Assuming (at 11:00 a.m. PT) that when the votes are all counted Joe Biden is elected president and the Republican Senate majority is secure, what could be a better outcome for the senior senator from Kentucky?

The erratic, irrational, self-destructive leader of his party is about to be sidelined and there will be a clear, unambiguous villain in the White House. Republicans, and Fox News Channel, can give voice to lies and slander that will be more strategically calculated than the prodigious liar in the White House ever managed. And it’ll be easier for Republicans to keep the racial antagonism and xenophobia at a lower pitch than Trump has done. This won’t be a setback for any essential Republican policy objectives or campaign strategies.

McConnell, who has no interest in legislating, can go back to what he does best: obstruction. There will be no hurry to approve any Biden executive branch appointments. And, since the courts are packed full, perhaps we can have a pause for a couple of years.

Meanwhile, Republicans can let go of foreign policies that undermine our allies and give succor to Putin and other bad actors who wish ill of the U.S. Biden can be counted on to restore some normalcy to American foreign policy, which most Republicans — no matter what the lies and the party-line — will welcome, though not acknowledge. There will still be relentless attacks and investigations.

On Sunday I wrote, “Mitch McConnell (and the GOP caucuses in both the Senate and the House) often strategically opt for dysfunction, gridlock, and paralysis rather than cutting a deal, if they think they can shun accountability and win the next election — or the cycle or two after that.” His gamble paid off. The Senate ignored the pandemic and the economic crisis and McConnell didn’t even lose a cycle. And, if all goes well, Senate Republicans may be better positioned in the next off-year elections to increase their majority (which would be unlikely if Trump were in his second term).

This is not the country I thought (before November 2016) I was living in. Nor the one I thought (after November 2018) I was living in.

With November 2020 comes another reality check — and a discordant clash with nearly half the country. Even with a pandemic — with more than 200,000 dead and, by year’s end, perhaps 200,000 more — the Republican base voted heavily to return Trump to office along with red state senators. Fox News Channel, negative polarization, and fiercely partisan identities have profoundly shaped the reality that the Republican base perceives.

Yep. Mitch McConnell is sitting pretty.

(Image: Mitch McConnell 2016 official photo via wikipedia.)