Primaries

What’s the one thing that every pundit and certified member of the Fourth Estate knows? Why, it’s that MAGA is finished.  How many stories have we been treated to about “the fracturing of MAGA?” NPR knows it, Politico intuited it, Salon bet on it and the New Republic salivated over it. “Trump’s MAGA Base Splits Dramatically,” that anti-Trump orifice recently crowed, “New Poll Shows Donald Trump’s support continues to drop.” Then of course there is the New York Times, which has predicted and rejoiced in the death of MAGA again and again. That is – that was – the narrative. What is the reality? Yesterday’s primaries tell a very different, in fact a contradictory story.

For the second consecutive time, the opening of a congressional session has been mired in chaos. In 2021, the certification of the presidential election was the issue. In 2023, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy is being denied the speakership after waiting in line for well over a decade. Some of McCarthy's detractors make the case that this is simply his comeuppance, the natural consequence of appeasing the rightmost flank of his party during the Trump years. There's an element of truth to this. Too often, he has gone out of his way to placate the demands of the fringes in an attempt to secure their support, only for recalcitrant right-wingers to continue to see him as part of the establishment.

It’s hard to imagine wanting to be a politician. Listening to people’s problems, being on your best behavior all the time (or at least working hard not to get caught), being in charge of stuff. It’s like the worst parts of adulthood on steroids. Not to mention all the campaigning — exhausted from traveling from one indistinguishable town to the next, feigning good humor, interest and delight in every person you meet and in every small diner’s Local Slop Special you’re forced to sample while telling everyone how great you are. It’s not for the faint of heart. Yet David McCormick, candidate for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat, seems to be made for it. Aspiring officeholders are a type. “Admirable” isn’t the right word, but remarkable, certainly.