Republicans have a majority in the new Senate, which is great. But it’s not a huge majority, which is typical of GOP Senate majorities of the last eighty years or so. And – as is also typical – that majority contains quite a few members who are not conservative, and some who are really not conservative such as Collins and Murkowski. And although Alaska certainly could and might someday elect a more conservative senator than Murkowski, for the moment she’s a senator. Collins, on the other hand, is different. Once she retires I doubt she’ll be replaced by a Republican at all. They’re not the only ones, either, although they may be the most visible and extreme. And the election of Thune isn’t some sort of secret betrayal; it’s a logical outcome of the makeup of the current Senate.

Thune is kind of middle-of-the-road as current GOP senators go. But he’s someone who’s been around long enough to know who’s who and how to pressure them, and he’s been the GOP whip since 2019.

A Senate Leader needs to be willing to push for the president’s agenda. But how is that accomplished, and what are the impediments to success? One of the most important requirements for the job – and one a lot of people ignore when they only look at where the leader falls on the political spectrum – is how well the person knows his or her fellow GOP members of the Senate.

I’m going to post a discussion of this issue by four savvy guys who’ve worked in politics for many years, are conservative, and also very knowledgeable IMHO. The podcast they have is called Ruthless, and I highly recommend it (they’re funny and entertaining, too). I discovered Ruthless during this election cycle, and they provided the best coverage of anyone I’ve seen.

Here is what they said on this issue before Thune was elected. I’ve cued it up just for that part, which is a bit less than seven minutes. I consider it an extremely insightful discussion on the question of who to elect as Majority Leader and why, and I strongly urge you to listen to it. If you have time I think you might enjoy the whole thing, but if not, then these seven minutes are well worth it (and if you speed it up it goes even more quickly):

So that’s why I look at Thune’s election quite calmly. He might just have been the best one for this particular job.

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