Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) on Tuesday introduced a problem to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for GOP chief after their celebration’s disastrous efficiency within the midterm elections and its failure to retake the Senate.
“The established order is damaged and large change is required,” Scott mentioned in a tweet. “It’s time for brand spanking new management within the Senate that unites Republicans to advance a daring conservative agenda.”
In a letter to his colleagues, Scott argued that Republicans should be “much more daring and resolute than we've got been previously. We should begin saying what we're for, not simply what we're in opposition to.”
“I don't consider we are able to merely proceed to say the Democrats are radical, which they're. Republican voters anticipate and need to know our plan to advertise and advance conservative values,” he added.
Right here’s a duplicate of Scott’s letter:
McConnell’s place as chief isn’t severely doubtful. On Tuesday, he struck a defiant tone and and mentioned he has the votes to change into chief once more ― whether or not the GOP management election takes place this week or not. Some Republican senators have referred to as for delaying the election till after the Dec. 6 Georgia Senate runoff election.
“I've the votes. I shall be elected,” McConnell proclaimed at a weekly press convention. “The one subject is whether or not we do it in the end.”
Scott laid out his case throughout a contentious, three-hour GOP convention assembly earlier on Tuesday. The Florida Republican engaged in a tense back-and-forth with McConnell the place they criticized one another, in keeping with a number of attendees, placing an exclamation mark on the long-simmering feud between the 2 males and their workers over marketing campaign techniques this yr.
Scott reportedly recorded a video previous to the election saying a problem to McConnell as chief, however he deserted these plans after the much-hyped “crimson wave” didn't materialize final week.
A few of Scott’s colleagues puzzled aloud why anybody would vote for him over McConnell, specifically as a result of Scott is the chairman of the Nationwide Republican Senatorial Committee at a time when Republicans had been simply crushed within the midterm elections.
“For those who’re going to evaluate blame for election losses, I don’t know the way you commerce within the chief for the chairman of the NRSC,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) instructed reporters. “That’s simply kind of fundamental to me.”
He added, “If not Mitch McConnell, who?”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who's shut with McConnell, mentioned he believed Scott was making a mistake by mounting his problem.
“I hate to see him do it this manner,” Cornyn instructed HuffPost, including that it will distract from the Georgia Senate runoff election.
Earlier this yr, Scott launched a controversial plan that referred to as for elevating taxes on the poor and reauthorizing Social Safety and Medicare each 5 years. Democrats seized on the proposal and used it to assault Republicans all around the nation.
McConnell pointedly refused to element an agenda forward of the election and his management model hasn’t all the time jived with rank-and-file GOP senators.
“I’m gonna help no matter goes to vary the present dynamic, which for me isn't as a lot in regards to the chief because the management approach,” Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who's supporting Scott for chief, instructed reporters on Tuesday.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) mentioned most of his GOP colleagues would like to place off their management elections till after the Georgia Senate runoff is over in December.
“It’s not about Mitch a lot as we don’t even know who’s within the convention,” Graham mentioned. “We’ve bought to determine what went unsuitable.”
However even when the management elections had been delayed, he didn’t appear satisfied that anybody may topple McConnell.
“I don’t actually see that proper now,” he mentioned.
For now, Senate Republicans are set to carry their management elections on Wednesday.
McConnell is standing for an additional time period as GOP chief, a place he’s held longer than any Republican in U.S. historical past. If he wins once more, it will make him the longest-serving Senate celebration chief ever.
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