Politics
Home state paper: Hawley is possibly ‘the worst sitting senator’
As 2021 got underway, Sen. Josh Hawley did not find himself in a good position. After the Missouri Republican helped take the lead in trying to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory, Hawley was briefly seen as a political “pariah.”
As regular readers knowthe GOP senator was denounced by former allies; prominent businesses distanced themselves from him; several independent media outlets called on Hawley to resign in disgrace; and several of his Senate colleagues filed an ethics complaint against him.
Even many Republicans balked. The Washington Post’s Michael Gerson, a former George W. Bush speechwriter, concluded“The ambitions of this knowledgeable, talented young man are now a threat to the republic.” Then-Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska addedin reference to Hawley, “Adults don’t point a loaded gun at the heart of legitimate self-government.” Then-Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said Hawley would be “haunted“ by his actions.
A year later, the Missouri senator’s reputation had not improved. Then-Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois called Hawley “one of the worst human beings” and a self-aggrandizing “con artist.” Soon after, the editorial board of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch told readers that Hawley is “grossly unfit” for office.
The Republican incumbent, of course, is seeking a second term anyway, and he’s very likely to win in spite of his record. But the Post-Dispatch’s editorial board isn’t just eager to remind local voters about Hawley’s on-the-job performance, it’s also urging Missouri’s electorate to vote for his opponent.
Hawley’s role in Jan. 6 would, in itself, merit his expulsion from the Senate by Missouri voters even if there weren’t so many other reasons to reject his reelection bid: his shortsighted and obtuse quest to nix Ukrainian aid; a Senate term almost completely devoid of substantive accomplishments; an unparalleled record of demagoguery on the Senate floor, where he endlessly spews faux-populist sound and fury signifying nothing. For reasons above and beyond any partisan considerations, Josh Hawley is quite possibly the worst sitting senator in America right now.
Ouch.
It’s important to emphasize that the newspaper’s editorial didn’t just slam the incumbent, it also celebrated his challenger: Lucas Kunce, a Democratic attorney and retired Marine.
Raised in Jefferson City, his working-class family went bankrupt because of immense medical bills from his ailing sister’s multiple open-heart surgeries. Kunce has talked extensively about how the surrounding community came together to help his family. Despite those modest roots, Kunce went on to obtain degrees from Yale (on a Pell Grant), Mizzou law and Columbia law. He subsequently joined the Marine Corps’ Judge Advocate division, serving one tour in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. Later, he negotiated arms control agreements for the Pentagon involving Russia and NATO.
In theory, given Kunce’s impressive background and Hawley’s record on Capitol Hill, this should be one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races.
In practice, Missouri has become a ruby-red state, and while there haven’t been many polls in the Show Me State lately, the available data suggests the Republican incumbent is ahead by double-digits — even if Hawley is “quite possibly the worst sitting senator in America right now.”
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an BLN political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”
Politics
Hageman launches bid for Wyoming Senate seat
Wyoming GOP Rep. Harriet Hageman on Tuesday announced her campaign for Senate, hoping to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis in next year’s election.
The Wyoming Republican is a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, and with his backing she helped oust Republican then-Rep. Liz Cheney, a vocal critic of Trump’s, in the 2022 primary.
“This fight is about making sure the next century sees the advancements of the last, while protecting our culture and our way of life,” Hageman said in her launch video. “We must dedicate ourselves to ensuring that the next 100 years is the next great American century.”
Lummis announced she would not seek reelection last week, saying she felt like a “sprinter in a marathon” despite being a “devout legislator.” Hageman, who had been debating a gubernatorial bid, was expected to enter the Senate race.
Hageman touted her ties to the president in her announcement video, highlighting her record of support for Trump’s policies during her time in the House and vowing to keep Wyoming a “leader in energy and food production.”
“I worked with President Trump to pass 46 billion in additional funding for border security, while ensuring that Wyomingites do not pay the cost of new immigration. We work together to secure the border and fund efforts to remove and deport those in the country illegally,” she said.
Trump won the deep-red state by nearly 46 points in last year’s election, and Hageman herself was reelected by nearly 48 points, according to exit polling.
Still, Hageman bore the brunt of voters’ displeasure earlier this year during a town hall. As she spoke of the Department of Government Efficiency, federal cuts and Social Security, the crowd booed her.
Politics
Ben Sasse says he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer
Former Sen. Ben Sasse announced on Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic pancreatic cancer.
The Nebraska Republican shared the news on X, writing in a lengthy social media post that he had received the diagnosis last week.
“Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence,” Sasse said. “But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do.”
The two term senator retired in 2023 and then went on to serve as president of the University of Florida. He eventually left the school to spend more time with his wife, Melissa, after she was diagnosed with epilepsy.
Sasse continued to teach classes at University of Florida’s Hamilton Center after he stepped down as president. He previously served as a professor at the University of Texas, as an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services and as president of Midland University.
Sasse on Tuesday shared that he and his wife have only grown closer since and opened up about his children’s recent successes and milestones.
“There’s not a good time to tell your peeps you’re now marching to the beat of a faster drummer — but the season of advent isn’t the worst,” Sasse said. “As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what’s to come.”
Sasse said he’ll have more to share in the future, adding that he is “not going down without a fight” and will be undergoing treatment.
“Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We’re zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I’ve pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape,” Sasse said.
Politics
Cannon keeps Jack Smith’s classified records report under wraps for now
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday lifted restrictions on the release of former special counsel Jack Smith’s findings from his investigation into President Trump’s handling of classified records — but she gave the president a 60-day window to challenge her order. Cannon did not immediately lift her order barring the Justice Department from sharing…
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