Louisiana State GOP Chairman: Mitch McConnell Needs To Resign

by Scott McKay | September 28, 2015 3:10 pm

The grassroots activists at local and state levels within the Republican Party have had it with the party’s leadership in Washington, and Monday was a good indication they’re not going to stand by and watch their efforts to get Republicans elected go to seed because of inaction and failure on Capitol Hill.

Roger Villere, the state chairman of the Louisiana GOP, found out about a Senate continuing resolution to fund the government which funds Planned Parenthood and promptly went on Facebook to express disgust and a suggested remedy[1]…

Villere then gave the Washington Times an interview[2] which made clear that, from his point of view, the base of the party simply isn’t happy about the dearth of deliverables a majority in both houses of Congress has produced for the GOP…

Mr. Villere did say what specifically about Mr. McConnell makes his state’s rank-and-file GOP voters so dyspeptic that they want him out as leader — his failure to challenge executive overreach by President Obama or fight to repeal Obamacare and other unpopular measures.

“Mr. McConnell could have suspended consideration of confirmations for all presidential appointees, except for those who are essential to national security, until the president rescinded his unconstitutional executive action on amnesty,” Mr. Villere said.

“This would have been a constitutionally appropriate response to the overreach of the executive branch,” he said. “It would have transformed the political environment, greatly encouraged Republican donors and grass-roots activists, and positioned us to refuse to confirm replacements for any Supreme Court openings that might occur during the remainder of the Obama administration.”

Mr. Villere ticked off other sources of discontent with Mr. McConnell.

“Not trying to repeal Obamacare, not defunding Planned Parenthood, not trying to stop illegal immigration,” he said. “That is what Republicans ran on and once they were elected they did not follow up with their promises.”

And a warning for the GOP inside the Beltway…

“The GOP brand is being damaged. We’re having to work from scratch to do all the groundwork we’ve already done with elections of Republicans to Congress and in the state because everybody is so furious at the leadership,” Mr. Villere said.

As much as one might hope McConnell might follow his compatriot John Boehner out as the leader of a Republican majority on the Hill, it might be a tough lift for Villere’s demand to be met[3].

But while there were suitable numbers of conservative House members to unseat Boehner (he wasn’t forced out, but the wolves were within earshot of his door), the same doesn’t hold true in the Senate. There is no particular Freedom Caucus in the Senate. There is Cruz, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, Jeff Sessions, David Vitter, Tom Cotton, occasionally Rand Paul, sometimes Tim Scott and once in a while a few others here and there, but to get more than a dozen Freedom Caucus-style Senate Republicans who are willing to disrupt the Washington machine in order to bend it to a conservative agenda you really have to stretch. The majority of the Senate GOP caucus is behind McConnell – the John McCains, Lindsey Grahams, Kelly Ayottes, Susan Collinses, Orrin Hatches and Lamar Alexanders of the world are right where he is.

That where they are is not where the Republican electorate, which is distinctly displeased with the lack of deliverables from going on nine months of GOP control of both houses of Congress, resides is not a problem which will cost McConnell his leadership position this year.

Perhaps more state and local Republican leaders will begin to speak out and make it known that failure – and the GOP on Capitol Hill is failing – has to have consequences, as Villere has. Otherwise 2016 could be a massive missed opportunity for the Republican Party – because asking the GOP base to work to keep the party in a majority in the Senate, when it has to defend 24 seats to the Democrats’ 10 next year, could be a very tall task[4].

Endnotes:
  1. promptly went on Facebook to express disgust and a suggested remedy: http://thehayride.com/2015/09/roger-villere-wants-mitch-mcconnell-to-resign/
  2. gave the Washington Times an interview: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/27/mitch-mcconnell-pushed-resign-senate-majority-lead/?page=all#pagebreak
  3. it might be a tough lift for Villere’s demand to be met: http://thehayride.com/2015/09/roger-villere-wants-mitch-mcconnell-to-resign/
  4. could be a very tall task: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/424698/ditch-mcconnell?target=author&tid=902480

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