Monthly Archives: November 2021

Last weekend I considered what the Democratic Party should expect from politics after Covid the hope of revived popularity for Joe Biden under return-to-normalcy conditions, the danger that the left-tilting party might be losing ground across multiple different demographic groups. Now, after an interlude of giving thanks, lets consider how post-Covid politics might look from the Republican side.

Republicans have a lot to be thankful for. In the years since George W. Bush their party has staggered around without a governing ideology, veering from one style of fantasy politics to another, and twice nominated a ridiculously unfit reality-television star for the presidency. Yet through it all the party has never collapsed, never fallen more than a little distance out of power and almost always retained a certain capacity to block the Democrats, which is the only thing its constituencies can agree on.

This pattern seems unlikely to be broken even if Bidens poll numbers bounce back across 2022 and 2023. In that scenario Republicans will still probably narrowly recapture the House of Representatives, returning to the position that they held immediately after last Novembers election as a minority coalition, but a large one rather than a rump, which thanks to its structural advantages can always hope to hold at least part of Congress and ride a few lucky breaks into the White House.

But in a way, that advantage is also the core Republican weakness, and the partys good fortune in avoiding profound punishment for all its follies is the reason those follies will probably continue. The problems in the Democratic Party the danger that its progressive turn is costing it conservative-leaning minority votes, even as anti-Trump suburban voters could swing back to the G.O.P. create an opportunity for Republicans to win real popular majorities at the national level, on the scale of Bush in 2004 if not quite Ronald Reagan. But the fact that they dont need to be a majority coalition to exercise a certain power means that theyre more likely to choose badly, and stay roughly where they are.

The alternative, the best-case post-Covid scenario for the party, was visible in Glenn Youngkins Virginia campaign, which essentially blended elements from Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 with Mitt Romney in 2012, while shedding the baggage that kept both men from winning popular-vote majorities. Youngkin has a Romney-esque persona the corporate suit and genial family man but where the man from Bain Capital ended up captive to party dogma on taxes and entitlement cuts, the former Carlyle Group executive promised higher education spending and tax cuts that benefit the lower-middle class, playing against the corporate-Republican and supply-side stereotypes.

Meanwhile, Youngkin imitated Trump not just in his relatively populist promises but also in his willingness to pick cultural fights in this case, on critical race theory in schools that other moderate Republicans might shy away from. But then in most other ways he was an anti-Trump: decent rather than bullying, reasonable rather than paranoid, keeping conspiracism at a distance, reassuringly competent rather than apocalyptic.

So thats all the G.O.P. needs nationally to fully exploit its post-Covid opportunities a more populist economic agenda, a willingness to take the fight to the progressive left (but with a smile) and an end to Trumpian conspiracism.

But do enough actors in the party really want that combination? At the elite level there is a clutch of politicians and candidates who keep groping for a more populist agenda and a group of nationalist intellectuals who think theyre on the cusp of imposing one upon the party. But there is still a larger group of lawmakers, strategist and donors who are very comfortable having no agenda whatsoever, or falling back on the familiarity of upper-bracket tax cuts and pretend budget cuts as soon as theyre restored to power.

Among the partys voters, activists and media personalities, meanwhile, there remains a clear appetite not for the Youngkin-style appropriation of certain parts of Trumpism, but for Donald Trump in full nourished by the plausible belief that populists and social conservatives cant entirely trust more-corporate Republicans, the implausible belief that Trumps nastiness helped him more than it hurt him, the false belief that he actually won the 2020 election, plus the very America-in-2021 desire for politics to be high-stakes TV entertainment rather than boring attempts to cobble together governing majorities.

And heres the thing: Between the Democratic Partys weaknesses, Bidens age and the unimpressiveness of his possible successors, Republicans could very easily be competitive in 2024 while renominating Trump and campaigning on a purely negative agenda.

Sure, they cant expect to govern effectively that way, and theyd be throwing away a potentially golden opportunity. But in the end the race would be close, there would be some exciting constitutional-crisis possibilities in the aftermath, and if the Democrats pulled it out, well, their majorities would be slim and 2026 would be just around the corner.

And if theres anything weve learned over the past 15 years, its that the chance to enjoy a little bit of power without any real responsibility is impossible for Republicans to resist.

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Opinion | Republicans Have a Golden Opportunity. They Will Probably Blow It. - The New York Times

People were, like, shocked, Mr. Durr said. Theyd say, Nobodys ever been here.

