McConnell spikes the ball on Ukraine aid: I want to diminish the number in my caucus who support isolationism – By ALLAHPUNDIT (Hot Air) / May 20, 2022
By “diminish the number,” he means persuading skeptics of sending aid to support the Ukrainians.
But if Rand Paul were to lose his reelection bid this fall in a stunning upset, I doubt McConnell would be too broken up about it. Assuming the new GOP Senate majority didn’t depend on holding Paul’s seat, of course.
“I am interested in diminishing the number of my members who believe that America somehow can exist alone in the world,” Mr. McConnell said in an interview. “I think the fact that only 11 in the end ended up voting against the package was indication of success in convincing a larger number of our members that no matter what was being said by some on the outside that those views were simply incorrect.”
McConnell has been busy all week trying to fend off Democratic attacks about the 11 Senate Republicans who voted against the Ukraine aid bill. They’re a tiny part of the caucus, Mitch keeps saying. They’re basically a rounding error. He knows that most Americans support Ukraine and doesn’t want the stink of anti-anti-Russia nationalists rubbing off on the party in the midterms. That’s why he went to Kiev for a photo op with Zelensky, who reportedly gave him a baseball cap with the words “Russian warship, go f*** yourself” on it as a souvenir. McConnell may be 80, but he’s willing to fly into a war zone to try to help his party scrub off the stain of loudmouth populists badmouthing Zelensky more often than they do Putin.
