I’ve been trying to figure out why John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and several other Republican senators are piling on Susan Rice, UN ambassador, for her role as spokesperson for the administration on the Benghazi Sept.11 attack. There is no reasonable evidence for their ridiculous attacks, but maybe there’s a political motive.
One of the “shining stars” of the GOP, Scott Brown, got wiped out by Elizabeth Warren, a genuine progressive, in his race to return to the Senate from Massachusetts. If we look at the two names mentioned for Secretary of State we come up with Susan Rice and John Kerry. If the GOP senators can make Susan Rice a difficult choice for President Obama, then perhaps Obama will simply nominate Kerry, thus opening a Senate seat in Massachusetts.
When Willard “Mitt” Romney was governor of Massachusetts, the Democratic majority in the legislature took away his ability to name someone to an open Senate seat. That came back to bite them when Sen. Ted Kennedy died in office in 2010, and Scott Brown won a special election against a feckless Democrat, Martha Coakley. (Coakley actually thought that Curt Shilling, hero of the Boston Red Sox victory in the 2004 World Series, played for the Yankees!) I’m coming to the conclusion that some GOP senators hope they can force the nomination of John Kerry as Secretary of State, thus giving Scott Brown another chance at a low-turnout special election.
Such Machiavellian maneuvers rarely work out as planned. Just ask Bob McDonnell and Bill Bolling. In their dream scenario, Romney names McDonnell his Attorney General (!?!), thus enabling Bolling to be the incumbent governor when he faces crazy Ken Cuccinelli in 2013. Now, all Bolling can do is drop out of the race for the Republican nomination and scheme (we hope) for a way to stop Cuccinelli from getting to the governor’s mansion.
Oh, I do love politics!
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
