Would Republicans really cut off Ukraine?

It’s become hard to find a poll of American voters ahead of next month’s midterm elections that doesn’t portend disaster for the Democrats. Voters are breaking in the GOP’s direction, and the issues Republicans dominate—from inflation to crime to immigration—are cutting through the noise. Meanwhile, Democrats are struggling to generate traction on abortion. They’re emptying out America’s petroleum reserves at a record pace. And Democratic groups are cutting seizure-inducing ads designed to sexy up what amounts to a bribe aimed at getting young people to vote.

The tea leaves aren’t hard to read. All Republicans have to do to maximize their environmental advantages is not make any sudden moves. At this point, House Speaker-in-waiting Kevin McCarthy careened through the drywall like the Kool-Aid man bearing plans almost no one asked for and which are all but certain to become a liability for the party he hopes to lead.

“I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession, and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,” McCarthy told Punchbowl News reporters this week when asked how a GOP House majority would approach Russia’s war of conquest and ethnic cleansing. “They just won’t do it.” While “Ukraine is important,” McCarthy added, the Republican majority’s priorities would be primarily domestic.