Mr. Durr said he hoped to keep his job as a truck driver for the Raymour & Flanigan furniture chain, and the health insurance it provides, even after he is sworn in as a senator, a part-time position that pays $49,000. Lawmakers who took office after 2010 are not eligible for health coverage.

He rides a 2012 Harley-Davidson motorcycle, spoils his three pit bulls I call them my fur babies and, with his five siblings, takes care of his mother, a recent widow who lives next door.

Before joining the furniture company, he worked in construction and said he often held multiple jobs, including making pastries for Dunkin Donuts and working in a farm supply store. During two growing seasons, he drove trucks for East Coast Sod and Seed.

He was on time, said Andy Mottel, the manager of the Pilesgrove, N.J., farm, which transports sod across the country and provides the field grass for Yankee Stadium. He worked every day. He has that strong voice very knowledgeable about sports.

Mr. Durr completed his G.E.D. through Gloucester City High School, and he has made no secret of his unease with his sudden stardom. (I feel like Im about to throw up, he said the day Mr. Sweeney conceded.) He will be a member of the minority party in the State House, making it unlikely he will have significant power to steer or stonewall legislation.

When ticking off his legislative priorities, he mentions goals like bringing jobs here, bringing businesses here, and he is the first to say he has a lot to learn about how Trenton works. If its an issue that concerns New Jersey citizens, Im going fight for it, he said.

It was his fourth campaign for public office. He ran for State Assembly as an independent in 2017 and as a Republican in 2019, and he ran last year for Logan Township council.

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Edward Durr Jr.: The Trump Republican Whos Riding High in New Jersey - The New York Times

Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy has been condemned by CNN anchor Jim Acosta for allowing his caucus to become a freak show amid a number of recent controversies in Congress.

The CNN anchor said on Saturday that the Republican was allowing his House caucus to become the Trump Republican Party freak show caucus, and referred to comments by Lauren Boebert and Paul Gosar towards Democrats in recent weeks.

Mr Acosta said Mr McCarthy bears responsibility for the behaviour of both Ms Boebert and Mr Gosar, who was censured last week for an animation in which US President Joe Biden and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were murdered.

Ms Boebert was meanwhile condemned by the CNN anchor for referring to a Democrat, Ilhan Omar, as a member of the Jihad squad, in remarks that the Republican afterwards apologised for.

Mr Acosta told viewers that Ms Boebert appeared to believe that trolling and overt racism were a part of the job here in Washington, and that Mr McCarthy was failing to keep the party in check because of his appeasement of former US president, Donald Trump.

Now where would she get that idea?, the CNN anchor asked of Ms Boebert, before playing footage from a Trump campaign rally in which the crowd chanted send her back referring to Ms Omar, who is a US citizen but was born in Somalia.

Remember that? Mr Acosta said of the rally. Yes, welcome to the Trump Republican Party freak show caucus, home of Paul Gosar who wasrecently censured for posting a violent photoshopped anime showing him attacking prominent Democrats.

He continued: And of course, there isMarjorie Taylor-Greene who has been stripped of her committee assignmentsin part because of her past racist and anti-Semitic comments.

The freak show caucus knows the partys current leader in the House, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, is not going to stand in their way, Mr Acosta said of the Republican leader, who he said has gone from blaming Trump for January 6th to complaining that Trump should have been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

The remarks by the CNN anchor comes after Ms Taylor-Greene said Mr MrMcCarthy does not have the full support to become House speaker if the Republican Party wins the House in 2022, citing an apparent lack of support for her and other far-right Republican figures.

She followed by saying on Saturday that she had a good call with Mr McCarthy, and that We spent time talking about solving problems not only in the conference, but for our country. I like what he has planned ahead.

Mr McCarthy faces the difficult task of appeasing Mr Trump and his critics within the Republican party, as well as confronting Democrats who accuse him of failing to keep his members controlled.

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Kevin McCarthy condemned by Jim Acosta for allowing freak show Republican caucus - The Independent

The New England Newspaper and Press Association honored The Republican and Sunday Republican as distinguished newspapers of the year for 2021.

