Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's plea to Republican senators not to join in an effort to undo the Electoral College vote installing Joe Biden as president-elect was a shrewd move by a wily old politician -- not an effort at unity or any other such honorable intention.
McConnell's urging came as he finally recognized Biden's election following the Electoral College vote December 14 that made his victory official, an act that sent sore loser Donald Trump into yet another hissy fit via Twitter.
“Many of us hoped that the presidential election would yield a different result, but our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on January 20. The electoral college has spoken,” McConnell said in remarks from the floor of the Senate. “So today, I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden. The president-elect is no stranger to the Senate. He’s devoted himself to public service for many years.”
That brought this tweeted response from Trump early this morning:
“Mitch, 75,000,000 VOTES, a record for a sitting President (by a lot). Too soon to give up. Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry!”
As if McConnell's belated congratulations to Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris was not enough, McConnell, in a conference call with GOP leaders, urged Senate Republicans not to join a desperation effort led by right-wing nutcases in the House of Representatives to challenge the Electoral College results January 6 when Congress formally tabulates the vote.
Some House Republicans say they will challenge the vote, but need at least one Senator to join their effort in order to force a vote, but so far, they have been unsuccessful in recruiting anyone. Now McConnell is counseling them against getting involved in what would be simply more drama and grandstanding with no chance of success, since the House of Representatives is controlled by Democrats.
But is McConnell doing that because he is a great statesman and is extending an olive branch to Biden?
Consider the implications of such a vote.
Republicans would be forced to choose between supporting the constitutionally-guaranteed right to vote and voting against Trump, an act that still has many Republican office holders shaking in their boots, or voting for Trump and thus be voting to overturn the election and send the nation into a constitutional crisis and chaos.
So, wily, old Mitch is trying to avoid that altogether and thus save GOP senators from having to make such a choice and further damage the Republican party. There is also the matter of the special election January 5 in Georgia, where two Republican GOP senators face stiff challenges from worthy Democrats.
That might be a smart political move for McConnell, but it is sure to anger Trump and there is no telling what his next move will be. One fact is certain, however. Trump could care less about the future success of Republican senators or the Republican party. His only concern is avoiding the humiliation of being a loser.
Unfortunately for him, however, it's too late. Not only did he lose the election by a landslide, dozens of judges -- many of them Republicans -- as well as the Trump-packed Supreme Court, have ruled against his election challenges at every turn.
So, if there was ever a loser in the annals of American political history, it is Donald John Trump. He lost at the polls. He lost in the courts over and over again. And, should this ill-conceived plan to take the election to Congress actually materialize, he will lose in Congress.
Yep, Trump is a loser -- bigly. And, a sore loser at that.