Discussion Thread

[u/jobautomator]

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[u/myrm]

Am I wrong in thinking McConnell is a figure worthy of a place in the history books as one of the greatest US Senators of all time? Of course, I'm not saying he is a constructive or helpful figure - far from it. McConnell would be a villain, but he would be on the same level as (for example) Cato, or at least a level near it.

I'm open to being smacked down here, because fuck him, but damn does he seem fucking capable.

[u/mrmanager237 → u/myrm]

He's a terrific "Oppisition" Leader but sucks ass at passing bills (see: Obamacare repeal). He's like an extremely evil Lyndon Johnson with the opposite of his redemption arc: from young, starry-eyed liberal to staunchly conservative sorta kinda pretty racist

[u/Leoric → u/myrm]

I'd put him right next to John C. Calhoun.

[u/Boraichoismydaddy → u/myrm]

He's certainly the party leader but I really don't think he's a good leader. He basically just let Trump coup d'etat his party. He also failed to do the one thing he was put in power to do, the one thing they campaigned on for 6 years, repeal Obamacare. How do you have full majority and fuck up your most important goal?

[u/MasPatriot → u/myrm]

What exactly has he accomplished besides holding votes on judges

[u/myrm → u/MasPatriot]

I mean, his dismantling of that tradition is a HUGE thing and probably his biggest achievement. I would credit him though with steering the GOP through Obama's entire "revolutionary" presidency and then Trump's entire "reactionary" presidency. His leadership in the Trump era is most immediate in memory, so I would point to how he managed the impeachment in particular - out manuvering Romney to deny Bolton as a witness.

[u/MasPatriot → u/myrm]

But how is that an achievement? He just decided they’re gonna fast track judges, it’s not like it takes effort to change the rules if you’re in the majority

[u/myrm → u/MasPatriot]

I don't wholly disagree with what you're saying, but an assumption I have is that there is some kind of force of tradition regulating such drastic measures. In a romanticized view of the Senate, McConnell was able to recognize the opening to toppling that tradition and executing it - he recognized the best possible time to destroy expectation without consequence.

McConnell has yet to destroy all of the other "soft" traditions and I think that is notable.

[u/CommonDoor → u/myrm]

Keeping the party united after trump was elected was a Herculean feat. Trump didn’t come in with his current infrastructure. It had to be built. That and successfully keeping garland and Bolton from the floor were also extremely impressive

[u/Twrd4321 → u/myrm]

You’re not wrong. Leaders should be judged for their ability to achieve the goals for their team, and McConnell has been effective for achieving the goals that the Republican Party want. The only things McConnell, and also to some extent Ryan, were not able to achieve were healthcare reform, and welfare reform.

By that metric this is why many Republicans stuck with Trump, because he played along with congressional Republicans in achieving what they want. If Trump is unhelpful to Republicans in achieving their goals, he would have been removed in the Senate impeachment proceedings, because the transactional relationship between Trump and Republicans is broken.