The recognition was announced recently during the fall conference of the association. The event was held virtually due to continuing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Awards are wonderful, and we appreciate them. What is even more wonderful is the day-to-day work of our reporters and editors, who stand on their heads to tell the communitys story on a straight-up basis, striving hard for objectivity and fairness in a world that seems to be forgetting what that means, said George Arwady, publisher and CEO of The Republican.

The Distinguished Newspaper honors came in the daily and Sunday categories for newspapers with weekday circulations over 20,000 and Sunday circulations of more than 25,000. This marks the fourth straight year in which The Republican and Sunday Republican landed in the top honors among New England newspapers. In 2019, The Republican was Newspaper of the Year in both the daily and Sunday categories.

The awards are based on a review of two editions in each category, one of which can be chosen by the entrants and the other an edition designated by the judges panel. Then, the papers are reviewed, and the honors determined by experts and readers impressions of the quality of the reporting and writing, use of photos, design and presentation, online offering, and overall utility and value.

Being named a Distinguished Newspaper of the Year for both our Sunday and daily editions is an honor we do not take lightly, especially amid this pandemic. It is an entire team effort, from advertising to circulation to our press team, said Cynthia G. Simison, executive editor. Our content and publications teams work hard in tandem to keep each days newspaper an interesting and informative product for our readers. Its rewarding to know the judges recognize the hard work and creativity by all.

In the comments delivered by the judges, there was praise for the local news coverage, as well as for the quality of photography and the exceptional amount of advertising.

In the comments on the weekday entry, the judges wrote: It provided all of the news stories that I would like to see if I lived there and good color throughout the newspaper.

Among the comments on the Sunday entry, the judges wrote, I was drawn more to the many special features and sections of the paper, rather than the news, and A wide variety of stories, many of them caught my eye. On the quality of photography, judges wrote: The photography in this newspaper is outstanding, and The photos support the stories and draw the readers in. On quality of local news coverage, one judge said, high quality local news coverage.

In the daily category, Newspaper of the Year honors went to the Republican-American of Waterbury, Connecticut, and the Providence Journal was also named a distinguished newspaper. In the Sunday category, the Providence Sunday Journal was named Newspaper of the Year, and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette joined The Republican as a distinguished newspaper for 2021.

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The Republican, Sunday Republican earn 2021 New England Distinguished Newspaper of Year awards - masslive.com

Its all right, Ive got all night, he said to groans from the chamber not long into his remarks around 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 18 as the House was on the verge of voting on the bill. McCarthy then continued to speak and point his finger into the air until 5:10 the next morning, his forehead shimmering under the glare of lights, his bleary-eyed colleagues behind him resisting the urge to nod off.

For McCarthy, the marathon speech a record for the House was a defining moment, a crucial chance to show that he can lead a House Republican caucus that over time has become more radical, combative, and adept at obstructionism and media manipulation. It also looked much like an audition for House speaker, should the Republicans win the majority of seats in next years election.

The most rancorous members of the party, those in the House Freedom Caucus, derailed his first bid to be speaker in 2015, because they viewed him as an establishment moderate. But, as he railed and kept railing into the night earlier this month, McCarthy appeared determined to send his colleagues a message that he could change, too.

This was a key moment for him to show leadership, longtime Republican strategist Douglas Heye said. In a party that values fighting so much ... that [speech] should bode well for him in a future speaker election.

Earlier this year, McCarthy tried to balance his appeals within a House Republican caucus divided over Donald Trump and the violence he inspired at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

No longer.

The 2022 midterm landscape is looking promising for Republicans energized by the partys upset victory in the Virginia governors race. And McCarthy appears to have decided to put aside his concerns over protecting the partys establishment wing, as he squarely centers on tending a base still committed to Trump and the hardline, outrage politics he helped push into the mainstream.

The shift comes as McCarthy has drawn fire from Trump allies who fault him for failing to stop 13 House Republicans from voting for the Democrats $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill on Nov. 5, securing its passage. And on the day before McCarthy delivered his all-nighter, former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows suggested the former president would make a better House speaker if Republicans gain the majority. (The notion is highly unlikely, yet not impossible, because there is no constitutional requirement that the speaker be a member of Congress.)

Another former Trump administration official, Peter Navarro, blasted McCarthy recently for removing all Republican members from the Houses special Jan. 6 commission except for Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, Trump critics who were appointed to the panel by Democrats. Navarro said that left Trump exposed as the commission investigates the events that led to the deadly mob attack on the US Capitol.

