Who Even Wants to Be House Speaker?

Townhall.com ^ | October 10, 2015 | Debra J. Saunders

[Kaslin]

Rep. Tom McClintock of California is about as conservative a Republican as you can find in Congress. As a state legislator in Sacramento, he was a well-known budget hawk. In the House, writes The Almanac of American Politics, he has been "a faithful conservative vote, though an occasionally nettlesome one to GOP leaders seeking to limit internal dissent." Former California Gov. Pete Wilson has such marked antipathy for McClintock that he took the unusual step of supporting a GOP challenger in McClintock's latest re-election bid.

It says everything about how dysfunctional the GOP House has become that such a solo flier as McClintock has taken a stand against the GOP insurgency that torpedoed House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's bid to become speaker of the House. I talked to McClintock on Thursday after McCarthy bowed out of the race. He was "stunned by the announcement and very disappointed."

Last month, McClintock resigned from the House Freedom Caucus, a rump of some 40 GOP members who have demanded outsize representation in the GOP caucus. Before McCarthy left, the House Freedom Caucus announced its support for Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida -- which undercut McCarthy's ability to lead.

Though McClintock says he agrees with the group's fiscally conservative principles, he also believes that its tactics have sabotaged the conservative cause. In February, the House Freedom Caucus pushed to defund President Barack Obama's immigration policies -- and failed. In May, the caucusers tried to kill the free trade bill. Failed again. Worse, the caucus forced the House leadership to abandon legally binding action against Obama's "disastrous Iran nuclear agreement" in favor of a symbolic and legally meaningless vote.

"A common theme through each of these incidents is a willingness -- indeed, an eagerness -- to strip the House Republican majority of its ability to set the House agenda," McClintock wrote, saying the behavior has unwittingly become House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's "tactical ally."

McClintock believes that representatives can and should vote their conscience on specific legislation. But when it comes to the party, no Republican should sabotage the leadership. "We're now in a situation where at least 29 Republicans have taken the position that if they don't like the Republican nominee for speaker, they will combine with the Democrats against that nominee," he told me. It's a dangerous game because Democrats could end up cutting deals with 29 centrist Republicans who might care to, say, eliminate the mandated spending caps. Open this door, it can swing either way.

McClintock saw a prequel to the House brawl in California's 1995 speakership wars. One Republican -- actually three in a row -- cut deals with the Democratic minority to thwart the GOP majority's ability to control the state Assembly. In the next term, Democrats regained the majority.

The Republicans have their largest majority since 1928 -- 247 seats -- until you subtract Republicans who are willing to sacrifice unity for feckless gestures. The simple fact is that the House Freedom Caucus does not have the votes to put one of its own at the helm. It can only stop other Republicans from winning 218 votes.

Rep. Devin Nunes of California, a McCarthy ally, has spent years working on serious policy, only to see conservative initiatives drowned out by the chaos. "They've hijacked the whole conservative movement," he lamented. Indeed, he is so fed up with this GOP minority's trying to control the party that he suggested kicking out Republicans who won't support the majority's choice. "They don't understand what power is," Nunes told me. Their idea of winning is "no speaker" or a "weak speaker."

After the outgoing House speaker, John Boehner, announced his resignation, his former lieutenant, Eric Cantor, took on Boehner's detractors in The New York Times. Cantor often hears, he wrote, the lament of the GOP base that the party needs to fight: "On this I agree. It is imperative that we fight for what we believe in. But we should fight smartly. I have never heard of a football team that won by throwing only Hail Mary passes, yet that is what is being demanded of Republican leaders today."

[Jim Noble]

I didn’t say anything about you personally.

I did say that there’s a problem getting what you want, which is that the votes aren’t there.

[celmak]

So? *shrug*

So - would you trust a voter guide by them if they mailed it to you too?

[celmak]

So? *shrug*

So-do you also believe all the thing that factcheck.org writes up as well?

[celmak]

So? *shrug*

So - let’s say we just go by votesmart.org, have even looked at the ratings between the two on vote the site? Trey Gowdy either ties or beats Tom McClintock in just about EVERY category.

http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/9715/tom-mcclintock

http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/121782/trey-gowdy-iii

[gogeo]

It’s not about personalities but principles. Are they willing to commit to a program? If not, that’s an election issue...

[pepsionice]

There’s been this questionnaire that is sent to any guy claiming to have interest in the job....drawn up by the Tea Party enthusiasts of the Republican Party. It asks several questions and leads to the blanket statement of the group...will they reverse the trend and go back to the leadership role of the Speaker being just a referee of the rules set....what they had prior to 1964. So far, no one has agreed to the questions asked (including Paul Ryan) and because of this....there’s virtually no enthusiasm for present list of replacement characters.

Even Newt....would not agree to reverse the trend and make the Speaker just a referee.

My prediction is that forty-to-fifty Republicans will end up forcing Boehner to stay around til the end of 2016 and the next election. A whole new crew will have to sort it out....without Boehner around, and it’ll be a bigger mess than the idea of Trump becoming President.

The New York Times had a good article over this forty-year transformation episode this morning....where both parties have turned the Speaker into some power-based ‘thug’ and it’s more of the problem now, than the solution.

[mission9]

McCarthy, is a Californian. McClintlock losing that opportunity, is reason enough to oppose Dan Webster.
Dan Webster is a good man. Stick with him and the principles, not bullying, will return.

[DoodleDawg]

I would like to see Newt come back to straighten out this mess. He has the experience, the intelligence and the balls to get things done.

Everything but a seat in the House of Representatives. I know, I know, nothing in the Constitution requires a Speaker to be a member but there has never been a Speaker who wasn't and there never will be.

[HotHunt]

And there's never been a marxist, communist, gay muslim elected president either and there never will be.

Oops.... there's already been one in the White House for 7 years now. My bad.

[ConservativeDude]

I think this is an important point, and I would sure like to hear more commentary.

Let’s pretend a different fact pattern...ie, that trucons had the majority of the GOP caucus, and the 30 mods or so were “holding the majority hostage”....we would all be screaming (rightly) to kick them out.

And maybe that is ok. Maybe we not need be consistent in that regard, but about the article above and your post, I can say that it seems to me to raise good points that need reflection.

McClintock is a serious conservative. It’s not like he’s a squish. So I think we should think through this, and I hope a good, rational and persuasive discussion follows.

[Kickass Conservative]

Let me know the Salary and the Perks and I’ll consider it.