And there is the rub. Conservative legislators won’t allow it in most states, because it would mean more Dems in congress.

Same in California for much the same reason. There has long been a Republican proposal to split it into 5 states so there are more Republican senators.

Fucking MBAs ruin everything they touch.

Yeah, of course. No doubt Alito circulated the opinion to allies before circulating to the rest is the court. Hell, I’m sure Alito has had it in his drafts folder for since he was appointed.

The bigger surprises:

• Breyer was willing to join a plurality opinion that would have allowed the 15 week ban, but upheld the right to an abortion before then. That likely lead a conservative (probably Alito, which is just personal speculation) to leak it to solidify votes.
• They agreed to hear the case before Ginsburg’s body was even cold. They just pretended to relist it so it didn’t look like they were going to do it immediately. It was enough to even cause Barrett to vote to not hear the case.
• They let Mississippi completely change arguments midway, a tactic usually punished by the court but rewarded here.

Any Republican that works with Dems any more than McCarthy is likely to be primaried. They have brainwashed their base to think Dems = Evil, and working with them is worse than a deal with the Devil.

Republicans are stuck in this weird place where they do not have enough votes for a majority without the freedom caucus, but the base will replace them if they work with Dems. As such, they placate the freedom caucus.

If that was a possibility, I would think they would have done so in one of the 14 ballots before Republicans settled on McCarthy.

Look what they did to Liz Chaney. They would expel a Republican that did that from the party, and then they would Primary them out of office.

The freedom caucus can block any nominee they want, and Republicans have made it clear they won’t accept someone that wants to work with Dems. It took 15 votes to get McCarthy as it was. I am not hopeful.

I get that Dems are enjoying seeing the Republicans seem to fail, but I get the feeling this is going to turn out horribly. We’re going to see Speaker Jim Jordan or Matt Gaetz and the country will suffer for it.

There absolutely would be support from Democrats and moderate Republicans. But he refuses to work with Democrats.