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(NewsNation) — In the old days, you put country over political party and your party over yourself. And the old days weren’t too long ago.
It was fellow Republicans who told Richard Nixon to resign. Members of his own party went from the Capitol to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. They came to the West Wing. They sat the president down and told him it was time to go.
But that would never happen today, as these days, politicians just won’t leave.
For many, if not most of them, it’s the best job they’ll ever have.
Twice in the past few months, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suddenly froze while talking to reporters and couldn’t speak for an agonizing 30 seconds. Something with the senator went very, very wrong.
No child would let their father drive a week after that. You take the keys.
Pushing back on concerns about his health, McConnell said he would not resign his Senate seat nor step aside as the top Senate Republican.
“I’m going to finish my term as leader,” McConnell said. “And I’m going to finish my Senate term.”
McConnell, in other words, says he isn’t going anywhere until January of 2027.
And to be fair, the Senate minority leader is not in the presidential line of succession, nor is he running for president. But Kentuckians, Republicans in the Senate and Americans, all of us, deserve better.
Undeterred, McConnell must prove he’s just like every other self-consumed, self-aggrandizing politician.
So try this out. Maybe it’s an answer from the elder statesman, as McConnell might say:
Clearly, I’ve lost a few miles an hour off my fastball. And it takes an unhealthy level of hubris to believe that 80 miles an hour is better than others at 100. I’m going to resign effective Friday. The American people, Republicans in the Senate and my constituents deserve a vigorous champion and a strong voice. Our country faces challenges at home and abroad. Whoever Republicans choose to lead them here in the Senate won’t have as much experience as I do, but they also won’t be 81. They won’t have moments like I’ve had. Moreover, it’s impossible for us as Republicans to rightfully question the mental acuity of Joe Biden, when there are very reasonable questions about my health. The end.
And now I welcome you back to reality. The above, of course, won’t happen.
But we can dream of having leaders who do the right thing, plus politically, just in terms of simple strategy, it’s a win, win, win.
First off, McConnell would show that profiles in courage still exist in the Senate. We haven’t seen that since Mike Pence on January 6, and we hadn’t seen one for a long time before that.
McConnell’s resignation would apply a ton of pressure to President Biden, and it would focus everybody on his stumbles and gaffes.
Perhaps the media would start to notice how little he talks to them, how he always uses many stairs on Air Force One. How he only does one event a day now somewhere between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Or how confused he gets when he does events and has to talk off the cuff.
For Republicans, it allows them to apply maximum pressure on Biden without the “what about” game.
But wait, as the game show hosts say, there is more.
You could argue a McConnell resignation means that the Democratic governor of Kentucky would appoint a Democrat to take over McConnell’s seat, but it might not cost Republicans a thing to do the right thing.
In 2021, Kentucky’s Republican legislature passed a law that looked tailor-made for a McConnell resignation.
In the event of a Senate vacancy in Kentucky, the state-level party must offer three names of a potential temporary replacement.
The nominee should be of the same party as the departing senator, the governor then selects one of those three within 21 days and a permanent replacement will be chosen in a special election.
The Democratic governor Andy Beshear vetoed that bill. The Republican legislature, however, overrode the veto and it is now law.
Reasonable people can agree it was tailor-made for McConnell and, of course, it could be challenged in court.
But the law might actually work or at the very least force a very quick special election.
Yet McConnell won’t go.
His legacy will be that of the senator who froze, which is a shame because he could be remembered for so, so much more.