Kevin McCarthy made arguably the dumbest checkers move in a chess game Ive ever seen, Navarro told Yahoo News.

Trump and McCarthy have a complicated relationship. Trump sometimes referred to him as my Kevin, and McCarthy cozied up to him while he was president. But things have not always been smooth between them, particularly when McCarthy publicly criticized Trump in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack and reportedly floated a resolution to censure Trump. Though McCarthy reversed himself, Trump blasted him for criticizing one of his allies, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, for spouting conspiracy theories comparing mask mandates to the Holocaust.

McCarthy has responded by veering further to the right. He refused to take action against Representative Paul Gosar, a Republican from Arizona, who this month posted an anime-style video of him killing Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Democrats then voted on Nov. 17 to censure Gosar, which McCarthy and all but three Republicans opposed.

The next day, with many Republicans still seething over the censure of an outspoken Trump ally, McCarthy used a special House privilege known as the magic minute to buttress his right-wing credentials. The congressional procedure allows House minority and majority leaders to speak as long as they wish and speak he did.

Standing in his dark suit and red and white geometric tie, McCarthy employed the cadence of an obstinate salesman to repeatedly return to the same themes. He blamed Democrats for high gas prices and inflation, a chaotic evacuation from Afghanistan, and increased federal funding for Internal Revenue Service audits, which he misleadingly suggested would go after families earning $75,000 or less.

He falsely claimed Democrats had banned oil and gas and refused to fund Israels air missile defense system known as the Iron Dome. He wildly exaggerated the contents of a Justice Department memo issued in response to threats of violence against school board members nationwide over mask mandates, describing it as a Biden directive to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to target parents as domestic terrorists. And McCarthy incorrectly said that Bidens decision not to reissue a permit for the Keystone pipeline had caused more than one million people to lose their jobs, when the actual figure was about 11,000 temporary positions.

If I sound angry, I am, McCarthy declared early in his speech. Throughout the night, he shouted so much his voice grew hoarse at times. He badgered Democrats who interrupted him or pushed back on his comments. When he was told to address the presiding officer as House rules require, he yelled in indignation.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe the amount of control one-party rule wants, he said, waving his hands up. They now want to dictate to a member of the floor where I can look?

His wide-ranging remarks touched on his upbringing in a Democratic household, his friendship with tech billionaire Elon Musk, and a little secret about baby carrots (They are just big carrots. They chop em and they charge you more and you buy them.). At one point, he spent four minutes ruminating on an 1851 painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River. Often, he denounced the money earmarked in the social spending bill to help undocumented immigrants, whom he referred to as a slur and pitted against other beneficiaries of federal funds.

This evening showed that no matter the time, the day, or the circumstances, House Republicans will always fight for you, fight for your family, and fight for our country, he insisted as he ended the speech just before dawn on Nov. 19.

To some, McCarthys lengthy oration was a throwback to the one then-House minority leader John Boehner gave in 2010, when he opposed the Affordable Care Act with shouts of, Hell no, you cant! That address was seen as an attempt by Boehner to ride out the arch-conservative wave of the Tea Party Movement, which formed to oppose former President Barack Obama. Its members such as Meadows eventually pushed Boehner into retirement in 2015 and prevented McCarthy from succeeding him as speaker.

Historians traced the roots of McCarthys performance to the Republican whose tactics helped inspire the Tea Party: former Georgia Representative Newt Gingrich, who abandoned congressional norms and developed the aggressive, no-holds-barred tactics now deployed by both sides of the political aisle. Before he became House speaker in January 1995, Gingrich used floor speeches televised on fledgling C-SPAN to speak unfiltered to Americans, control political messaging, and obstruct the legislative process.

Those strategies continue to be effective, particularly for Republicans, said Julian Zelizer, a professor of political history at Princeton University.

They have a massive media ecosystem from social media to Fox [News] that didnt really exist in the 1980s and much of the 1990s, Zelizer said. Its easy to circulate bits and pieces of what [McCarthy] did for a long time and to reach audiences predisposed to believing it was meaningful.

McCarthys speech was mostly a stall tactic and did not change the outcome of the vote, although it did break the record for longest speech, previously held by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at eight hours and seven minutes. It likely wont be remembered so much for its content as its duration and tenor.

That kind of tone emotionally charged, angry is good at getting donations and media attention, said Sarah Sobieraj, a sociology professor at Tufts University who studies US political culture and extreme incivility. Being provocative in that way works, she said.

