The golden years. If you aren’t already in them, good Lord willing, your time is coming. Retiring is a tough decision. Do you have a few good years left inside of you or do you start searching “fishing poles” on Amazon?
When things go intolerably awry at a person’s place of employment, and if they are still young enough, they quit. But if they are of the proper age, or close, collecting their pension is the better of the only two options.
Since the majority of U.S. lawmakers are past the age of decrepit anyway, a good number of them have decided they’ve had enough. Things have gotten too crazy for their liking. There’s a problem though. The majority of those choosing retirement is coming from the same political party. They’re Republicans.
This is the worst of all possible news for Republicans. Senator Roy Blunt from Missouri just announced he won’t be returning after this term. He’s the fifth Republican senator to make such an announcement.
This all stacks up to one thing. The next campaign season is guaranteed to be brutal. These senators have been in office for so long because the citizens in their respective states have kept reelecting them, term after term. Their performances have been solid.
Democrats are ecstatic. This levels the playing field for them. Out with the old and in with the new gives them a good chance to continue skating on their thin-ice Senate majority. They might even increase their lead if these old-timers keep dropping out.
As of this precise moment, at least one chamber is likely to remain Republican, while the rest of Congress remains anyone’s guess. Republicans are in for some tough battles and not one person from either party disagrees. Especially when it comes to the Senate.
In reference to Blunt’s announcement, Republican strategist Rick Tyler said, “Any time you lose an incumbent, it’s bad news. Missouri’s not necessarily a safe state for Republicans. Democrats have won there.”
Granted, Blunt is 71 years old so it’s probably his time to step aside anyway, but he doesn’t have to, it’s all by choice. Since Donald Trump changed the face of politics, and particularly the Republican party, some of these old dogs aren’t willing to learn new tricks. They prefer the antiquated ways of the past.
The 71-year-old Blunt’s exit is a reminder of how the nation’s politics have shifted since the rise of Donald Trump. Joining Blunt, so far, will be his fellow cronies from Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Alabama. represent an old guard who fought for conservative policies but sometimes resisted the deeply personal attacks and uneven governance that dominated the Trump era.
This could go one of two ways. A fresh batch of younger Republicans who are adept at the ways of Trumpism could fill those seats, and this is what is hoped for, or they could be filled by young Democrats who oppose everything Trump-related.
CEO of the Senate Leadership Fund, and a staunch ally of Mitch McConnell, Steven Law, has to no avail been lighting flares concerning the direction of the Republican party. He’s reminding his fellow Republicans of how they lost the Senate majority in 2010 by latching on to far-right candidates, many of whom had countless flaws that worked against them.
As an example, former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens is expected to run for Blunt’s seat. Greitens resigned from the governorship in 2018 due to a sex scandal which was followed by an ethics investigation. Most of the state’s Republican base believes he didn’t get a fair shake so they’re standing behind him, but it’ll take more than “most” for his to win.
While this is not such good news for the Republican party, all hope is not lost. But the hope lies with the patriots of each state to start looking into who is going to be running for what office in the near future. From the lowest rung to the top of the ladder.
The next step is to actively support your choices. Together, we can restore this nation to its once former glory. Divided. We lose it.
What state are you from and which candidate(s) should we be keeping an eye on and why? We’d like to check them out.
