ANALYSIS/OPINION:
President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are not on speaking terms – and have not been for a few weeks now, according to multiple reports. But the actual reason why the two are not speaking to one another is less understood, especially by the media.
While journalists have rushed to point a blaming finger in the president’s direction for this breakdown in communication, everyday Americans are far more likely to see the underlying cause as the breakdown in the GOP’s willingness to keep its promises to voters.
The New York Times reported this week that Mr. McConnell has privately begun to question whether or not the president will be able to salvage his presidency, but Mr. McConnell seems unaware that conservatives across the country are wondering if the GOP can retain its majorities on Capitol Hill after a string of missed opportunities and failures to deliver on key campaign promises.
The president has taken to his favorite medium, Twitter, to chastise Mr. McConnell. “Mitch, get back to work,” the president chided in one tweet. Earlier this month, while speaking to reporters, the president revealed that he is “very disappointed in Mitch.”
Mr. Trump here, far from speaking out of turn, is simply voicing what is on the minds of millions of Americans. Across the country, there is widespread disappointment in Republicans’ failure to deliver on their most important campaign pledge – namely, repealing ObamaCare. Mr. Trump shares that frustration and is taking Mr. McConnell to task for this stunning failure.
For his part, McConnell has responded that President Trump has “not been in this line of work before” and has “excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process.” That’s what Washington Speak sounds like.
The translation from Washington Speak into English? McConnell is hiding behind obscure procedural complications, rather than owning up to his party’s colossal failure to deliver on a fairly simple campaign pledge. Americans hear right through the excuses.
Mr. McConnell is Leader McConnell today because large numbers of Americans have taken Republicans’ word when they have pledged – repeatedly and without qualification – to repeal ObamaCare. There is a direct, and undeniable, relationship between the Republican platform that includes repealing ObamaCare, and the Republicans’ majorities in both chambers of Congress today.
Republicans on the campaign trail have sounded a lot more like Donald Trump with their unified support for repealing ObamaCare “root and branch,” (an expression McConnell himself popularized), and a lot less like Senator McConnell sounds today.
And is it any wonder? Repealing ObamaCare is a simple campaign promise that Americans eagerly supported over the past four (yes, four!) elections. It’s difficult to imagine the Republicans would hold the majority today if McConnell’s present-day admonitions to the president had dominated the campaign materials. As candidates, while vying for votes, McConnell and his colleagues at least had the good sense not to tell voters to moderate their “excessive expectations,” or to brace for long delays in repealing ObamaCare.
While President Trump puts pressure on Congress to live up to its promises, activists across the country are doing the same. Activists associated with Tea Party Patriots, the organization I lead, have been writing letters to the editors of local papers, showing up at congressional town hall meetings, engaging on social media, calling Congress, and writing emails and letters. Our message could not be any simpler: Congress, it’s time to live up to your promises!
“It is with that message in mind that we are heading back to Capitol Hill on Saturday, September 23rd to rally in support of the agenda that the American people supported in last year’s election. We’re going to send a message to Washington politicians: “Keep Your Promises,” and we invite all Americans who want to see the America First policies come to fruition.”
Throughout the tea party movement’s history, rallies have played an important role. Individual activism across the states is essential, but nothing can quite match the effect of a rally in Washington, where thousands of activists gather to let their voices be heard together. Rallies are impossible for the media to ignore, and they’re even harder for Congress to ignore.
Mr. McConnell has blamed congressional inaction and the failure to repeal ObamaCare on the “democratic process.” On September 23rd, Americans will have the opportunity to remind Mr. McConnell and other Republicans in Congress about other facets of the democratic process – the consequences of elections, the importance of promise-keeping on the part of elected officials, and accountability to voters, to name only a few.
Tea Party Patriots looks forward to reminding Congress about the democratic process, and encouraging Republicans on Capitol Hill to re-embrace their campaign pledges.
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