The Failure of the Closer
The real story is not that the failure of the "American Health Care Act of 2017." Not to be confused with the World's Greatest Healthcare Plan, another doomed to fail bill introduced into the House of Representatives this term. That the bill was pulled before the vote is not the real story. Nor is the fact that Mr. Trump tried to spin things his way in the wake of his complete and utter failure by claiming he never said he would "...repeal and replace Obamacare in 64 days" when he actually said he would do so "...immediately."
The story is that he could not close the deal when he went to Capitol Hill this past week. What I find fascinating is that he was apparently only ten votes short of a win before he went to the Hill and when he left he had actually lost votes. This is a man who ran on the notion that he can get deals done. Apparently he cannot, not in the hallways of Washington, D.C. He cannot bully or buy his way to successful deals as he's done all of his life.
Trump threatened the Republican members of the House who would not give him their vote on this bill that they would lose their seats in 2018. Not that this would be a bad thing. Take Representative Mark Meadows of NC, leader of the so-called "Freedom Caucus." He is anti-abortion, opposed to same-sex marriage, wants to lower capital gains tax rates and was one of the key figures in the 2013 government shutdown. If he lost in 2018 that would be fine by me.
* * *
But will Mark Meadows of NC lose in 2018? Almost certainly not to a Democrat. He won reelection this past November with 64.2% of the vote in his district. That was an improvement over his 2014 reelection win where he got 62.9% of the vote in his district. Because of gerrymandering, he will almost certainly not lose to any Democrat.
He is not alone in being very safe from a Democratic challenger. Look at California's 22nd Congressional District. Devin Nunes, a Trump surrogate who is the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is that district's representative. Again, thanks to gerrymandering (controlled by California's Democrats after the 2010 Census), he represents a district that will almost certainly elect another Republican in 2018.
So how do we effect change in a situation where gerrymandering makes election of a Republican in these districts almost a certainty? Not by trying to find potential Democrats to challenge these incumbents. That is almost certainly a formula for failure.
Instead, the solution might be to find Republicans who are more to the center of the political aisle. Men and women who want to work with the Democrats to find real solutions to the problems we face as a nation. Republicans who do not want to cover up whatever wrongs have been done by the Cheeto-in-Chief and his minions.
Resist!
The story is that he could not close the deal when he went to Capitol Hill this past week. What I find fascinating is that he was apparently only ten votes short of a win before he went to the Hill and when he left he had actually lost votes. This is a man who ran on the notion that he can get deals done. Apparently he cannot, not in the hallways of Washington, D.C. He cannot bully or buy his way to successful deals as he's done all of his life.
Trump threatened the Republican members of the House who would not give him their vote on this bill that they would lose their seats in 2018. Not that this would be a bad thing. Take Representative Mark Meadows of NC, leader of the so-called "Freedom Caucus." He is anti-abortion, opposed to same-sex marriage, wants to lower capital gains tax rates and was one of the key figures in the 2013 government shutdown. If he lost in 2018 that would be fine by me.
* * *
But will Mark Meadows of NC lose in 2018? Almost certainly not to a Democrat. He won reelection this past November with 64.2% of the vote in his district. That was an improvement over his 2014 reelection win where he got 62.9% of the vote in his district. Because of gerrymandering, he will almost certainly not lose to any Democrat.
He is not alone in being very safe from a Democratic challenger. Look at California's 22nd Congressional District. Devin Nunes, a Trump surrogate who is the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is that district's representative. Again, thanks to gerrymandering (controlled by California's Democrats after the 2010 Census), he represents a district that will almost certainly elect another Republican in 2018.
So how do we effect change in a situation where gerrymandering makes election of a Republican in these districts almost a certainty? Not by trying to find potential Democrats to challenge these incumbents. That is almost certainly a formula for failure.
Instead, the solution might be to find Republicans who are more to the center of the political aisle. Men and women who want to work with the Democrats to find real solutions to the problems we face as a nation. Republicans who do not want to cover up whatever wrongs have been done by the Cheeto-in-Chief and his minions.
Resist!
posted by me at 6:55 AM
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