Vance vs. Mandel Gets Ugly
Plus, did Kevin McCarthy Really Have a Moment of Conscience?
Recently at The Bulwark:
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New from me: Vance vs. Mandel Gets Ugly.
In Ohioās Republican Senate primary, āThe Final Countdownā just came on, and all the contenders are doing their best Gob Bluth impressions in the hope that something magical happens to their prospects.
Itās going about as poorly as youād expectābut, as in a bad reality-TV show, Ohio Republicans still have to pick a winner next Tuesday. Although there are seven candidates, only three matter now: Josh Mandel, J.D. Vance, and Mike Gibbons. And the fighting among them has gone nuclear over the past two weeksāsince Donald Trump bestowed his blessing upon Vance.
In a Fox poll of registered Ohio voters screened to identify Republicans conducted March 2-6, Vance pulled 11 percent support, Mandel 20, and Gibbons 22. A Trafalgar Group poll of likely GOP primary voters conducted April 13-14āthe two days before Trumpās endorsement of Vanceāput Mandel at 28 percent, Vance at 23, and Gibbons at 14. And a new Fox poll of registered voters screened to identify Republicans, conducted April 20-24 and released yesterday, shows Vance at 23 percent, Mandel at 18, and Gibbons at 13.
Face it: Republicans are so much better at politics. Democrats stick to the moral high ground while Republicans focus on winning by any means necessary. Plus, Elon Musk is a crony capitalist, and the knives are out for Kevin McCarthy. Lucy Caldwell joins Charlie Sykes on todayās podcast.
Bulwark+ members can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast on the player of their choice. Learn more at Bulwark+ Podcast FAQ.
Eliot and Eric welcome Charlie Edel, Australia Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to discuss security in the Indo-Pacific, the role of Australia, the AUKUS partnership, John Quincy Adams and U.S. foreign policyādo the ārestrainersā read Adams correctly?āand the role of literature in understanding history.
CHRISTOPHER ORR: Did Kevin McCarthy Really Have a Moment of Conscience?
When Kevin McCarthy got blown up by the New York Times last week, the conventional explanation for his lying (and then lying about his lying) was that it was all because, in the heat of the insurrection, heād had a pang of conscienceāand then later regretted it.
And maybe thatās true. But what if the explanation is even simpler? What if there was never any internal debate between conscience and ambition, let alone one in which conscience briefly (and incompletely) won out?
Prior to Jan. 6th, Kevin McCarthy lavished praise on Trump because he thought that was the clear path for him to become speaker of the House, a post he has very publicly coveted. This we can take as given.
AMANDA CARPENTER: Trumpās Garbage Men.
Whatās disorienting about McCarthyās machinations is that what the House Republican leader is trying to defend and explain away is his temporary display of honesty. After the ugliness and the deaths of the attack on the Capitol, McCarthyāand the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, whose private comments about Trump have also been leakedācame to their senses. McCarthy and McConnell said they were fed up with Trump and remarked how he could be removed, with McConnell asking a reporter about the Twenty-fifth Amendment and both men discussing impeachment.
So McCarthy and McConnell knew that Donald Trump was bad for their party.
šØOVERTIME šØ
On the jukeboxā¦ Mumford and Sons with Guiding Light at the BBC.
$115k for WCK. Thank you.
Once the toast of liberal partiesā¦ J.D. Vanceās transition to MAGA.
Kim Wehleā¦ On the Utterly Moderate pod.
The conservative Democrats can get behindā¦ Molly Jong-Fast on Evan McMullin.
Overdoing itā¦ I donāt exactly love ballot initiatives, but this seems a bit extreme.
RIP Beau Bearā¦ And how the Cleveland Indians/Guardians responded to his untimely death.
Thatās it for me. Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.
