It is possible that Joe Biden hurt himself enough with his daft utopian talk of “transitioning” (what a funny recent career that word has had) Pennsylvania’s energy jobs into oblivion to cost himself the election. It is unlikely that Donald Trump will be reelected, though it was unlikely that he would be elected in 2016 — unlikely things are unlikely, not impossible. But if conservatives are faced with a Biden-Harris administration in 2021, then what?
The answer to that will depend immediately and urgently upon whether Mitch McConnell is the Senate majority leader or Chuck Schumer is. If Republicans maintain control of the Senate, then that body has a good chance of performing its authentic constitutional role — a brake — to a reasonably satisfactory degree. Senator McConnell is wise enough to keep as low a personal profile as his job allows, but, if he were more inclined to braggadocio, he might plausibly claim to be the single most effective political figure of his time. He may not be remembered that way, because his successes have been informed by Calvin Coolidge’s advice: “It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.” The past decade would have been much more destructive if Senator McConnell had been less successfully obstructive. Holding the Senate is critical to Republicans.
Comments