McConnell thinks WE’RE stupid? Here’s the lesson he still hasn’t learned

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kan. (F, 42%) is gloating. He and his team believe they have achieved a noble and worthy feat.

“GOP establishment trounces tea party in congressional elections,” a headline in Politico blared yesterday. The Washington Post published an explainer titled “Why Mitch McConnell’s Strategy to Quash the Tea Party is Working.”

Both stories focus on the fact that incumbent Senate Republicans, such as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. (C, 77%) and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. (F, 34%) staved off primary challenges this cycle. But that’s not notable. What’s notable is that the Senate Majority Leader views success as killing the grassroots—which is exactly the attitude that fueled the fury and fracture within the GOP that ultimately installed Donald Trump as its presidential nominee.

The stories do not talk about how the McConnell and his allied political operatives guided candidates to address voters’ concerns and message a principled, winning agenda. The pieces seek to snuff out reliably conservative fundraising operations such as the Senate Conservatives Fund and the Club for Growth—groups that are a “shell of their former selves,” if you believe the Washington Post.

The gruel they’re serving up, however, is pretty thin.

For example, the Washington Post piece detailed how McCain was able to fend off his primary challenger by labeling her “Chemtrail Kelli Ward,” tying her to a conspiracy theory about airplane exhaust. 

“It wasn’t pretty, but McCain won and Republicans have their best chance at keeping the seat in the red column in November,” the Washington Post story read. “It is a different story at the top of the ticket, and many establishment Republicans look at these Senate races as the petri dish for how to get a more palatable candidate in the next presidential primary.”

(Never mind that McConnell, along with McCain and the rest of the GOP establishment, are openly backing a non-palatable, conspiracy-theory espousing candidate for president. Or that the Club for Growth, which they ridicule, was one of the first conservative organizations to run ads opposing Trump’s candidacy.)

McConnell and his crew want people to believe they’re some kind of grand master strategists because they helped the GOP’s 2008 presidential nominee McCain—who possesses an incredible donor network, name ID, and history in his state—beat a weak, loony challenger who wasn’t even supported by SCF and the like.

In other words, they think we’re stupid.

McConnell hasn’t learned his lesson and likely never will. He believes he will ultimately be able to use Trump to tar all future conservative threats. One problem: that involves losing the White House for the third straight presidential election.

McConnell titled his recently-released memoir “The Long Game.” That must be because there’s still no victory in sight.

Republicans have been boxed out of the White House for two terms. While the GOP has been in the wilderness, the only constant leadership figure in Washington has been McConnell, who offers nothing but false victories, embarrassing displays of political expediency, and disdain for the base.

McConnell is arguably the person in Washington most responsible for making Trump the GOP nominee, who is poised to lose to the most disliked and distrusted Democratic presidential candidate in history — potentially dragging down scores of GOP candidates down with him.

Had the party produced any meaningful leadership in Washington, any respected figure that instilled unity within the ranks, or delivered results for conservatives, Trump probably would not have had an opening to launch his candidacy.

Remember, it was McConnell openly loathed the Tea Party’s influence over GOP’s historic 2010 and 2014 midterm wins and infamously told the New York Times he would “crush them everywhere” in the future. And, that’s what he did, save Nebraska where Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. (A, 94%) prevailed against establishment forces to win his seat in 2015. It should be no surprise to anyone that Sen. Sasse is proudly #NeverTrump.

In short, if McConnell wants credit for crushing the Tea Party, he should get credit for the way Trump is crushing the GOP, as well. One is directly related to the other.

McConnell’s reign in Washington has been defined by three things: no leadership, no unity, and no results. Those three things that created the perfect storm for Trump to rise.

That’s certainly not anything to brag about.