What Is John Thune Doing?
Progressive policy ambitions meet practical realities as Americans weigh costs and consequences.
John Thune keeps playing this like it's 2015, and that's the problem. The Senate has rules and traditions for a reason, but rules and traditions only work when both sides are operating in good faith. Right now one side isn't, and Thune's response to that has been to reach for the same procedural handshake deals that used to be normal Senate business.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
There is no one worse at fumbling the ball than Senate Republicans, especially John Thune, whose leadership has been a series of failures. The man simply doesn’t know how to apply pressure to keep his people in line, and is far too deferential to Democrats, process, and institutional traditions.
This isn’t your father’s Democratic Party, Thune boy. It’s almost entirely taken over by a Maoist insurgency, which has overwhelmed a Democratic establishment that is too timid, stupid, and inept to do much of anything.
Thune isn’t up against Goliath—he’s facing a Democratic Party whose brand is completely radioactive. That’s how the socialists have managed to infiltrate the ranks with hammers and sickles.
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
John Thune keeps playing this like it's 2015, and that's the problem. The Senate has rules and traditions for a reason, but rules and traditions only work when both sides are operating in good faith. Right now one side isn't, and Thune's response to that has been to reach for the same procedural handshake deals that used to be normal Senate business. That's not principled restraint. It's a majority leader who hasn't updated his software.
Here's what's frustrating about it. Thune isn't facing a disciplined opposition machine that's out-strategizing him. He's facing a Democratic Party that can barely agree on a press release, let alone a floor strategy, and yet somehow Republicans still end up on defense. That should never happen with the numbers Senate Republicans have. When your opponent is this disorganized and this unpopular, losing the daily message war isn't bad luck. It's a leadership failure.
The people who actually did the work of winning back the Senate and the White House expect that majority to be used, not managed politely into irrelevance. Voters didn't send Thune to Washington to preserve comity with a party that's drifted this far left and this far from anything resembling a functioning opposition. They sent him there to pass an agenda and hold his conference together while he does it.
If Thune wants to keep his gavel, he needs to start acting like the majority he actually has instead of the minority he apparently still feels like. Deference isn't a strategy, it's an excuse. Republicans didn't win the majority so their leader could govern like he's still asking permission.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.