Senator Mitch McConnell Political success is often tied to future events. In a democracy political success often depends on being able to anticipate future events and take actions that shape and mold those events. Historically, politicians as diverse as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson have been celebrated as much for their ability to foresee the effect of their actions as for their ability to effectuate those acts. Johnson, for example, in 1957, recognized the growing political influence of the African-American community in Northern urban areas. In part, as a result of this, Johnson saw the advantages of sponsoring and working to pass the first civil rights legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. (The 1957 voting rights law was followed by another more expansive civil rights law in 1964, a continuation of a bill originally proposed by John F. Kennedy.)
Despite the importance of being able to anticipate future events that most pundits assign to political success, few Republican leaders demonstrate their predictive capacity. Mitch McConnell is recognized for his political acumen. He foresaw the long term benefit of being able to stymie Obama and much of the Democratic agenda, including refusing to bring Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Merritt Garland, up for a vote. Also, Trump and the Republicans passed significant tax legislation. The tax law, however, was so slanted in favor of corporations and the wealthy, it has not proven very popular with either Democrats or Republicans. These victories, did not show political anticipation. Instead, they demonstrated an apparatchik’s ability to twist rules for his party’s advantage.
Despite the importance of being able to anticipate future events that most pundits assign to political success, few Republican leaders demonstrate their predictive capacity. Mitch McConnell is recognized for his political acumen. He foresaw the long term benefit of being able to stymie Obama and much of the Democratic agenda, including refusing to bring Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Merritt Garland, up for a vote. Also, Trump and the Republicans passed significant tax legislation. The tax law, however, was so slanted in favor of corporations and the wealthy, it has not proven very popular with either Democrats or Republicans. These victories, did not show political anticipation. Instead, they demonstrated an apparatchik’s ability to twist rules for his party’s advantage.
