Now that we have a Speaker…we need to make hay.
I’m sure 92% of the nation has some idea there was a squabble in the House – but what was it about? Really?
My take is that Dems were gifted a powerful new vehicle to show the difference – them and us.
Everyone knows there were two candidates – Jeffries and McCarthy – who went head to head in 15 ballots, while both ended up giving extended remarks from the Speaker’s chair. Of course, the day-after reports were all about McCarthy and his battle.
As one who watched both speeches, I admit, “I did enjoy the look on McCarthy’s face when Jeffries was doing his ABCs. You could really see in his eyes the moment when he truly realized his speech wasn’t up to the standard of his opening act.”
Democratic Minority Leader Jeffries made the case: We’re going forward – ending with… “the ‘d’ in Democrat is we deliver.”
McCarthy read his (stale) staff-written sentences listing all the things to be accomplished by the new Republican majority (mostly going back to last year’s legislation – his first bill will be to defund the 87,000 IRS agents) … before wandering off into a German’s painting of Washington’s crossing the Delaware. 50 years after the event, McCarthy highlighted who was on board. What was that about?
My thought during his remarks was to run with a headline: “McCarthy promises ‘a chicken in every pot.’” (Actually, he did promise to fill my gas tank…)
I was reminded of a TV ad that Warnock ran in his Georgia runoff – split screen with Walker doing his vampires and werewolves remarks and actual voters with headsets listening and verbalizing their own reactions – ‘what’s-he-saying.’ This was actual voters sharing their feelings.
Someone somewhere needs to put these two speeches in the can – targeting Independents in four NY congressional districts – the stark and real choice we have to make – going forward, or going back?
One more observation: After the 14th ballot, the members of the two panels on CNN sounded a lot more like my usuals on MSNBC – openly questioning what McCarthy has wrought in his quest to be Speaker –“at what cost?” It’s all good grist for the mill going forward.
At what cost? We’ve got two years to find out.
Author Bob Bob Andersson has represented wineries and growers on land use, water, and ecological issues affecting their business interests in Sonoma County, California for three decades. Earlier in his career, he served on the staff of the House Agricultural Committee in Washington.