Posted on 11/08/2006 8:16:30 AM PST by BufordP
Rep. Mike Pence (R.-Ind.), leader of the conservative Republican Study Committee, is expected to announce later today that he will run for House minority leader, according to sources on Capitol Hill.
Pence’s announcement will come after significant Republican losses in the House yesterday. Although some races have yet to be decided, the GOP is on the verge of losing 30 seats in the House and on the brink of handing control of the Senate to Democrats.
As the conservative leader of the GOP in the House, Pence is positioned to offer a strong challenge to current Majority Leader John Boehner (R.-Ohio), who is expected to announce his intentions soon. Speaker Dennis Hastert (R.-Ill.) is almost certain to vacate any leadership role. Meanwhile, Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R.-Mo.) will deliver a major address at the Heritage Foundation tomorrow about the future of conservatism.
There is already movement among conservatives to fill the roles of minority whip and conference chairman. Rep. John Shadegg (R.-Ariz.), who ran for majority leader earlier this year, is strongly considering a bid for the whip job, according to Capitol Hill sources. And Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R.-Tenn.) is maneuvering for Republican conference chairman. The Pence-Shadegg-Blackburn ticket would offer a slate of conservative leaders for the GOP caucus.
(Excerpt) Read more at humanevents.com ...
I would be happy with that.
DC Chapter short list ping
Blunt is my critter, but Pence would be a good start to putting a "face" on the Republicans in Congress for '08.
We've got to get moving NOW.
Is he ready to use all the obstructionist tricks the Democrats have taught us over the last 6 years?
Fine with me. Hastert isn't now and never was leadership material.
Yeah, we'll be able to get illegals citizenship!
Love that Mike Pence "conservative" guy!
Blunt is the whip, right? Considering how loosely the Republicans toed the line and kept spending in check, he wouldn't get my vote.
When Hastert stood up for William Jefferson D-LA, he lost it with me. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
We need to use this as a time to clean house. The voters eliminated a lot of RINOs for us, now we need to fire the entire existing leadership of the Republican Party and find a new group that supports the Party's core beliefs.
Boehner is a good guy. No sense punishing him for the sins of the party.
Yep, good start. Let's do a serious housecleaning of the leadership in both houses and go from there.
}:-)4
Wow 30 seats. The dems got it right. Hope they take advantage of that majority position if they don't 2008 in a comin'...
Hasert has eaten too many steak dinners on the taxpayer to be effective.
"Mike Pence to Run for Minority Leader"
The first bit of good news related to yesterday's disaster.
If I may suggest a second: "Rick Santorum initiates plans for 2008 presidential bid."
Fine, but what of the Senate? McConnell is a nice guy but he is NOT the type of impassioned tough Leader they need in there. Here's something Hewitt and I do agree on. Kyl should be their choice for MinL. Let McConnell rank as number two and Thune as number three.
Kyl, btw, who won fairly easily in Arizona McCain's own state. Maybe he'd have a better job corraling the "Maverick" who caused problems these past years.
Roy Blunt and John Boehner need to be locked in a closet. Both of them have been total special-interest earmark whores. We need to CLEAN HOUSE IN THE HOUSE!!!
ALL Appropriations Subcommittee leaders should be replaced as well.
I would also like to see either Ron Lewis or Geoff Davis from Kentucky run for a leadership post. Davis is a military veteran who speaks Arabic, and a former small business owner. He won decisively last night while being a top target of the Democrats in a tough district. Lewis is a genuine religious conservative who could help the GOP figure out how to frame the issues better to appeal to evangelicals while not alienating secular people.
Jeb Hensarling is another one I would like to see promoted.
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