How does GOP solve a problem like Marjorie Taylor Greene?
The new congresswoman's controversies have forced GOP onto a political tightrope 鈥� yet another example of how fractious Congressional caucuses can be.
The new congresswoman's controversies have forced GOP onto a political tightrope 鈥� yet another example of how fractious Congressional caucuses can be.
Dear reader:
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听Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is a huge problem for Republican lawmakers. Huuuuge. And some GOP leaders are handling the challenge more adroitly than others.
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听Rep. Greene is a rookie member of Congress with an affinity for conspiracy theories such as QAnon. Prior to her election she promoted wild social media claims that mass shootings in Las Vegas and Florida were 鈥渇alse flag鈥� operations staged by gun control supporters. She鈥檚 endorsed posts calling for the assassination of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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听Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has already seen enough. 鈥淟oony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country,鈥� Sen. McConnell said on Monday.
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听In many ways Rep. Greene, for elected Republicans, is a subset of the larger former President Donald Trump problem. Who and what defines the GOP?
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听Mr. Trump 鈥� and Rep. Greene 鈥� are focused on exciting the party base, raising cash, and TV coverage. But Sen. McConnell, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, have different priorities.
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听They are, or should be, looking ahead to the 2022 mid-term elections, when both the Senate and House could flip back to Republican control. For that to happen Republicans need to do well in purple states 鈥� and in suburbs, where Trumpian lies and bombast alienate educated voters otherwise amenable to the GOP.
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听That鈥檚 why Sen. McConnell has little patience for Rep. Greene. Sen. McConnell is shrewd and wants to wield the Majority gavel again. The Trump base isn鈥檛 big enough to put him there.
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听House Minority Leader McCarthy? The jury鈥檚 still out. He tried to mollify Democrats by offering to kick Rep. Greene off one of her two committees. Democrats want her off both panels.
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听鈥淚t鈥檚 like he鈥檚 negotiating a spending bill, not signaling what鈥檚 unacceptable in politics,鈥� tweeted HuffPost Congress reporter Matt Fuller on Wednesday.
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听To be fair, the House GOP conference is difficult to manage. Just ask former Speaker John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, who quit in 2015, tired of dealing with squabbling factions.
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听Today, somewhere, Mr. Boehner is reading the news and smiling.
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听Let us know what you鈥檙e thinking at csmpolitics@csmonitor.com.