How Lonely Is Roy Blunt?

Imagine how isolated Roy Blunt must feel.

Senator Blunt is a party man. He believes in following leadership. He doesn’t rock the boat.

And his leader, Senate Minority Leader Slick Mitch McConnell, has decided to help Harry Reid get the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture on the continuing resolution. Once debate closes (via cloture), Reid will strip the House’s defund language from the bill and pass it.

Senate Republican leadership wants defund language stripped.

But if Roy Blunt doesn’t do everything in his power to stop Obamacare—including joining Ted Cruz’s filibuster—he’ll be a pariah in Missouri.

Think about it. Missouri:

• Passed Proposition C
• Blocked Obamacare Exchanges in the Missouri Senate
• Blocked Medicaid Expansion
• Blocked Obamacare Exchanges a second time

Missourians want nothing to do with the law that will destroy America’s world class healthcare system.

• We want bold leadership like we see from Cruz, Paul, Lee, and Rubio on this issue.
• We want a Senator who will stand against funding Obamacare—the way our House Republicans stood against it last week.
• We want to cheer Roy Blunt next Saturday at CPAC St. Louis.
• We don’t want to have to boo him off the stage.
• We want him to rise up and lead this fight.

But Senator Blunt’s a party man.

To join our fight, to fight with us against funding Obamacare, Blunt would have to break from his habit. A habit of avoiding risk. A habit of following orders.

That won’t be easy.

And I don’t know how to make it easier for him.

Yes, Blunt joined a group of House Republicans to repeal the law in 2010. But that effort had no consequences. Taking a stand today does entail consequences.

So is Senator Blunt the kind of man who takes a stand only when there’s no risk?

That’s not leadership. It reminds me of a line from Catcher in the Rye.  Something about “getting tough with myself in the mirror.”

No, I can’t make this battle easy for a man who asked to be our Senator. Remember, Rep. Roy Blunt asked to be our Senator in 2010–during the heat of the Obamacare battle.

I will ask him two questions. I hope he will answer in the comments on this blog.

Senator Blunt:

1.  Do you still believe, as you said in 2010, that Obamacare is the more dangerous law you’ve ever seen?
2. Do you believe Obamacare will destroy the American healthcare system?

If you answer “yes” to those questions—which would be consistent with your past statements—how can you not put your career on the line to stop it?

Your state, your country, and your legacy depend on how you answer those questions, Senator.

Choose wisely. We’ll see you Saturday morning.

Please tweet this post to @RoyBlunt on Twitter.