He has soared through the ranks largely untested in the art of bipartisan deal-making - evident in his failed battle with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) to put his slate of Republicans on the committee investigating the Jan. He is intimidated by hard-right radicals and has passed no landmark legislation. He is affable, if at times self-deprecating and contradictory. Despite his 1.6 million Twitter followers, McCarthy is analog in a digital age. It was emblematic of a politician with rhetorical shortcomings and no grand vision for a troubled nation. The line drifted for a moment and thudded into a list of grievances. But - as sometimes happens with the congressman - a phrase in his speech lacked the poetry he was reaching for: “The electric cord of liberty still sparks in our hearts.” McCarthy was there to inspire on that September day. A naturalness lifted off him, an ingratiating sense that after he was done, he might stroll over to the local VFW hall, have a beer and reminisce about high school sports or whose sister just got married. McCarthy, who is likely to be the next speaker of the House if his party regains control of the chamber in next month’s midterm elections, was not rushed. He shook hands with workers and kids, a woman on crutches, a man wearing a Trump hat. Tanned and dressed in a blue suit, the Bakersfield Republican stepped out beneath an American flag. Not far from Joe Biden’s birthplace in Scranton, it made the perfect setting to attack Democrats for ruining America. The business has since grown to 100,000 square feet. It was the sort of place campaign consultants crave, a factory with 35 workers founded in 1981 in a one-car garage with a milling machine and a lathe. Kevin McCarthy was weeks away from the biggest election of his life when he pulled up to Don’s Machine Shop in Pennsylvania.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |