Scandal in the Wind 2023. George Santos gets Sashayed

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Why was Suozzi stupid enough to run for governor with no real shot at the nomination while giving up a swing seat and allowing this moron to be elected. He would have won against Santos, just like in 2020. He might have been the best Democrat in congress, but easily better than this.

And I don’t know why Pelosi and the DCCC didn’t try and talk him out of his suicide run for governor.

What makes you think they didn’t?

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Why was Suozzi stupid enough to run for governor with no real shot at the nomination while giving up a swing seat and allowing this moron to be elected. He would have won against Santos, just like in 2020. He might have been the best Democrat in congress, but easily better than this.

And I don’t know why Pelosi and the DCCC didn’t try and talk him out of his suicide run for governor.

What makes you think they didn’t?

Because unless he is an idiot that’s all it should have taken for him to realize that he couldn’t win the governors race and should have run for re-election.  Also, I think there would have been reports of it.

Err…he is an idiot.  This has been very well-documented over the years.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

He should not resign.  He should stay in office and continue to vote the Republican agenda.  He owes that much to the voters that elected him, and the people that actively supported his campaign.  

Is the indictment legitimate?  Everyone believes the worst of pols when they're indicted, but Harold Ford, Sr. (D-TN) was under indictment for years.  There is no reason for Santos to resign, and the moral outrage over him is generated entirely by Democrats looking to take the House back by attrition, while stopping the investigations into Biden.  Santos's vote in Congress is what matters.  His vote has the same impact as the vote of a paragon of virtue and is more constructive, from my point of view, than the vote of a personally virtuous Democrat who will support policies I generally oppose.

So you’re saying Republicans should treat voting the party line as their thirty pieces of silver?    

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

https://twitter.com/Politics1com/status/1699069587508388030?s=20

Shouln’t Santos just try to run out the clock to the end of 2024 so he can complete his term.

I mean, I imagine he’s far more concerned with staying out of prison or at least doing as little time as possible than he is with NY-3 staying in Republican hands

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

https://twitter.com/Politics1com/status/1699069587508388030?s=20

Shouln’t Santos just try to run out the clock to the end of 2024 so he can complete his term.

I mean, I imagine he’s far more concerned with staying out of prison or at least doing as little time as possible than he is with NY-3 staying in Republican hands

I’ll believe Santos is gone when I see it. He’s too shameless to resign voluntarily and criminal cases like this take time to reach a conclusion.

It has nothing to do with shame.  Part of any plea deal is going to be that he immediately resigns; that’s just how this stuff works.  That’s really the only leverage he has here.  You’re looking at this as though his priority is helping Republicans keep NY-3 and that is fundamentally wrong.  At this point, his first, second, and third priority is to avoid going to prison or failing that, to go to prison for as little time as possible.  No one in his current situation is going to care whether NY-3 flips or not.  

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

https://twitter.com/Politics1com/status/1699069587508388030?s=20

Shouln’t Santos just try to run out the clock to the end of 2024 so he can complete his term.

I mean, I imagine he’s far more concerned with staying out of prison or at least doing as little time as possible than he is with NY-3 staying in Republican hands

I’ll believe Santos is gone when I see it. He’s too shameless to resign voluntarily and criminal cases like this take time to reach a conclusion.

It has nothing to do with shame.  Part of any plea deal is going to be that he immediately resigns; that’s just how this stuff works.  That’s really the only leverage he has here.  You’re looking at this as though his priority is helping Republicans keep NY-3 and that is fundamentally wrong.  At this point, his first, second, and third priority is to avoid going to prison or failing that, to go to prison for as little time as possible.  No one in his current situation is going to care whether NY-3 flips or not.  

I think he tries his hardest to stall the proceedings so he doesn’t have to resign any time soon. I mean the Chris Collins case took over a year before he resigned.

I don't think you're quite grasping the tradeoff for Santos.  There's a real cost to him for delaying.  If he takes the hypothetical plea deal, he gets a lighter punishment -- possibly no jail time at all -- but in return, he must resign in the very near future.  If he tries to stall and keeps pushing things out, then the government will likely withdraw the plea deal, and then he's facing trial, conviction, and a longer sentence.  Santos obviously knows what he's actually guilty of, and has a good idea how likely it is that he'll be convicted. 

The tradeoff is staying another year-plus in Congress (no more than that, as he will surely lose reelection) at the cost of a possibly long prison sentence vs a short one or none at all.  Which would you choose?

I think it’s in the party’s best interest to keep him around so that the seat doesn’t flip back to the Democrats in the special.

It’s not up to the Republican Party.  It’s up to Santos and right now I guarantee you he doesn’t give a flip about anything but what’s in his best interest.  It is in his best interest to resign soon and plead out rather than drag this out.  The Republican Party’s interests or what gives it the best chance of holding NY-3 are both completely irrelevant.  With all due respect, to suggest otherwise is simply wishcasting.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I wonder if they were also waiting for Maloy to win so that she’d essentially replace Santos rather than further shrinking their majority.