The implications of that big election day last week are still seeping into the consciousness of those of us who process this sort of thing in stages. I, for one, am planning to interrupt my long-standing tendency to form opinions before having the benefit of all the facts available, any sense of the context, and an absence of personal bias. That’s a pretty big order for someone whose favorite exercises are jumping to conclusions and stirring the pot.
Let’s talk about John Cornyn for a minute. Now, I worked on staff for Ron Kirk’s campaign back in 2002 when he and Senator Cornyn ran for the open seat vacated by Phil Gramm. Of course, this is the seat James Talarico just won when Texas turned blue. In almost every political campaign, it is almost impossible to find the strength and energy to keep going without vilifying the opposition, usually in the person of the candidate against whom you’re working. So, I’ve never been a big fan of Cornyn.
But then I saw one of those rushed clips that appeared to have been filmed in a hall somewhere while Cornyn was on his way to somewhere else. When asked why Texas is blue now, Cornyn neither hemmed nor hawed as he placed the blame squarely on Trump’s low approval rating that was “underwater even in Texas” and the issue of corruption “amplified by the problems that Attorney General Ken Paxton has had.” Cornyn then criticized Trump for failing to provide a clear objective on the initiative (is that the right word?) in Iran.
Then the shade came. When asked what he thought of Trump’s comment that Cornyn would also have lost, Cornyn himself responded without hesitation. “I think that’s wishful thinking. . . I would say the President’s track record at predicting outcomes in elections is not too good.” All of this said with that patrician bearing that used to be much more common in certain quarters of the Republican party.
It struck me that by losing in the primary, Cornyn had been fired by his own party in favor of Ken Paxton. Paxton, along with Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick, was fired, too, but by the voters in the state of Texas. Some folks just don’t know when to leave the party.
It is much more rare for Republicans to criticize each other while Democrats often seem to do it for sport. It’s properly called eating their own. Let’s talk about that for a minute.
Being a Texan, I’ve heard all my life that you “dance with the one that brung ya.” While it is not the only job of being the minority party leader in either chamber in Washington, getting to be the majority party is pretty high on the list of things they’re responsible for doing. Personally, I have been generous with my criticism of Chuck Schumer over the years, and I have had my doubts about the efficacy of Hakeem Jeffries in his leadership. To put it mildly.
But, for Democrats, the dance starts in January, and these two men are the designated escorts. Maybe Schumer is a better dancer than he used to be, and maybe Jeffries has been waiting for a long time to cut loose and cut a rug. Besides, they’re not in power just yet. It just seems some Democrats prefer to grouse rather than take a victory lap.
We’re in the lame-duck session of this 119th Congress, and some folks are asking if the Republicans learned anything from the election. Some may have while some certainly did not. There is important work to be done by the end of the year, and the road to getting it done will be bumpy. So for about the next six weeks, those Republican ducks need to do their jobs before being served à l’orange.
And the Democrats? Well, they’ve got to deal with getting ready for the first of the year when they have the majority in both chambers. They need to prioritize what they’re going to do, strategize how they’re going to do it, and then do it.
It would behoove these folks to remember that Democrats are only marginally less unpopular right now than Republicans. Already some are questioning how much of this blue tsunami thing was really just anti-red in this most peculiar political moment. Chalking up some early wins would be helpful. Real helpful, and real early.
Like before the presidential campaigning starts.
