Strib, beginning:
After divisive midterms, U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer tries for new leadership role
The Minnesotan is asking fellow Republicans to make him the next House majority whip.WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer's ability to win a powerful House leadership role could rest on whether his fellow Republicans see the midterms as a success or a failure.
With Republicans favored to win back control of the chamber, the Minnesotan who led the House GOP's campaign arm is running this week to become the coveted majority whip. Yet that majority could come by a relatively small number of seats instead of the sizable wave of Republican wins the right had hoped to see.
"The bottom line is, we flipped the House and we're now going to be a check on Joe Biden and the Democrats' one-party rule," Emmer told reporters the day after the election.
His bid to become the third-highest ranking House Republican is the latest political move for the lawyer, former state legislator, governor candidate and radio talk show host from Delano. But as legislators made their way back to Capitol Hill on Monday, control of the House had yet to officially be called.
[...]
Emmer RNCC leadership moves were not responsible for any strong Dem election results this November. GOTV among the young was.
And GOTV among the young can keep Dem prospects sound as long as the inner party does not fuck up by taking the young for granted as having no other option in two-party politics.
The inner party can show wisdom of moving its agenda toward what the people want. Progressive goals - and Sam Alito and henchpersons also - energized things where a return to cynicism is likely - because Dem inner party business as usual is likely.
Flat learning curve is the worry, but if the Republicans run Trump again, the Dems can get by with a flat learning curve because running Trump again would show a flatter learning curve.
DeSantis; more progressiveness is a necessity. And a showing of abortion attention remaining strong and not an "issue" to be trotted out for elections, then between elections to languish while the politicians play other politics of the moment.
Dumbness among Dem inner party types can boost the Republicans. Unlikely wisdom would have an opposite effect. Clinton mistakes still stand strong.
We wait. We see.
________UPDATE________
Emmer elected House Republican whip, per Strib
Emmer's promotion follows his work chairing the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) for the last two cycles. Republicans cut into Democrats' majority during the 2020 election, even as Donald Trump lost the presidency. And last week's midterms gave them the chance to benefit from recent election trends and seeming political momentum.
Republicans came into Tuesday likely to hold the House by a relatively small number of seats. That reality loomed over Emmer's run for the whip job on Capitol Hill this week.
"A lot of people appreciate the fact that he stuck with the NRCC job for the last four years. There were expectations of [larger] numbers, but the fact of the matter is we're going to be in the majority," Minnesota GOP U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad, who supported Emmer for whip, said ahead of the vote. "We can armchair quarterback, should it have been 20 more seats, 30 more seats, whatever it may be, but he delivered."
While this won't be the 230- or 240-seat majority that Republicans wanted, GOP U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania, an Emmer ally, said Monday it was even more imperative that Emmer be chosen as the whip.
"With a thin majority, you're going to need a whip who has the nuance, who has the understanding of the difference between a deep-red district and a swing blue district, and there's no other candidate in this race besides Tom Emmer that brings that nuance and understanding to the table," Reschenthaler said.
Emmer and nuance being used together in the same sentence seems strange when thinking back to the Michel Bachmann days, and Emmer's unsuccessful run for Guv.
Final Strib paragraph -
"I'm willing to work with Tom and Republicans on good policy for the country," Minnesota U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, a swing-district Democrat the House Republicans' campaign arm tried and failed to defeat, said Tuesday ahead of the GOP leadership elections. "But what I don't want to see, and I fear their caucus doing this, is two years of 'Let's just scream from the mountaintops and focus on investigations.'"
Is Craig specifically thinking of Emmer re that fear, or thinking of her knowledge of the Republican House caucus after having served time in DC?
BOTTOM LINE: Emmer is whip with that thin Republican majority, his job being to knock heads together and keep the caucus on message. We hope Craig is wrong about the message. Emmer has moved beyond any level of politics this Blog would have ever anticipated. Let's watch. With 2024 anticipation, Trump and DeSantis and whoever, each caucus member has free speech rights.