It should also send a message to Democrats, who have continued to relegate their own most outspoken members to the sidelines as they struggle with intra-party dynamics, failing to coalesce behind a clear narrative for the infrastructure and social spending bills, said Reece Peck, assistant professor at the College of Staten Island under the City University of New York.

The wakeup call for Democrats is this: You need to retool and put more investment in your communication strategies, Peck said, adding that McCarthys rant came at a moment when many Democratic voters seem dispirited, while the the right-wing, conservative movement is energized.

For McCarthy, the speech veered at times into a manifesto of sorts, the pinnacle of a transformation he accelerated in 2018, when he sought to recast himself as an immigration hardliner and populist in the mold of Trump. It has been a sharp evolution for a politician who arrived in Congress in 2007 and became part of a trio of young Republicans who sought to move the party forward with a focus on a strong policy agenda.

But McCarthy has never been seen as fully committed to any particular conservative ideology and above all else like Gingrich has been devoted to the belief that you cant dictate the agenda in Congress if you dont hold the majority.

McCarthy is still viewed as the front-runner for speaker if Republicans take control of the House, so close now to his ultimate goal that he can almost taste it, said Mark Martinez, chairperson of the political science department at California State University in Bakersfield. But to get there, he is embracing the most extreme elements of his party to the detriment of his district, Martinez added.

At the same time, McCarthy is still facing the same challenge with Trump supporters that he did with Tea Party members a decade ago, said Dan Schnur, a professor at the University of Southern Californias Annenberg School of Communications who served on Senator John McCains 2000 presidential campaign.

He has to convince them that they can trust him, he said. To that end, losing a valiant fight is almost as good as winning.

Reach Jazmine Ulloa at jazmine.ulloa@globe.com or on Twitter: @jazmineulloa.

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In Kevin McCarthys 8-hour tirade, a rambling attempt to show he can lead the rancorous Republicans - The Boston Globe

Budd has been outraised by McCrory, who lost his reelection bid in 2016, and trails him in recent polls McCrorys internal polling shows him with a 15-point lead, while data from a pro-Budd super PAC has McCrory ahead by just 3 points.

Mark Walker, a conservative former congressman who is also seeking the GOP Senate nomination, has criticized Budd for his failure to command a lead after receiving both Trumps backing and major funding from the Club for Growths super PAC, which plans to spend $10 million on Budd.

Theyve made a commitment to already spend $3 million on TV because the Trump endorsement for Mr. Budd did not push the needle like it has in some other states, Walker said during a radio interview with WBT in Charlotte in September. At some point, people have to ask why.

Budds campaign says its fundraising rapidly accelerated after the Trump endorsement in June, not just from small-dollar contributions but from donors who were previously uninterested in the campaign. Budd learned of the endorsement just minutes before Trump announced it onstage at the North Carolina Republican Partys annual convention this summer, raising questions in state political circles about why Trump decided to support Budd so early in the race and while his name recognition remained low.

Jonathan Felts, a senior adviser to Budds campaign, said the Trump endorsement has been key to Budds ability to catch up with McCrory. They expected it would take from Budds May Senate campaign launch until at least March 2022 to close the fundraising and name ID gap between Budd and McCrory. Now, the campaign is nearly there, campaign officials say.

What we had planned to do in 10 months we got done in six months, thanks to Donald Trumps endorsement, Felts said.

The downside, however, is that Budds backing from the polarizing former president risks turning off some moderates, a voting demographic Republicans in North Carolina and other competitive states need to win in November.

Trump has yet to endorse in Arizona, another swing state that is pivotal to the battle to capture the Senate majority. But he appeared at a fundraiser for candidate Blake Masters at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month one day after Masters released a video declaring that Trump won in 2020, a statement made in an apparent attempt to secure Trumps backing.

In recent polls, Masters trails well behind state Attorney General Mark Brnovich, whom Trump continues to publicly taunt for not doing enough to overturn Bidens win in Arizona.

The first primaries of the year are still three months away and Arizonas is nine months away so theres time for Trumps Senate endorsees to build enough momentum to overtake their opponents. At least one of them, retired football star Herschel Walker in Georgia, already has a wide lead and a considerable fundraising advantage in the GOP primary.

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Trump's Senate picks stumble out of the gate - POLITICO