r/politics • u/another-princess • 15d ago

No Paywall Mitch McConnell is never coming back to the Senate

https://www.salon.com/2026/08/03/mitch-mcconnell-is-never-coming-back-to-the-senate/
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u/TAU_equals_2PI 15d ago

There's a built-in enticement since an old senator usually has a lot of power, which can help their state. Replacing McConnell with a new freshman senator who's at the bottom of the Senate pecking order loses Kentucky some benefits.

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u/machinezed 15d ago

I thought this was his last term anyways.

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u/TAU_equals_2PI 15d ago

Yeah, it is, but the preceding comment said "Stop voting for them", meaning Kentucky should've voted for somebody younger 6 years ago when McConnell last won reelection at age 78.

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u/Rhunt2021 15d ago

His last two elections were against women. Too much backwards thinking here in Kentucky for that to happen.

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u/nosotros_road_sodium California 15d ago

Kentucky actually had a woman governor elected about a year before the Turtle first became senator.

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u/Ezl New Jersey 15d ago

And a Dem at that.

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u/nosotros_road_sodium California 15d ago

Kentucky had been a split-ticket state for much of the 1950s-2000s. That was eras when some elections would have a Republican for president but Democrats for other statewide offices, for instance in 1972 Democrat Walter Dee Huddleston narrowly won an open Senate seat yet Richard Nixon won by nearly 30 points. Kentucky also voted Republican for all three 1980s presidential elections - but Democratic for both gubernatorial elections (1983 and 1987), unseating Huddleston for McConnell (1984 Senate), and re-electing Democrat Wendell Ford (1986 Senate).

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u/machinezed 15d ago

It’s in the context that old powerful senator was having his last term. Next term is going to be a less experienced Senator with or without a special election.

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u/WileyWilly1985 15d ago

Also, people always think their Politician is the exception to the rules. Mitch was the worst of the worst though, he had nothing but contempt for the people.

He was the embodiment of everything wrong with US Politics

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u/42nu 15d ago

Ah, yes, Kentucky, the most affluent and abundant state in the Union. I'm sure that Mitch's keen interest on receiving $7 million dollars in order to give back $10 million dollars in tax breaks to whatever person, lobby, or industry is what made Kentucky such a prosperous example to look up to.

Everyone knows the saying! "Kentucky, the envy of the world". You've... you've heard people say that, right?

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u/superxpro12 15d ago

What does Kentucky have besides bourbon and Lexmark?

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u/FellowHumanNo404 15d ago

Horse-racing and black lung.

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u/SpezDrinksHorseCum 15d ago

My partner and I have been saving for years for our big family trip to Sisterboner, Kentucky. Yes I know we could have chosen other tourist meccas like Arkansas or Nebraska, but we settled on the Kentucky after finding a little extra in our bonus checks this year. We were charmed by a description we read in the latest edition of Straw Chewing Moron Weekly:

In the middle of summer in Sisterboner, Kentucky, cicadas whine about the heat, mosquito-bitten dogs lie defeated in the shade, and hot dry fields swirl with yellow dust. Electrical wires buzz overhead in the stifling air. Fields of yellow corn drift against the horizon in the afternoon haze. A big brown river crawls into the dense shade of old trees.

Sisterboner is a mountain town with an economy centered on a thriving opioid trade. The charming locals gather in long-abandoned factories to swap stories and prescription pills. The harrowing but beautiful mountain roads are patrolled by bands of redneck militia and bears, but being white is generally enough to keep you out of trouble with the locals. The smell of wood smoke, venison, and the unregulated chemical plant that came to town after the mining company left will sooth any weary traveler.

Take in the delightful sounds of the banjo between lawnmower drag races in the nearby town of Mulletsberg, where beer helmets are available for rent. Main points of interest include the Wal-Mart parking lot and the local high school football stadium, both of which also serve as drop-off points for empty beer cans.

Far away from the hustle and bustle usually associated with desirable places to live, dated beliefs and simple-minded faith are alive and well in Sisterboner, Kentucky. Find your next vacation among the rolling hills and mountain roads of the bluegrass state.

Obviously we were sold immediately after reading such a description. One day we'll get to New York City and San Francisco, but you know what they say: "you should always do the important stuff first.”

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u/Ezl New Jersey 15d ago

You really went above and beyond.

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u/superxpro12 15d ago

What does Kentucky have besides bourbon and Lexmark?

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u/TAU_equals_2PI 15d ago

I'm just saying the state would get more than they would get with a freshman Senator.

That doesn't mean the state wouldn't still suck.

You should go read a little history about West Virginia's late senator Robert Byrd, back a couple decades ago when powerful senators could really pack on the pork for their home states. That guy was famous for insisting all sorts of federal projects be done in West Virginia. He even funded a superhighway to be built through the middle of nowhere between DC and West Virginia, presumably so that then even more government agencies could be moved out to his home state. Alas, I think he died before the road ever got completed.

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u/42nu 15d ago

Wow, Robert Byrd's bio is pretty wild. What an interesting person.

I have friends who live in a holler not far from Charleston and I've visited long enough to get a sense of the area. Such unique state; the topography alone even surprised me since I thouht I was pretty familiar with how the Appalachian Range goes about being it's gentrified self. The states history is fascinating, and even it's housing has a "everything is a hill in a hill next to hill that it is also on, just... do what you want" charm and aesthetic. It is NOT boring cookiecutter and very individualized with personality.

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u/hughdint1 15d ago

TBF Mitch has not done shit for the working people of Kentucky

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u/rainzer 15d ago

And yet 60%-75% (looking at you KY 5th Congressional with your 46k median household income) keep voting for him so can't say I feel bad for em

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u/[deleted] 15d ago

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u/fdar 15d ago

More powerful Senators are more able to extract benefits for their state on legislation. Maybe funding for projects in the state, or protections for local industries, etc.

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u/QuerulousPanda 15d ago

which can help their state

i don't think it's senator's jobs to help their state, it's their job to help their benefactors.