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Republican Retirements

Paul Cook, a Republican Representative from California can be added to the list.

Rep. Paul Cook, a California Republican, announced Tuesday that he will not seek reelection to the House in 2020, adding to the growing number of House Republicans who plan to depart in 2020.

Cook will pursue a seat on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, he said.
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Wouldn't it be nice if all these Goopers bailing out would speak up about their reasons for skipping out on the Trump Train. Might some have a pricked conscience? Or is it just that they cynically see the writing on the wall, figuring it's best to git while it still looks not quite so obviously like rats leaving the sinking ship.

Either way, I see at least some of that lot as cowards. For not standing up for their convictions, if possessing some shred of honor. Or for their haste in exiting, with only their own job prospects (not public service) being the principal concern.

In any event, this will tend to redound to the Dems, so I shan't deride too vehemently. ;)
 
Texas running out of Republicans? I mean, obviously the answer is "hell no!", but another one isn't going to seek re-election:

Rep. Mac Thornberry on Monday became the sixth Texas Republican to announce plans to head for the exits of Capitol Hill, saying in a statement that he will not seek reelection in 2020
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One reason;It looks as if the chances of the GOP retaking the House in 2020, always small, are looking as if they will be non existent and they don't want to spend years in futility.
 
Horatius said:
This quote also applies. I'm aware that having one entirely dysfunctional party is overall bad for the country. Unfortunately, I also can't see any way to fix the GOP without just burning it all down and starting over.

Sometimes an old building is so dilapidated, it takes far more time and effort to shore it up that to just demolish it and start over. That sucks for the people still living in it, who would like to just repair it, in hopes of it becoming what it once was. But just plastering over the major structural flaws never works. The Crazy Wing has taken over the GOP, and they won't willingly give up control to the non-crazy wing. I suppose we could have every registered Democrat sign up as a Republican instead, and vote in primaries en mass for the least-crazy candidate, but that's unlikely to happen. There are not enough non-crazy Republicans left to fix it by themselves.
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I think you're right. I thought, before Trump, that the Republican Party is dying. Long term, their demographics don't look good, and even before Trump, they had mostly dropped any claim that they valued the good of the country above the good of their shrinking constituency. In the end, I think Trump will hasten the process. I fully expect, within the next 10-15 years, to see the Republican Party shrink to insignificance, and the Democrats to split. We haven't seen something like it since the Whig Party disappeared and were replaced by the Republicans.
 
CORed said:
I think you're right. I thought, before Trump, that the Republican Party is dying. Long term, their demographics don't look good, and even before Trump, they had mostly dropped any claim that they valued the good of the country above the good of their shrinking constituency. In the end, I think Trump will hasten the process. I fully expect, within the next 10-15 years, to see the Republican Party shrink to insignificance, and the Democrats to split. We haven't seen something like it since the Whig Party disappeared and were replaced by the Republicans.
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Oh, I have been predicting the possibility of "Blue Dog" democrats and "Never Trump " republicans forming the core of a new party, that would be fairly but not extremely conservative on fiscal and economic matters, but liberal on social issues.
A lot depends if the progressive wing of the Dems becomes a Left Wing Tea Party and drives the more moderate Dems out of the party.
Some of the rhetorice I have been seeing on the Net from the "Prog" wing of the Dems indicates that now has a real chance of happening.
 
And with Perry stepping down as Energy Secretary, the image I get is of rats abandoning a sinking ship...
 
Republican Who Would Consider Trump Impeachment Won’t Run Again


A U.S. House Republican who said he’d consider impeaching President Donald Trump -- but isn’t ready to commit -- announced Saturday he won’t seek a third term in 2020.


“I did what I came to do,” Representative Francis Rooney, 65, from Florida, a businessman and former ambassador to the Vatican, said in an interview on Fox News. His office didn’t immediately respond to request for a broader statement or comment.

Rooney sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, one of three panels engaged in an impeachment inquiry of the president. He told reporters on Friday he’d given Trump “the benefit of the doubt” when the president said military aid to Ukraine was held up as leverage to demand more support from European governments.

But Rooney said he was “shocked” when acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Thursday that the funding was withheld, in part, to urge an investigation of a 2016 election conspiracy theory to discredit Democrats.

“The only thing I could assume is he meant what he had to say, that there was a quid pro quo on this stuff,” Rooney said.
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SuburbanTurkey said:
I'd argue the opposite is true. It's much easier to be a house member if you aren't in power. Governing is hard, but backseat driving while out of power is easy. Just grandstand a bunch and get huffy when the vote goes against you.

It's like the whole repeal Obamacare thing. All those years of talking a big game about repealing the ACA, when the Republicans finally get into a position to do so, they choke. Turns out, details matter. Actually having power is much trickier than being a powerless demagogue.
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It really depends on how one approaches the tasks at hand. And the minority party is rarely sitting on their hands during the process. If they're doing it right they are working with the majority party to make legislation that benefits the greatest number of people without regard to their party. I consider myself a Democrat, but that doesn't mean I can't or won't allow myself to be persuaded by someone with an "R" after their name.

Legislation is hard work. It requires a lot of reading and listening to others. The Republicans are not my enemies. We're both Americans.first. Or at least we should be.
 
acbytesla said:
It really depends on how one approaches the tasks at hand. And the minority party is rarely sitting on their hands during the process. If they're doing it right they are working with the majority party to make legislation that benefits the greatest number of people without regard to their party. I consider myself a Democrat, but that doesn't mean I can't or won't allow myself to be persuaded by someone with an "R" after their name.

Legislation is hard work. It requires a lot of reading and listening to others. The Republicans are not my enemies. We're both Americans.first. Or at least we should be.
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That presumes good faith and a willingness to keep government in good order.

8 years of McConnell stonewalling Obama should make it clear that is not the case. It's pretty clear that McConnell saw gridlock and government dysfunction as a desirable condition, and would likely resume such a strategy should there be similar circumstances in the future.

This has only gotten worse under Trump. The "reach across the aisle" type Republicans have largely been whipped into shape or chased out of the party.
 
Trebuchet said:
Rep. Peter King of NY. About as bad as Steve King of Iowa, but a bit smarter.
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Democratic party in a nutshell

Chuck Schumer tweet
Peter King stood head & shoulders above everyone else

He’s been principled & never let others push him away from his principles

He’s fiercely loved America, Long Island, and his Irish heritage and left a lasting mark on all 3

I will miss him in Congress & value his friendship
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Ilhan Omar tweet
Peter King is an Islamophobe who held McCarthyite hearings targeting American Muslims, said “there are too many mosques in this country” and blamed Eric Garner for his own death at the hands of police.

Good riddance.
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We've got another one!

CNN said:
North Carolina Republican Rep. George Holding announced Friday that he will not seek reelection, saying in a statement that "newly redrawn congressional districts were part of the reason" for his decision.
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Sounds like he was a little scared of getting embarrassed when his district was redrawn. Insert_trumpian_insult_here.
 
Not sure if it counts as a voluntary retirement, but Duncan Hunter, who is now a Felon after his guilty plea on corruption charges earlier this week, will step down from his House seat,
 
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