[…]majority leaders and Speaker. More Homework. McConnell, Mitch – Senate Majority Leader. Mitch McConnell is Kentucky’s senior Senator and says he is in his last term. He was first elected in 1985. Govtrack puts him in the middle of the GOP ideology curve, with a high leadership score. McConnell is looking tired. He failed at his earlier goal of ‘…making Obama a one term President’. He now has his ‘dream job’ – Senate Majority Leader. “Yes, but he’s failing at it,” Jay said. “He lost to Rand Paul on the Patriot Act provisions.” “He screwed up the timing,” Bill added. “He was confident that by letting it go to the wire, Paul would play ball. He didn’t; McConnell took a beating.” “McConnell’s convinced that the now two term Obama will be replaced by a Republican, saying, in response to the recent Paris climate agreement: ‘Obama should remember that the agreement is subject to being shredded in 13 months’.” “And McConnell should recall that Romney lost – and so will Rubio, or Cruz, or whoever.” “The McConnell – Paul fight is an interesting power struggle – the old and young senators from […]
[…]the selection of the dozen or so additional Congressional patients needs to be very strategic. Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and Kevin McCarthy – the Congressional Leadership – of course deserve our attention and treatment. We looked at the House Freedom Caucus and at the ideological ‘spectrum’ data available at www.govtrack.us . We discussed the possibility of treating the far right end of the spectrum, where most of the Freedom Caucus and ‘Tea Party’ members are located. We looked at a Rolling Stones magazine recent analysis of the Freedom Caucus, by Dickinson. Apparently the members are elected from largely white, lower middle class districts. Their constituents say they want ‘their country back’. The commander of the Freedom Caucus is Rep. Jim Jordan, whose rural Ohio district is gerrymandered into the shape of a pelican: The bill reaches into the outskirts of Cleveland, while the tail feathers ruffle up against ex-Speaker Boehner’s district in Cincinnati. Jordan’s district is 89 percent white. Jordan’s a high school champion wrestler, first elected to Congress in 2008. When many Tea Party types were elected in 2010, he selected and organized those critical of Boehner to form the Freedom Caucus. He can be seen ‘in […]
[…]two people in McConnell’s office. I talked with an older lady, whose desk had a large picture of McConnell and his wife nearby. I asked her if she knew Mrs. McConnell. That was almost a mistake!” “Interesting, how so?” Bill asked. “She actually made a face, then corrected it. Noticing, I innocently asked ‘Does she ever come by and help out – or visit?” “She said that Elaine Chao McConnell rarely comes to Bowling Green, but that she helped a lot with his reelection campaign. I didn’t sense any great interest or connection, so immediately moved on to chocolates.” “Did she respond to chocolate?” “A little. She offered me some chocolate chip cookies from a nearby table – for staff and visitors, she explained. She was curious about Ananda’s and did volunteer that Mitch likes chocolate chip cookies – and she’d put the chocolates in his mailbox with a note – and tell his chief aide.” “OK, and the others?” I asked. “Paul’s office was more interesting. The sole staffer there was much younger and seemed more committed and connected. There was also a cute photo of Paul with his family, with the […]
[…]Green. His ideology score is to right of GOP center and sports a high leadership score. As Mitch McConnell has a major state office in Bowling Green, that seems to be the best access location for harmless. Montana’s eager therapists are Bill and I, mainly via the Centennial Valley event, which includes Montana’s Congressional delegation and several other Koch-friendly invitees. The primary targets are Bill and David Koch, perhaps Charles, and their children. Jon Tester is Montana’s senior Senator – a fairly conservative Democrat. He is a farmer and a former music teacher. Steve Daines was elected junior Senator in 2014, after serving a term as the state’s Representative. He is very conservative. Daines has a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Montana State. He and wife Cindy live in Bozeman; they have four children: David, Annie, Michael and Caroline. Daines’ Washington DC office hosts a one hour coffee breakfast for the delegation and visitors when the Senate is in session. Ryan Zinke is the state’s single at-large Representative, first elected 2014. His ideology and leadership scores are in the middle of the GOP distribution – an average Republican. Zinke, Tester, and Daines all […]
