{"id":2191784,"date":"2024-03-04T07:56:52","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T12:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mcconnells-retirement-marks-the-end-of-the-disastrous-bush-era\/"},"modified":"2024-03-04T07:57:59","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T12:57:59","slug":"mcconnells-retirement-marks-the-end-of-the-disastrous-bush-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mcconnells-retirement-marks-the-end-of-the-disastrous-bush-era\/","title":{"rendered":"McConnell&#8217;s retirement ends the disastrous Bush era"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/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%2Fmcconnells-retirement-marks-the-end-of-the-disastrous-bush-era%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=2191784&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>Mitch \u200bMcConnell \u2064and his associates are\u200c eager to portray the outgoing majority leader as the culmination of the Age of Reagan. Even some of\u200b his liberal adversaries are willing to repeat \u2063this clich\u00e9,\u2064 if only to contrast the nostalgic 1980s with the populist \u200cconservatism\u200c of the \u200bnew right.<\/p>\n<p>While it may be\u200c pleasant to \u200dreminisce about \u200dMcConnell&#8217;s marriage on Ronald Reagan&#8217;s\u200c birthday, a serious examination of\u2062 the longest-serving Senate leader in history \u200cmust\u2062 focus\u200d on the era in which he rose to power: the eight years\u2062 of Republican rule in the early 2000s. McConnell may have \u2064won his first Senate race during the Reagan years, but by the time he became minority leader, those days were long gone. Above all else, Mitch McConnell was a Bush Republican.<\/p>\n<p>He \u200cis not alone\u200b in this regard. Many alumni of the\u2062 Bush era\u200d prefer to cloak their criticism of the new right in\u200c Reagan&#8217;s mantle. This is understandable. It would be hollow to acknowledge the truth that those Republican elites \u200cwho clash with \u200bthe new right \u200drepresent the Bush wing\u200c of the GOP, which was \u200bpublicly rejected \u200dby their own voters. Few Americans, regardless of \u2064party affiliation, feel nostalgic about the George W. Bush presidency, and former Rep. Liz Cheney&#8217;s descent into obscurity does not inspire imitators. It is better\u200d to draw authority from a deeper well.<\/p>\n<p>The headline at Politico reads, &#8220;McConnell departure leaves GOP&#8217;s Reagan wing reeling.&#8221; One Bloomberg columnist echoed, &#8220;Ronald Reagan&#8217;s wing of the party is moribund, and Trumpism \u200bhas swept\u200d past a once formidable \u2014 \u2064and ruthless \u2014 political player.&#8221; The\u200d AP\u2064 reported, &#8220;His decision punctuates a powerful ideological transition underway in the Republican Party, from Ronald Reagan&#8217;s brand of traditional conservatism and strong international alliances, to the fiery, often isolationist populism of former \u200bpresident \u2062Donald\u2063 Trump.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>An anonymous Senate staffer told \u2063The Hill, &#8220;It&#8217;s the end of the Reagan era. And now the \u2063MAGA era.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So who was\u2063 Kentucky&#8217;s longest-serving representative? \u2064The man NPR\u200b says &#8220;long \u2064embraced Reagan&#8217;s conservatism&#8221;? When\u200b he had the opportunity to lead, \u200bhow did he use it?<\/p>\n<p>Mitch McConnell assumed leadership of the Senate GOP in 2006, coming off three years \u200cof\u2062 controlling the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives. During this time, they focused on business-friendly reforms but failed to achieve lasting impact.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2064defining issues of the day were bailouts \u200cfor Wall Street, the president&#8217;s promised amnesty for illegal \u2064immigrants, and the\u2063 increasingly unpopular Iraq War. \u2062McConnell supported all three.<\/p>\n<p>More contentious issues, such as George W. Bush&#8217;s proposed law enshrining marriage within the context of a family, took a backseat as\u200c the president&#8217;s popularity declined.\u200b McConnell was content to defer society&#8217;s thornier problems to the executive and judiciary, allowing Republicans to focus on \u2062blocking campaign finance reform and\u200d winning elections.<\/p>\n<p>In line with this\u200b approach, he\u200b pursued a strategy of appointing libertarian, pro-business \u200cjudges to the courts, for \u2063which he \u200cis credited. However, this strategy failed to serve as a bulwark against Obamacare, attacks on the institution of marriage, and the erosion\u200c of gender distinctions. While the \u200dDobbs decision is praised for ending 50 years of abortion precedent, McConnell hesitated in the face of this moment. Instead, he chose to focus on President Joe Biden&#8217;s economic record and foreign policy failures.