Posted on 11/03/2010 8:44:29 AM PDT by STARWISE
While his party basked in the afterglow of a historic House victory, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) announced he would resign as House Republican Conference Chairman, and Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling threw his hat in the ring.
Hensarling, who has led the conservative Republican Study Committee, quickly won the endorsement of incoming Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the likely incoming majority leader. The Cantor backing gives Hensarling a huge boost for the leadership job, which is seen as a stepping stone to higher slots in the GOP hierarchy.
“Today, I was saddened to learn that my dear friend Mike Pence has chosen not to stand for House Republican Conference Chairman for the 112th Congress,” Hensarling said in a news release. “While I do not claim to be able to fill Mike Pence’s shoes, I have the commitment and passion to build upon his work. To that end, I announce my candidacy to be the next Chairman of the House Republican Conference.”
POLITICO reported last week that Pence was planning to step down and that he planned to tell his colleagues that he was looking at serving beyond the House.
“As we consider new opportunities to serve Indiana and our nation in the years ahead, I have come to realize that it may not be possible to complete an entire term as Conference Chairman,” Pence said in a letter to colleagues. “As such, I think it would be more appropriate for me to step aside now, especially since there are other talented men and women in our Conference who could do the job just as well or better.”
Hensarling is positioning himself as having seen “first-hand what happens when a party loses its way and ceases to live what it espouses.”
“I fought it then and am committed to ensuring it never happens again,” Hensarling said. The fifth-term Republican is running on “unity, empowerment and service.”
While Hensarling is already a favorite for conference chair, the short list of other potential candidates include Jason Chaffetz of Utah, Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44638.html#ixzz14EippRWz
Well duuuuhhh....thank you for pointing that out:)
Paul Lepage has prevailed in Maine!
Eliot Cutler conceded at noon today!
As a Hoosier, that is what people are thinking here. Pence will run as the Govenor and probably be there foe 1-1/2 terms before he announces his candidacy for POTUS. That would be 2020.
Roumor has it, he’s going to run for Gov to replace Daniels when his term is up.
Don’t know...
I’d like to see him run for POTUS
It’s so weird. Republicans blew out Dems in state races, seizing majorities in both chambers of General Assembly for the first time in more than a century. Yet they held onto all their House seats except for Bobby Etheridge (and even that race is likely to be recounted).
Anyway, I love the color of the national map and am deeply saddened to see so much blue remaining in NC.
I’m with you. I really like him.
It DOES look like that!
Hope not. I am not a fan of Mitch Daniel. I have no idea who I will be willing to support but today I refuse to hold my nose and support anyone that is not conservative. Lisa, Christ, Castle were not team players so I no longer feel compelled. The one thing I learned - nothing changes if we keep sending RINOs back to Washington.
I’ve gotta move. My county in Michigan went blue last night.
My problem with Mitch is that he is too nanny state. I also don’t think he can win.
I would save Palin for Sec of Education. If for no other reason it would drive the left insane. :)
Wow. Lame attempt.
No one prepares to run for VP.
Lou, you are right.
Palin v Obama in 2012 might be like Angle v Reid.
Palin was stellar in picking primary winners, but several fell short yesterday, beggin’ that old ‘electability’ question the establishment will surely raise about Palin.
At the same time, anyone else, even Pence, is just a blip on name ID screen compared to Palin. Pence who? ... well, Mike Pence could make a great President, that’s who!
I agree that Palin’s star is on the wane. She also backed Tancredo at the last minute and he lost, too. Her very public backing of Wilson in Alaska sure didn’t help him much. In Alaska it appears that Murkowski is more popular than Palin. And polls in Alaska in the recent past have shown that a majority of Alaskans think she should not be president.
After the mistake Americans made in voting for Obama, they’re not likely to vote for another celebrity-type with a bloated ego, thin resume, and cult following.
In Pennsylvania, a heavily Democratic state where Democrats outnumber Republicans two-to-one, a no-nonsense, fiscally conservative Republican who promised that he would govern like Christie in New Jersey and McDonald in Virginia, won the governorship. The state legislature is now solidly Republican in both houses. Republican Pat Toomey defeated Joe Sestack, Obama’s second choice for Senate. Spectre was thrown out in the primary and he was Obama’s first choice.
All of this was accomplished without Palin or the tea party. In fact, if Palin had publically endorsed any of these Republicans it probably would have been a hindrance, not an advantage in my state. Palin is grossly overexposed in the media now and her popularity and supposed influence on the electorate have been grossly overstated. Enough of her.
Dead on the money West.
Much of the blue top of NY State is the quite underpopulated Adirondack State Park. Had it not been for Doug Hoffman dropping out too late to have his name removed from the ballot (and seriously supporting Matt Doheny, the Republican primary winner), that whole area would be bright, sparkling red. Hoffman, as a dropout, got 11,000 votes. Doheny lost to dem Bill Owens by 3,000.
That’s such a shame, and in California a dead woman won a race for ‘something’. I can’t comprehend how things like that even are allowed to happen.
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