Mickey Kaus reacts to yesterday’s election results and the House Democrats’ reaction to it:
Still an unlikely scenario, as it’s always been almost inconceivable that the Democrats would screw things up so badly they’d end up passing nothing. But this achievement is now within reach, and if it happens, it looks like there will be an obvious fall guy: Ron Klain, President Biden’s chief of staff.
In an extraordinary story last week, Politico reported how Klain, a few days before the Virginia election, decided to side with progressives (led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal) who wanted to vote against Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s attempt to hurriedly pass the bipartisan bill and give Biden at least one win before the Virginia vote.
Pelosi’s plan would have required pressuring Jayapal’s Progs, of course, but House leaders say this was possible—and why would Pelosi make the attempt if she didn’t think it was possible? The idea was that Biden would travel to Capitol HIll and ask for the progressives’ votes personally. Instead, what happened was Jayapal called Klain, who apparently believed her when she said her faction was strong enough to block the bill. Biden went to the Hill, talked about the bill, but he didn’t ask for the votes to pass it — and the rest of the White House didn’t apply much lobbying pressure either.
Most amazingly, it looks from the Politico piece like Pelosi was blindsided:
The top three Democrats knew they were within striking distance of passing the bill that morning and were left dumbfounded by the lack of a direct ask from Biden
When Biden didn’t ask, Pelosi was forced to desperately try to fill in, saying, falsely, “The President has asked for our vote today.†But, recounts Politico, Jayapal’s progressives “dug in against the infrastructure vote that the speaker wanted to tee up—using the president’s lack of a request for cover.†Biden “did not ask for a vote on [infrastructure] today, †Jayapal told reporters afterward. “The speaker did, but he did not.†Biden flew off to Europe and the planned vote was soon cancelled, for the second time in a month.
If Biden wasn’t going to get the bill passed — and wasn’t even going to ask —why send him to Capitol Hill at all? Embarrassing.
Since the early days of his campaign I have been predicting that Joe Biden would move towards the progressive wing of his party and intimated that it would be an error. As of today it looks very much as though the progressives are dragging the party in the direction of a loss of as many as 40 seats in the 2022 mid-terms. Socialist candidates like the one in Buffalo did particularly poorly and particularly poorly among black voters, the heart of the party. They overwhelmingly voted against “defund the police” candidates and in favor of candidates who ran on law and order and conventional Democratic credentials.
“As of today it looks very much as though the progressives are dragging the party in the direction of a loss of as many as 40 seats in the 2022 mid-terms.”
Which is the real point in the comment I made previously. To be clear, its not the voting public. Its the politicians. And for some reason many supposedly centrist Dems are following the lead of the Progs. Which begs the question of who is really calling the shots. I think its Obama and his disciples. Are we to believe that a group of truly bizarre people – AOC, Ilan Omar, etc – have the sway to cause the Dem party to self immolate?
I don’t think that President Obama is as involved as you seem to. I think Bernie Sanders is calling the shots which is bizarre since he isn’t a Democrat.
I agree with both Drew and Dave as to who are calling the shots. It’s a half and half deal – Bernie has sway over the small but vocal OAC contingency, while Obama is still a powerful presence in the mainstream democrat party. These two polarized entities are causing splits and tension in their own caucus, as well as in the nation as a whole. In the meantime, nobody in the democrat party is listening to “the people.â€
I take a half/half position.
President Obama seems content to stay in the background with a Democratic President; but much of the White House staff / Cabinet were staff from the Obama administration (Rice, Klain, Sullivan, Deese)
Goes to a question I have raised, how much are the governance issues due to Biden having to rely much more on a staff model then is typical for a Democratic President.
When I mean governance issues; the mismanagement of the Afghan file, the COVID file, the “inflation” file, and the “legislation” file. I know these are difficult files, but there are clear competency mistakes made on them this year.
At the risk of sounding like the cranky older person I’m becoming, it seems to me that there are a lot of mistakes and missteps happening because of young people calling the shots. They don’t know what they don’t know.
In the Democratic Party, it seems like there was a lost generation and now they’re continuing to elect septuagenarians and octogenarians on one end of the spectrum and kids barely out of college on the other end. And the older cohort seems to rely a good bit on advice from young staffers bust still missing is the middle aged group who might have some benefits of life experience for getting stuff done.
I didn’t suspect you would agree. And, ultimately, we won’t know until some tell all, er, memoir book is written years down the road. However, I don’t make this stuff up out of whole cloth.
In my business I engage attorneys at some fairly high powered places. Think the Simpson Thatcher’s, O’Melveny and Myers or Kirkland and Ellis’s of the world. I deal with M&A attorneys. But these people have partners or contacts in government law (read: Washington) such as regulatory, environmental, litigation or tax. And these partners talk. The basic notion is that the grand bargain was to put someone electable up – Joe Biden – so that others, including Sanders would stand down. And that Obama and Sanders have similar worldviews. So directions flow through the Sanders/Obama filter or his people. Read: Susan Rice etc.
That Biden is mostly a figurehead is obvious. But it does make it all the more intriguing due to the most recent issue: are we paying illegal immigrants a half million dollars or not? Did Biden put his foot down after VA? And we see that Bernie is pissed. Is Biden willing to go down as the worst President ever just so some crazed Vermont senator, an ex-bartender and a crooked, incestuous Somalian can play mad scientist with fiscal and social policy in the US?
Even then we won’t know. How do distinguish between resume-padding and what actually happened?
I don’t think the kinds of hands-on, detailed political machinations are within Obama’s wheelhouse. I think he’s an idea man. That’s consistent with accounts of what happened with the ARRA and ACA.
That’s my point. Perhaps I’m not being clear. Obama is the man who all this stuff has to clear. Like a Mafia boss approving a hit. He’s not the execution man. But Klain and Rice and Sullivan will take care of that.
I have no way of knowing but Drew’s scenario rings true to me.
Noting that Obama’s not “hands on†isn’t dispositive of the question. I saw little evidence during his presidency that he was “hands on†even when he held the job, and many of the same people that were doing the lifting then are back in this administration.
I saw little evidence during his presidency that he was “hands on†even when he held the job, and many of the same people that were doing the lifting then are back in this administration:
I’m on board with that thought, but Biden is President and there is evidence that for Eight years Obama disrespected him.
For example, “You can always count on Joe to screw things up”.
and reports that during eight years of the O Presidency, Joe and his family were never once invited up to the Presidential residence.
Beyoncé was, Jay Z was, not Joe, not Jill.
The videos of Biden reacting to reporter’s questions by looking at cue cards in his hand and responding, ” I’m not supposed to answer questions today”, then shuffling off stage are disturbing.
You know there are plenty who believe Obama’s Presidency was managed as well.
I’d challenge anyone to show proof or evidence that that was the case with Trump.
If you say Putin you are a fool. The power lies much, much closer to home.
“If Biden wasn’t going to get the bill passed — and wasn’t even going to ask —why send him to Capitol Hill at all? Embarrassing.”
Heh. And in other news at the clown show that is this administration, after derisively dismissing the story that $450,000 per separated parent or child would be paid out. “Garbage” “Never happen” said Uncle Joe at his little presser. Today his other press secretary confirmed that he supported the effort. And the ACLU reminded us that he actually ran on it during the campaign.
You couldn’t make this shit up if you tried.