The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill the House approved should show all of us how Washington D.C. plays us. Pelosi knew she had the support of these 13 Republicans:
- Nicole Malliotakis of New York
- John Katko of New York
- Andrew Garbarino of New York
- Tom Reed of New York
- Chris Smith of New Jersey
- Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey
- David B. McKinley of West Virginia
- Fred Upton of Michigan
- Don Bacon of Nebraska
- Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio
- Don Young of Alaska
- Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
- Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
and that allowed her to give a pass to her own party:
- Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York
- Jamaal Bowman of New York
- Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts
- Cori Bush of Missouri
- Ilhan Omar of Minnesota
- Rashida Talib of Michigan
Republicans don’t get beat by Democrats; we get beat by Republicans! We get played from within our party. Whipping up votes is Politics 101, and Pelosi doesn’t make mistakes doing it. She knew she didn’t have the six votes of the SQUAD and her bill wouldn’t pass, but never fear, the Republicans are here! And sure enough, they fell for it.
You think that’s the only place we are being played? What about the power couple (and IMHO the next Democrat Presidential Candidate) Joe Manchin and his wife? Joe only holds out until he can get the next golden goose for the lovely Gayle Conelly Manchin, former president of the West Virginia Board of Education and currently serving as the Federal Co-Chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission. It’s a family thing.
And the government shows up when they are needed. For example, in New Jersey when 12,000 ballots were needed so Steve Sweeney could keep that State Senate seat. Edward Durr is learning quickly about getting played. Let’s see if the Republicans show up for the political newcomer or if they would rather stick with “what they know”.
Arizonans are no strangers to getting played. Remember July 28, 2017? When the six-term senator, John McCain, ceremoniously did a thumbs-down vote to halt the Republican party’s most promising effort to overturn a major Democrat achievement? Remember how every Republican candidate ran on the promise of overturning Obama Care? Did we make a mistake putting John McCain in Congress for 35 years?
Republicans seem to like to beat each other up; maybe those folks like losing. I don’t. I won’t. Stop getting played. You end up getting benched. Let’s get on the field and win. Join me, it’s time to win.