{"id":1630152,"date":"2022-09-01T18:47:40","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T22:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1630152"},"modified":"2022-09-01T18:48:01","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T22:48:01","slug":"mcconnell-sounds-like-he-wants-to-abandon-a-ship-rick-scott-wants-to-captain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mcconnell-sounds-like-he-wants-to-abandon-a-ship-rick-scott-wants-to-captain\/","title":{"rendered":"McConnell Sounds Like He Wants To Abandon A Ship Rick Scott Wants To Captain"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmcconnell-sounds-like-he-wants-to-abandon-a-ship-rick-scott-wants-to-captain%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1630152&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Republican senators are set to face two options this January. The first: a GOP Senate minority led by longtime leader Sen. Mitch McConnell. The second: a Republican majority, led by Florida Sen. Rick Scott.<\/p>\n<p>Theirs is a fight that\u2019s been publicly brewing since (at least) McConnell\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2021\/12\/03\/mcconnell-no-agenda-midterms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">December declaration<\/a> that there would be no 2022 GOP agenda. After another month of missteps, however, their battle might have real-world consequences. <\/p>\n<p>Despite D.C.\u2019s always useless conventional wisdom about the GOP Senate leader\u2019s endless savvy, McConnell has given up on the duties of his job, turning on both his voters and his party. Scott, by contrast, is clearly aiming for the job \u2014 and is working hard to show he deserves it. Who gets it might depend on which party wins this November.<\/p>\n<p>Scott has placed his chips on a Republican majority and a plan of action should the GOP gain one. Toward this service, in February \u2014 10 weeks after McConnell had promised no legislative agenda for the 2022 agenda \u2014 Scott released <a href=\"https:\/\/rescueamerica.com\/12-point-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">his 12-point plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The release of an actual plan to run on infuriated McConnell, who came down on his leadership colleague with the kind of rage he often spares his political opponents and reserves for the apostates in his midst. <\/p>\n<p>Disaffected conservatives and Republicans alike closely watched how Scott would respond to his senior\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/03\/01\/politics\/mcconnell-nrsc-scott-rescue-america\/index.html\">public <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/03\/01\/politics\/mcconnell-nrsc-scott-rescue-america\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">r<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/03\/01\/politics\/mcconnell-nrsc-scott-rescue-america\/index.html\">ebuke<\/a>. Scott surprised the capital city by responding with a series of ads on Fox News, taking his plan directly to the party\u2019s base despite McConnell\u2019s complaints. While few in D.C. agreed with every aspect of Scott\u2019s plan, it was an actual platform \u2014 and one he was willing to fight Senate leadership over.<\/p>\n<p>For years, conservatives had run against Mitch McConnell, only to fall in line under the money his Senate Leadership Fund could either provide or cut off. For years, however, he\u2019d remained staunchly in place, with no serious contenders to unseat him.<\/p>\n<p>Misstep after misstep, chiefly beginning with his December announcement of no agenda, however, has significantly undermined McConnell\u2019s invincibility.<\/p>\n<p>In mid-August this year, faced with a historically unpopular president, a slate of radical and stroke-stricken Democrat candidates (and a host of difficult-but-competitive races), McConnell chose to trash his home team.<\/p>\n<p>Over the following days, he backed his trash talk with potentially sabotaging moves, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/mitch-mcconnell-backed-gop-super-050558462.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">slashing<\/a> ad-buys in Blake Masters\u2019 Arizona Senate race. Masters, like Ohio Republican nominee J.D. Vance, is a protegee of mercurial billionaire Peter Thiel. And like Vance, Masters was supported by Thiel over McConnell\u2019s preferred candidate in the primary.<\/p>\n<p>McConnell blamed Masters\u2019 alleged poor performance for the cuts, but while Masters has failed to fundraise, the race remains competitive by all measures outside the Democrats\u2019 wish-casting.<\/p>\n<p>The reality is McConnell is angry the base didn\u2019t choose his guys. Not content with taking his ball home, however, this week <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/politics\/peter-thiel-rebuffs-mitch-mcconnell-over-senate-rescue-in-arizona\/ar-AA11krN9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">his team leaked<\/a> to The Washington Post that he\u2019d demanded Thiel be the one who funds the candidates he\u2019d supported in the primaries.<\/p>\n<p>Does a man who wants to be the leader of his party publicly lament the defects of his team and even predict their loss? Does a man who wants to head a GOP majority cut his spending in close races while blaming the voters for selecting their own candidates? Does a man who wants to lead conservatives try to publicly humiliate a conservative mega-donor using leaks to the left-wing Washington Post?<\/p>\n<p>None of this was lost on Scott, chairman of the Republican National Senatorial Committee, who, in a Thursday Washington Examiner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/washington-versus-republican-voters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">op-ed<\/a>, accused Republican leaders of \u201can amazing act of cowardice,\u201d treason against \u201cthe conservative cause,\u201d and having \u201ccontempt for the voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you want to talk about the need to raise more money to promote our candidates versus the Democrats\u2019 terrible candidates,\u201d Scott wrote, \u201cI agree. If you want to trash-talk our candidates to help the Democrats, pipe down. That\u2019s not what leaders do. And Republicans need to be leaders that build up the team and do everything they can to get the entire team over the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was Scott\u2019s most open declaration of war yet but is still one that leaves the independently wealthy multi-millionaire safe with the majority of his colleagues. If Republicans do indeed fail to take the Senate in November, McConnell can claim he was right \u2014 but Scott can claim he fought to the end with the army he had.<\/p>\n<p>And if Republicans take the Senate (and they very well might), Scott will be the only man who fought the whole time. In either scenario, McConnell\u2019s grip on power will be severely weakened \u2014 and Rick Scott\u2019s positioned himself to take his job as leader, either right away or when the next moment arrives.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  Christopher Bedford is a senior editor at The Federalist, vice chairman of Young Americans for Freedom, a board member at The Daily Caller News Foundation and National Journalism Center, and the author of &#8220;The Art of the Donald.&#8221; His work has been featured in The American Mind, National Review, the New York Post and the Daily Caller, where he led the Daily Caller News Foundation and spent eight years. A frequent guest on Fox News and Fox Business, he was raised in Massachusetts and lives across the river from D.C. Follow him on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBedfordDC\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republican senators are set to face two options this January. The first: a GOP Senate minority led by longtime leader Sen. Mitch McConnell. The second: a Republican majority, led by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":574,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1630152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1630152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/574"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1630152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1630152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1630152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1630152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1630152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}