(C) South Dakota Searchlight
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Dusty Johnson wrong about Jordan, right about Republicans [1]
['Dana Hess', 'More From Author', 'October']
Date: 2023-10-26
Let’s give Rep. Dusty Johnson the benefit of the doubt, and excuse him for delivering a nominating speech for Rep. Jim Jordan during Jordan’s quest to become the speaker of the House. With the way the world is right now, it’s easy to believe that Johnson thought it best to get someone, anyone, elected.
As leader of the 67-member Main Street Caucus, Johnson is nothing if not pragmatic. By nominating Jordan, he established a beachhead on the potential speaker’s good side. While stepping up to nominate Jordan may have been Johnson’s way of moving the process along, it did leave South Dakota’s lone representative with egg on his face.
“I should tell you that Jim Jordan has the best chance to unify this conference of any other leader we’ve got,” Johnson said with a straight face during his nominating speech. “Jim Jordan is going to give us the best chance to get things done during the 118th Congress. This is an unruly bunch.”
Obviously, nominee Jordan didn’t live up to the hype that Johnson offered. It turns out that he couldn’t unify all Republicans but he did manage to unify a diverse, determined group of his colleagues who banded together to make sure that Jordan never got near the speaker’s gavel. While the members of that group had many reasons for voting against Jordan, they should all receive the thanks of a grateful nation.
In the past, Jordan has had trouble recognizing the truth as one of the most vociferous backers of President Donald Trump’s false assertions that the 2020 election was stolen. Jordan was, however, able to see the truth of his own situation as speaker candidate when he withdrew his nomination.
Thankfully, enough Republicans looked past Dusty Johnson’s overly optimistic view of Jordan’s talents and sent the Ohio representative back to the conspiracy theories that he loves so much.
News stories about the speaker candidates generously described Jordan as “fiery” or a “firebrand,” noted for his hardball tactics. Those tactics were embraced by his followers, as members of the House who failed to vote for Jordan received death threats. The ultimate irony of Jordan’s quest for the speakership, an irony that seems to be lost on Dusty Johnson, is that in his 16 years as a representative from Ohio, Jordan has yet to have a single piece of legislation passed by the House. Maybe that means he’d have more time for his duties as speaker.
As the Republicans lurched toward finding a speaker, at one point there were nine representatives, enough to field a baseball team, who declared their candidacy. This points to the part of Johnson’s nominating speech that was truthful: Republicans are, as he described, an “unruly bunch.”
While Jordan was not the right guy, apparently Mike Johnson of Louisiana was. Think of him as a kinder, gentler version of Jordan. He’s just as MAGA, but without the hardball tactics that made Jordan so unappetizing for some members of his party.
Mike Johnson is not just close to Trump, he convinced some of his colleagues to sign on to a Texas lawsuit that questioned the 2020 popular vote in swing states that Trump lost. That lawsuit was shot down by the Supreme Court. He’s big on LBGTQ restrictions and not a fan of aid to Ukraine. What could go wrong?
After three weeks of stumbling about like a student council that couldn’t agree who the cool kids were, Republicans were in lockstep behind Mike Johnson as he garnered votes from every GOP member.
Maybe Dusty Johnson’s failed endorsement of Jim Jordan was just a step along the path to ensuring that someone, anyone, be elected speaker of the House. Thankfully, enough Republicans looked past Dusty Johnson’s overly optimistic view of Jordan’s talents and sent the Ohio representative back to the conspiracy theories that he loves so much.
With wars to fund in Ukraine and the Middle East, a mess at this nation’s southern border, and a looming government shutdown, it’s past time for Republicans to get their half of the House in order. The coming weeks will tell if they will act like statesmen or live up to their billing as an “unruly bunch.”
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https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2023/10/26/dusty-johnson-wrong-about-jordan-right-about-republicans/
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