As Republican optimism grows about this year’s midterm elections, GOP leaders continue to face awkward questions about the party’s complete lack of a policy agenda. If Republicans were in the majority on Capitol Hill next year, what exactly would they do with their power?
Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas appeared on Fox News yesterday and offered an example of the kind of policymaking the GOP would like to do. The Kansas City Star reported:
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall said Sunday he may sponsor legislation requiring President Joe Biden to take an annual mental test, suggesting that the President’s cognitive capacity is in decline. “I think we’re all concerned for President Biden’s mental health,” Marshall said. “I think if you compare today’s films from some of his films even a year ago, you see a deterioration in his mental capacity. Maybe we need to be proactive.”
As part of the same interview, the senator added that he intends to work with Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio on formal legislation that would require the president — presumably, any president — to take a mental test alongside his annual physical.
The Star’s piece added that Marshall’s comments came in response to a question from host Maria Bartiromo, who asked for the senator’s opinion about Biden’s mental health — she claimed to be worried about security threats — given the senator’s background as a physician.
It’s worth noting for context that Marshall is an obstetrician by trade. He has no medical training in making cognitive assessment of people by way of television appearances. (The newspaper added, “The American Psychiatric Association considers it unethical for a psychiatrist to offer their professional opinion about the mental health of a public figure unless they have personally conducted an examination. Marshall is not a psychiatrist.”)
At this point, we could note that this entire line of attack is cheap, ugly, and more than a little ageist. We could also note that Republicans were unsubtle in pushing a similar line in 2020, right up until Biden scored the biggest win for a challenger against an incumbent president since FDR.
We could even take a moment to note that this isn’t even politically smart for the GOP, since the attempted smear tends to lower public expectations for Biden. While we’re at it, we could even explain why the attack is plainly wrong, as people who interact with the Democrat come away unconcerned about his acuity.
But for now, let’s put all of that aside and focus less on the message and more on the messenger.
After former Sen. Pat Roberts announced his retirement in Kansas ahead of the 2020 election cycle, plenty of Republicans saw a unique opportunity and launched statewide campaigns. Among the most notable was former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, whom many in the GOP saw as radical and unelectable.
The Republican establishment rallied behind Marshall, a physician and sitting congressman, whom they saw as far more “normal” than the far-right Kobach.
The party’s efforts worked: Marshall prevailed in a GOP primary and won the general election with relative ease. But consider what happened when the Kansan began his Senate career. As regular readers may recall, the trouble began immediately: The first two votes Marshall cast as a new member of the institution were to reject certification of Biden’s victory, even as most Republicans rejected such a radical tactic. By the summer, Marshall was calling on the president to “resign immediately.” By the fall, he was partnering with far-right allies on a government shutdown scheme over vaccine policies. All the while, the Kansan, who’s always eager to remind folks of his medical background has pushed Covid-19 rhetoric that “defies medical consensus“ and places him “closer to the medical fringe.” Last month, while pushing an odd conspiracy theory, Marshall badgered Dr. Anthony Fauci to put financial disclosure information online that was already online. (At one point, Marshall suggested that “tech giants” are keeping the materials secret, despite the fact that the documents he sought were readily available.) All of which is to say, after Republicans rallied behind Marshall as the conventional alternative to his extremist primary rival two years ago, the senator has positioned himself as one of the Senate’s most outlandish members. The result is a question the political world should grapple with in more detail: Is there still much of a line separating the GOP fringe from the GOP mainstream?
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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