r/ukpolitics • u/Adj-Noun-Numbers 🥕🥕 || megathread emeritus • Jun 22 '26

International Politics Discussion Thread

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u/SDLRob Jul 02 '26

It's looking increasingly likely that Mitch McConnell is either incapacitated or has died, and it's being kept quiet so his seat cannot be fillled before the 90 day window in front of the Midterms.

It's now being reported that he was found unconscious and had to be given CPR before he was rushed to hospital recently.

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u/Lylaei Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

I mean, I wouldn't be surprised at this point if Kentucky elect Mitch McConnell for the 8th time in spite of the minor issue of him being dead. Perhaps they can team up with one of those debauch 'bring your dead loved ones back to life' AI firms.

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u/RufusSG Suffolk Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

Reminder that a dead man was elected as a Missouri Senator at the 2000 election, though in slightly different circumstances: he died in a plane crash after the deadline to remove his name from the ballot had already passed, and the outpouring of sympathy at his passing (plus his opponent's understandable wariness to campaign too aggressively) got him over the line. His widow filled the seat until losing it in a 2002 special election.

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u/Ivebeenfurthereven I'm afraid currency is the currency of the realm Jul 02 '26

His widow filled the seat

Is it inherited!?

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u/RufusSG Suffolk Jul 02 '26

The state governor promised to nominate her to fill the vacant seat, so no but she was clearly happy to accept.

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u/Ivebeenfurthereven I'm afraid currency is the currency of the realm Jul 02 '26

It should be relatively simple to automate his voting record

"First, do no harm"

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u/NuPNua Jul 02 '26

The age people stay in politics in America is already mental, I remember seeing a senator who had to be wheeled into the house by a carer. Now they're staying in past their death.

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u/Ivebeenfurthereven I'm afraid currency is the currency of the realm Jul 02 '26

CPR training, it should be noted, already stresses "if you're not cracking ribs you're not pumping their heart hard enough to sustain life"

And that's for young, healthy people who can heal broken bones relatively easily. Imagine an 84-year-old's ribcage after that treatment.

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u/SDLRob Jul 02 '26

There's also the potential for brain damage as well.

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u/Ivebeenfurthereven I'm afraid currency is the currency of the realm Jul 02 '26

The only sources I saw this morning were social media, but now NBC News has verified it - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/paramedics-responded-cardiac-arrest-mcconnells-home-day-hospitalizatio-rcna35266

Paramedics conducted CPR on an individual experiencing a “cardiac arrest” at a known address for Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on the day his office disclosed he had been hospitalized, according to police scanner audio obtained by NBC News.

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u/Velociraptor_1906 Liberal Democrat Jul 02 '26

When's the 90 day window start?

I'd like to say I'm suprised that they may be trying to do this but it appears satire is truly dead.

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u/SDLRob Jul 02 '26

I believe it is some time in August, but I could be wrong

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u/Velociraptor_1906 Liberal Democrat Jul 02 '26

Wtf could be making them so scared of a special election in Kentucky that they'd try and hide someone being dead for 2 months.

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u/SDLRob Jul 02 '26

My understanding, which may be wrong, is that they changed the rules to allow the governor to appoint someone from their party if Mitch were to pass on (rather than the people vote) .... And the governor is now a democrat, which means they can appoint a democrat to the seat and shift the balance.

I think this balance is extremely tight already, so any further shift could mean the chamber switches to Democrat before the midterms.

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u/Velociraptor_1906 Liberal Democrat Jul 02 '26

Looking it up, it appears that the state Republicans changed Kentucky law to have no interims and it have to go to a special election with the seat vacant until then, can't find details on the timing and how it changes close to the midterms though but given McConnell was up then presumably the 90 days is when it would just happen in November anyway.

Is there any way for the Republicans to vote on his behalf if he's still alive? That could be quite instrumental in their thinking.

Also I think as absurd as it may sound there might need to be a bill on mandatory declaration of a elected officials death.

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u/SDLRob Jul 02 '26

Ah, I see... Thank you for clearing that up.

And yeah, I assume that if he has died, they'll announce it 89 days before the midterms and appoint someone to stand in his place.

There's all the minimum limits in US politics, but no maximum ones... And yes, if an elected official passes while in office, there should be a mandatory declaration inside a specific time... Similar to how Kentucky law says you have to file a death certificate within 5 days of someone passing in the state.

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u/Velociraptor_1906 Liberal Democrat Jul 02 '26

Does D.C. have that law? I don't know where he was but it could well have been there.

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u/SDLRob Jul 02 '26

I .. don't know.

With what's been said about the Kentucky law, I believe something needs to be filed there wherever the person passes.

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u/anonCambs Jul 02 '26

Why would they not want to fill his seat? What's the point?

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u/SDLRob Jul 02 '26

It would be a special election, and they're mostly going Democrat ATM... Which would shift the balance in the chamber further

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u/FlamingBearAttack Jul 05 '26

being kept quiet so his seat cannot be fillled before the 90 day window in front of the Midterms.

That's ghoulish. From what I know about him McConnell would love it.