If so, it's the Tea Party primary challenger that is the fly in the ointment. In the last post I got into the idea of market failure and the problem markets face of rational irrationality, where the most rational choice for an individual is an irrational choice for society as a whole.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-cassidy-market-failure-and-thek.html
No doubt this phenomenon is dogging the Republican party right now. As a party, they should get out of this self-defeating posture of obstruction for the sake of obstruction-voting to repeal Obamacare 40 times, refusing to work with the President even on things they agree with like his proposal to drop the corporate tax rate to 28%, using the debt ceiling to try to achieve things they've failed to do legislatively and even before the SJC, in the case of Obamacare.
Individually, so many Republicans are terrified of nothing like the chance of a Tea Party primary. McConnell is now facing just that. This was seen as the reason behind his recent opposition to Susan Collins' attempt to get a bipartisan transportation deal.
Now many think he may not even have the courage to make a deal to avert a government shutdown.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/08/mitch-mcconnell-reelection-shutdown-default.php?ref=fpb
So the choice for him is disaster for himself or disaster for the country-obviously it would be disastrous for the country if we really do have a government shutdown or debt ceiling default. Talk about a rational irrational choice!
Yet, it's not hard to see what Republicans are up against. The Tea Party wants blood anywhere they can get it. You have Republicans trying to put nails in the machine to stop Obama from doing the 'Church fix' for Obamacare to please the Tea Party.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/08/obamacare-fix-churches-coons-pryor.php?ref=fpb
You have Republicans having to take loyalty oaths that they hate Obamacare after getting razzed by Tea Partiers at a townhall meeting when they refuse to use the threat of default to defund Obamacare.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/08/john-cassidy-market-failure-and-thek.html
UPDATE: Greg Sargent has a piece about Robert Pittenger's targeting by Tea Party activists today. H's pretty desperate to show how much he hates Obamacare.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/08/06/congressman-who-sponsored-a-dozen-obamacare-repeal-bills-gets-targeted-by-tea-party-group/
Meanwhile, McConnell is taking hits from his Tea Party primary opponent, Matt Bevin:
"Republican Senate candidate Matt Bevin launched a Facebook petition Tuesday to demand that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sign a letter by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) vowing to block legislation to keep the federal government open unless it defunds the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
“Over the past couple of days, Sen. McConnell has been asked repeatedly whether he will support Sen. Mike Lee’s effort to defund Obamacare before its implementation on October 1st, and each time, Sen. McConnell has refused to answer," Bevin said. "It is truly sad to see the minority leader of the U.S. Senate so afraid to answer a simple question. The people of Kentucky deserve an answer on this critical issue."
"Bevin's effort is designed to put McConnell in a predicament between conservatives, who eagerly want to destroy Obamacare by any means, and his responsibilities as a Senate leader to keep government running."
"Despite his fierce, ongoing opposition to Obamacare, McConnell has refused to conscript himself into blocking a continuing resolution to fund the government after the Sept. 30 deadline if the Affordable Care Act is not defunded."
Just days ago, Bevin wrote an op-ed demanding McConnell sign the letter, accusing him of "doublespeak" and "having his cake and eating it too."
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/matt-bevin-squeezes-mitch-mcconnell-on-obamacare?ref=fpb
Having said all this, I still don't think there will be either a default or a shutdown. One thing that might mitigate McConnell going this way is that it would give his Democratic general election opponent, Allison Grimes a lot of ammunition.
A mitigating factor is that McConnell also wants his party to win back the majority, which he recognizes will be tougher if it provokes a government shutdown or default. Such a scenario could also strengthen his Democratic opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes. That means he may quietly root for agreements but keep his fingerprints off them and vote ‘no.’
“Mitch McConnell may not be warm and cuddly, but he’s not stupid, either,” said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College. “On the one hand, he knows that a government shutdown would probably destroy any chance of a GOP Senate majority next year. On the other hand, he knows that openly advocating compromise with the president could hurt him badly in a primary. So he will probably work for a deal, but do it behind the scenes or through intermediaries.”
If this is his plan-and it sounds plausible to me-then, ironically enough, he doesn't want any credit. Indeed, he has to be careful not to do anything that would earn the praise of the President.
McConnell’s other challenge is that President Obama can hurt him simply by praising him. Talk about rational irrationality.
“Of course, if he does take the hidden hand route, the president could still undermine him by doing a reverse McCaskill. In 2012, she pumped up Akin by running an ad saying that he was too conservative,” Pitney said. “Obama could hurt McConnell by openly praising him. ‘Like another great Kentucky leader,’ Obama could say, ‘Mitch was a Great Compromiser.’ That would slice and dice him on so many levels.”
Ultimately that's the optimum route for the Dems-the hope that we can Akin him.
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