Where's Mitch?

U.S. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has not been seen in public since June, and Democratic Governor Andy Beshear, who must call a special election before tomorrow is over, cannot do so without McConnell resigning.  Ir McConnell were to resign on Tuesday, August 4, Governor Beshear wouldn't even be able to appoint an interim senator to serve out the remainder of his term.  A 2024 law passed by Kentucky's Republican state legislature prohibiting Beshear from doing so remains on the books (and will likely be repealed after November 2027 if Kentuckians elect a  Republican governor to succeed Beshear then).

Beshear has taken flak for not doing enough to discern McConnell's fitness to remain in office for the remainder of his term, which expires in January 2027, after which McConnell will retire, but it seems that McConnell has already retired - permanently.  Rumors of his death may be greatly exaggerated, but Beshear can do absolutely nothing to remedy the situation until and unless McConnell resigns or is proven to have already died.  Both of those things are beyond his control, yet progressives in the Democratic Party are using this as a cudgel to swat down his possible presidential ambitions.  They don't want a white guy from Kentucky to be the Democratic presidential nominee - why don't they come out and say it?  (Left-leaning Democrats seem to in for white male politicians from the old border region of the antebellum period.  Look at the lack of respect they gave to Martin O'Malley and Joe Biden.)  Do they expect Beshear to storm into the hospital to demand to see Senator McConnell or else?  That's not how it works.

What happens next in Kentucky is unknown, but if Beshear can't call a special election or appoint an interim senator once tomorrow passes, assuming Mitch McConnell already has passed, Kentucky will be short one senator and the GOP will be short one member in its narrow Senate majority.  That might not be a bad thing.