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There is a cancer in the Republican Party that has not yet been removed.
And as of Wednesday, the prognosis does not look good.
In the fifth round of voting, which runs through the second day, California Congressman Kevin McCarthy again failed to muster the necessary votes to be elected House speaker.
It is the first time in almost a century that this has happened.
Weakened by a terrible debacle in the midterm elections, McCarthy needed all but four of the Republicans to back him.
In the end, 20 Republicans voted against him in what can only be described as a complete and utter circus, a raw political drama that only the best reality TV can deliver.
On this episode of Republican Dysfunction, the House MAGA caucus smelled blood in the water and pounced, like a real jealous housewife who senses her chance for revenge.
After publicly airing their grievances, members such as Rep. Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert demanded concessions. Paralyzed, with his back against the wall, McCarthy admitted.
He gave them what they wanted, only to have it thrown in his face.
What you should have realized is that they are performance artists, not business partners. With a pledge in hand, they moved the goalposts, supposedly demanding a power that has never been given to any member, something they knew McCarthy could not give them.
Weakened by a terrible debacle in the midterm elections, McCarthy needed all but four of the Republicans to back him.
But commitment wasn’t the point of this exercise: they wanted the humiliation.
Like Donald Trump, his acolytes in Congress value nothing more than their own celebrity.
They probably prefer to be in the minority, it doesn’t require a lot of responsibility. In the minority, they can be outraged on cable TV and fan their dwindling fan base. They don’t need to build coalitions or cross the aisle. They just need to promote themselves and win re-election. For them, it doesn’t matter if they are powerless.
But it does matter. They cannot promote the values they claim to uphold on their own. This is not how democracy works. And that is the root of the disease that the Republican Party has yet to shake off.
The Kevin McCarthy drag is confirmation of all my worst fears. Evidence that the nihilism and thirst for chaos that defined the Trump era is still alive and well in the Republican Party. The hangover persists.
Now, I’m not a big fan of McCarthy. I am still stumped by his post-January 6 decision to speak out very aggressively against Trump only to turn around a week later and meet with the former president to publicly make amends. I also thought that his treatment of Congresswoman Liz Cheney was deplorable and unbecoming of someone who should be running a big party in a tent.
But at the end of the day, there is no clear alternative to his spokesperson. He is all we have. And politics is the art of the possible.
There is no other House member who can come close to corralling the 218 votes needed to become the next speaker. Congressmen Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise have made it clear that they are not interested in the position.
At this point, who would it be?
Time and time again, Republicans shoot themselves in the foot, distracting the American public from the smoking pile of disasters the Democratic Party has left behind in the form of skyrocketing inflation, crime-ridden streets, and ludicrous cultural conflicts.
McCarthy’s deranged detractors offer no viable alternatives. His only solution is to burn it all down and dance in the ashes, except this kamikaze mission takes everyone else with it.
The only consolation one can take from this mess is that Trump’s personal influence has also been diminished by this whole ordeal.
On Tuesday night, Trump appeared to plunge the knife into the back of his on-and-off ally. He refused to endorse McCarthy amid House turmoil, reportedly telling a reporter: ‘We’ll see what happens. We’ll see how it all works.
Then on Wednesday morning, Trump turned and posted: ‘Republicans, don’t turn a big win into a big embarrassing loss…Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, maybe even a great job, just watch!’
Weak praise to say the least, and obviously too little too late. The damage is already done.
But Trump also failed to make an impact.
‘Sad!’ Gaetz said in a statement. “This does not change my opinion of McCarthy, nor of Trump, nor my vote.”
In the end, even if McCarthy can get enough votes to become a speaker, he loses. He will be badly injured and will limp to the finish line.
The Republican Party is stuck in neutral as the world goes. And this only makes the Democrats and President Biden seem stronger and more united going into 2024.
A weak leader presiding over a small minority is not a recipe for success. Say what you want about Nancy Pelosi, strength and steely control over her caucus were not his problem.
But the Republican Party is stuck in neutral as the world goes on. And this only makes the Democrats and President Biden seem stronger and more united going into 2024.
Time and time again, Republicans shoot themselves in the foot, distracting the American public from the smoking pile of disasters the Democratic Party has left behind in the form of skyrocketing inflation, crime-ridden streets, and ludicrous cultural conflicts. There are very real and very serious problems facing our country that Republicans can easily take on, but instead cannibalize each other.
The identity of the next Republican speaker is now up in the air, a galling start for a Republican-majority House, revealing a party divided, broken and sick.
If they don’t find a cure soon, 2024 may become a repeat of 2022.
But who cares right? The ratings are through the roof.