LogFAQs > #976493403

ReturnOfFa posted...

I really don't know what the Dems that voted him out were thinking though. Just an opportunity for worse.

He'd already broken several deals with the Democrats, he started this ridiculous "impeachment inquiry" that even the Republicans' own witnesses have admitted has not implicated the president in any wrongdoing, and he outright said he was refusing to offer them any concessions in return for their votes.

From a nakedly political perspective, there was no benefit to the Democrats for saving McCarthy. The more dysfunctional the Republicans behave, the better the Democrats' electoral prospects for next year. Them standing back and watching the Republicans devour each other is the smart move politically. I think it was Jeffries who commented, "This isn't our circus, and he's not our clown." If McCarthy had offered concessions to the Democrats in return for their votes (Ukraine funding, a suspension of the debt ceiling, etc.), then maybe it becomes more defensible for them to at least vote "present" and let the Republican caucus save him themselves. However, absent any benefit to them, they were smart to do what they did.

I'm not even certain the Democrats *could* have helped McCarthy, even if they wanted to. Bipartisanship is a dirty word these days, and any perception that McCarthy was beholden to the Democrats for saving his speakership would probably doom him in the Republican caucus just as readily as what actually happened.