<\/p>\n<p>Within the Senate, McConnell often\u200b operated as a \u2063sort of third party. His knowledge of the institution and\u2063 ability to deliver GOP votes on Democratic \u2062priorities gave him greater influence over outcomes than his minority status would suggest. While he could occasionally persuade a few \u200bRepublicans to join Democratic majorities, he had virtually no success in convincing Democrats to join Republican majorities. As a result,\u200b he achieved his own priorities while conservative priorities were neglected. In \u2062the fusionist coalition \u2064of defense hawks, tax cutters, and social \u2063conservatives, there was no doubt who was in charge \u2064and who had no power at all. Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., \u2064recently learned this the hard way.<\/p>\n<p>While McConnell&#8217;s legacy is\u200d complex and cannot be easily dismissed, it was not &#8220;Ronald Reagan&#8217;s brand of traditional conservatism.&#8221; McConnell&#8217;s perspective on leadership was shaped by his role as an appropriator. His legacy epitomizes the\u2063 Republican Party of the 2000s: \u2064corporate tax \u200bcuts, unchecked spending on defense and liberal programs, and the \u2062abandonment of serious\u200b legislative efforts on cultural issues, from abortion to marriage to immigration.<\/p>\n<p>It is fitting that, after four decades in \u200dthe Senate, McConnell hopes that \u2062funding the war in Ukraine will solidify his legacy. It is priorities like these, and individuals like him and\u200c other Bush Republicans, that \u200cpaved the way for the rebellion of the new \u200dright\u200d within the party.<\/p>\n<p>When he retires, his records will likely be housed at\u200b the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville, a project funded by tax dollars earmarked by McConnell.<\/p>\n<p>But\u200c let&#8217;s\u200c not allow that to hinder our fond reminiscences.  <\/p>\n<h2>Who is the\u2062 minority leader of the Senate?<\/h2>\n<p><span>Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell is an institution in Kentucky. He has been the Senate leader for his party since 2007. Stitution of marriage, and other\u2064 conservative causes. McConnell&#8217;s legacy as a Senate leader is not one of advancing Reagan&#8217;s conservatism but rather one \u2063of prioritizing \u200dpartisan politics and\u2062 maintaining power within the Republican Party.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout his tenure, McConnell aligned\u200d himself with the Bush wing of \u200cthe GOP, which prioritized business-friendly policies and alliances abroad. While some may try to portray \u200dMcConnell as\u2062 a product of the Reagan era,\u200c it is important to recognize\u2062 that he rose to \u2064power during the early 2000s when the Republican Party was facing different challenges and priorities.<\/p>\n<p>During this time, McConnell supported controversial policies\u2064 such as bailouts for \u200bWall Street, amnesty for illegal immigrants, and the Iraq War, all of\u200b which were met with increasing public disapproval. \u200dHe also chose\u2064 to defer to the executive and\u200d judiciary on contentious issues like marriage, instead focusing on blocking campaign finance\u200b reform and winning elections.<\/p>\n<p>McConnell&#8217;s strategy of appointing libertarian, pro-business judges to the courts highlighted his approach to conservatism. However, \u2062this strategy did not effectively counteract the implementation of Obamacare or the erosion of traditional conservative values.<\/p>\n<p>As McConnell&#8217;s \u2064tenure\u2063 comes to an end, there is a significant ideological\u2062 transition underway within the Republican Party. The departure of McConnell, who has long been associated with \u2063Reagan&#8217;s conservatism, \u200bsignifies\u2064 the decline of the Reagan wing of \u200bthe party.\u200b Trumpism, with its fiery \u2062populism and \u200disolationist tendencies, has become \u2062the dominant\u200b force within the GOP.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, it is clear that McConnell&#8217;s \u2062legacy \u200cas Senate Majority Leader\u2063 is not one that aligns with the Age of Reagan. Rather, he represents the Bush wing of the GOP and prioritized partisan politics over advancing conservative principles. As\u200b the Republican Party transitions to the era of Trumpism, McConnell&#8217;s tenure is seen as \u2064the \u2062end of the Reagan\u200c era and the beginning of the MAGA\u200c era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mitch McConnell and his allies portray the departing majority leader as the end of the Reagan era. Even some liberal adversaries echo this notion, aiming to contrast 80s sentimentality with the new right&#8217;s populist conservatism. Their intention is to remind us of the past and highlight the differences in political ideologies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":574,"featured_media":2191785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mitch-McConnell.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2191784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mitch-McConnell.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2191784","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=2191784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2191784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2191785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2191784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2191784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2191784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}