(HuffPost) — Bannon, the avenging angel of establishment Republicans, recently told The New York Times, “I have an objective that Mitch McConnell will not be [Senate] majority leader, and I believe will be done before this time next year.” Bannon could well get his wish, though not quite in the way he intends.
Suddenly, a Democratic takeover of the Senate in the 2018 elections is not such a long shot. McConnell could well hand the gavel over—not to some Tea Party Republican backed by Bannon, but to Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
Thanks to Bannon, Republicans are now saddled with a nominee in the December 12 Alabama special Senate election: ousted Judge Roy Moore, who was already at risk for being too crackpot even for Alabama—and that was before several women came forth and credibly accused Moore of molesting them as teenagers. Polls now show the Democrat, Doug Jones, slightly ahead.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Tennessee, Bannon and Trump hounded incumbent Senator Bob Corker, a standard-issue right-wing Republican and chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, to the point where Corker decided not to run for re-election. Bannon has been hoping for a Tea Party replacement; Trump wants someone more loyal to himself (note that these are not the same things). But instead they may get Phil Bredesen, a popular Democratic governor between 2006 and 2011, who is seriously considering running for the seat.
