Today most if not all House Republicans are going to vote against a COVID relief bill that has broad popular support. It’s the smart political move for them - and a reminder as to why the filibuster needs to go truthandcons.substack.com/p/partisanship…
Most GOP House members represent districts that are heavily tilted toward Republicans. Their biggest threat is not losing in a general election but rather being primaried. And to vote for a bill written by Democrats practically invites a primary challenge.
The same is true of all but 1 or 2 GOP Senators. Most are in red-leaning states. Voting with Dems will not win them many votes and will erode their support among Republicans
Even rank-and-file Republicans who support COVID relief are unlikely to vote Democratic in 2022 over the issue. The pull of partisanship is simply too strong.
Granted there are a few Republicans in swing districts who will be hurt by a yes vote - and perhaps a Senator or two. But by and large voting no is the smart political play
This is all meant as a reminder that there is literally no political incentive for the vast majority of Republicans to compromise on legislation, or any effective way to pressure them.
People who think Democrats will be able to work Senate Republicans on legislation are kidding themselves. There are simply no political incentives for Republicans to do that
If the filibuster is in place, Republicans will obstruct everything and pay almost no political price at the polls. If anything, it will strengthen their support with Republican voters.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Michael Cohen

Michael Cohen Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @speechboy71

25 Feb
In my latest piece for Truth and Consequences I look at the research of @dziblatt and Steven Levitsky on "How Democracies Die" and ask "is the GOP an authoritarian party?" truthandcons.substack.com/p/is-the-gop-a…
The trendiness are not good. Republicans are increasingly inclined to reject electoral outcomes - and not just the presidential race. This week former GA Senator David Perdue cited "illegal votes" in his loss to Jon Ossoff - a completely false allegation
Restrictions on voting rights and basic civil rights are growing worse. The GOP is now targeting peaceful protest. More than 60 bills are now being considered in more than 24 states to more narrowly define protests as riots and increase the legal penalties for participation.
Read 6 tweets
16 Feb
Having been in New York State for the past 11 months it’s hard to do justice to what a shock to the system it is to be in place where people walk down the street maskless. Like “it’s hard to compute” shocking
Last night we went to an ice cream parlor and not only were the customers not wearing the mask ... neither were the people serving ice cream. I still can’t get over that.
I should add that most people here (Manatee County, Florida) are wearing masks but a sizable minority are not. Perhaps not unexpectedly, this county went 57-43 for Trump
Read 5 tweets
12 Feb
THREAD: Today is my last day as an opinion columnist at the Boston Globe - after 6.5 years. It has been the best job I've ever had. I've loved every minute of it.
My father grew up in Boston reading the Globe & it's hard for me to put into words what a great honor it was to write for this newspaper, which is one of the best in America. And it's been a uniquely humbling experience to have this platform during a time of great national peril
While I would preferred to leave the Globe under different circumstances I have nothing but positive feelings for my time there. Every day was a privilege.
Read 9 tweets
11 Feb
Tomorrow is my last day as an opinion columnist at the Boston Globe ... so forgive me for the public navel-gazing but I wanted to take a moment to highlight a few of the columns that I'm most proud of.
The first is an essay I wrote last December on why I'd changed my mind about Joe Biden and why after spending a few days with him on his "No Malarkey" bus tour in Iowa I was convinced that he would be the Democratic nominee in 2020 bostonglobe.com/2019/12/13/opi…
The second is an essay I wrote in March 2019 on Elizabeth Warren, asking if the country was ready for her angry, populist message - and why I suspected it might not be bostonglobe.com/opinion/2019/0…
Read 7 tweets
27 Jan
My latest for Truth and Consequences on why Congressional Republicans are so afraid to challenge not only Trump but the growing craziness within their own party truthandcons.substack.com/p/if-i-only-ha…
Senate Republicans can look at the furious political backlash against the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump and see all the reason they need not to convict Trump ...
... .. but don't underestimate the importance to Republicans of NOT making liberals happy by convicting Trump. The worst thing you can do these days as a Republican is give Democrats a lay-up.
Read 4 tweets
20 Jan
In my latest for Truth and Consequences I argue that Mitch McConnell showed his hand yesterday on Trump's coming impeachment trial ... and it doesn't look good for the soon-to-be former president truthandcons.substack.com/p/its-starting…
If the GOP is going to jettison Donald Trump now is the time to do it, when his political standing is the lowest and his megaphone is the weakest.
Turning on Trump will allow McConnell to present congressional Republicans as cut from a different cloth than the former president - committed to the nation's democracy and the rule of law. It's hogwash, but it might actually work
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!