Haley. She's like thinks that she's more electable 517 00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:10,360 and whatever whatever. Like the binary choice between Nicky Haley and Donald Trump for 518 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:15,880 your average Republican voter sucks. They're not super happy to have to choose either 519 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:24,159 this crony capitalist proxy for the Republican establishment or the sort of flawed but effective 520 00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:30,880 sort of what's the like flamethrower that is Donald Trump, firebrand that is Donald 521 00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:35,800 Trump. Like a lot of people aren't super stoked about that decision. And 522 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:38,079 yet you know, they go with Trump time and time and again. And 523 00:38:38,119 --> 00:38:42,599 they'll go with Trump over Biden time and time and again no matter what Heath 524 00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:46,639 Mayo says. You know what I mean, though, Like this is Mitch 525 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:51,920 McConnell, by his own stated goal. Once again, if your goal is 526 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:53,719 to get more power, if you think you're great at reading the political wins, 527 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:58,400 he falls short of what he thinks he's good at, time and time 528 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:01,360 and again. And he has made the division in the Republican Party worse worse 529 00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:07,679 by going against people like JD. Vance, who are reasonable, intelligent representatives 530 00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:10,199 of their constituents. Yeah, I think he's made it worse. It's a 531 00:39:10,199 --> 00:39:14,960 pretty impossible battle to fight. He may have been successful had it been fifty 532 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:17,920 years earlier. But yeah, I mean we've seen across the entire board of 533 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:25,719 the Western society. That's the end of authority, the decentralization. Then that's 534 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:30,360 going to come with a crumbling of these facades that you try to protect. 535 00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:34,559 I mean, when the class four comes, the best way to survive it 536 00:39:34,679 --> 00:39:39,639 is to lead it. Well, Chris, this is why we and all 537 00:39:39,679 --> 00:39:45,079 of those beautiful babies, as Donald Trump would say, we will toast Mitch 538 00:39:45,159 --> 00:39:47,159 McConnell. But it won't be a champagne toast. It'll be a skunked natty 539 00:39:47,239 --> 00:39:51,280 light toast. It was a little skunk. I told you finished it. 540 00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:53,519 I told you I didn't do all right. Everyone, eve Ben listening to 541 00:39:53,559 --> 00:39:57,800 another edition of the Federalist Radio Hour. By the way, Chris, this 542 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:00,719 is one of those shows. We were one of the first, I think 543 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:07,920 platforms and conservative media to openly start to question McConnell, and that Ben was 544 00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:14,239 huge at sort of looking into some of the questions of grading McConnell on his 545 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:16,280 own, by his own standards, a couple of years ago. Yeah, 546 00:40:16,679 --> 00:40:19,679 you heard it here first, You heard it here first. All right, 547 00:40:19,719 --> 00:40:22,079 Well, you've been listening to another edition of The Federalist Radio Hour, and 548 00:40:22,079 --> 00:40:24,280 memagicidn't get called to editor. Here the Federalist joined today with Christopher Bedford of 549 00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:28,199 the Common Sense Society. We will be back soon with more. Until then, 550 00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:30,320 be the lovers of freedom and anxious for the friend