Will Kevin McCarthy become Speaker?

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Yes!, Yes! Yes!

We need to be done with the "It's their turn". It is your turn only if you earn it and simply being in a district that allows you to be there for 20+ years is not earning it.

And that is one reason I liked Donalds. Sure he doesn't have "House" experience, but he is also just a couple years removed from living as a regular person and not a Washington insider. So he might remember that a dozen eggs that cost under $1 when he was first elected are now $4-5. We need more like him and less like McCarthy.

There’s a serious lack of common people in Congress. If you put a millionaire in office don’t expect them to vote against their own self-interest.

 

[Eric]

 

[shadow puppet]

Word on the street per CNN and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, McCarthy will pick up some votes today. It's currently unclear if he will have enough.
“I think it’s going to be an interesting situation today, I think he’s going to pick up some of those holdouts but they’re missing members today,” Fitzpatrick told reporters.

As much as I know why a speaker needs to be chosen so the House can get on with their work, I really wanted to see Kevin have to step down and face facts.

Just add this to my ever growing "why I'll burn in hell" list.

 

[rdrr]

That may be the only thing the Dems would want to work with McCarthy!

 

[lizkat]

I’ll give credit to this movement for one thing. For decades we’ve had the meritocracy lie pushed on us – work hard/get a degree and you are guaranteed success and happiness as the system continually pushes the goalposts further away and occasionally kicks the chair out from under you. Sometimes it’s nice seeing the “I’ve earned this!” public figures not getting what they believe is theirs by default because that’s how it works out for countless others.

Yes!, Yes! Yes!

We need to be done with the "It's their turn". It is your turn only if you earn it and simply being in a district that allows you to be there for 20+ years is not earning it.

And that is one reason I liked Donalds. Sure he doesn't have "House" experience, but he is also just a couple years removed from living as a regular person and not a Washington insider. So he might remember that a dozen eggs that cost under $1 when he was first elected are now $4-5. We need more like him and less like McCarthy.

There’s a serious lack of common people in Congress. If you put a millionaire in office don’t expect them to vote against their own self-interest.

You guys are talking about something else. Several something elses, actually.

I'm talking about how a once amiable and moderate Republican from Californ-i-ay became an ass kissing insurrectionist and now strives to retrieve from his "negotiating" skills the wherewithal to convince a bunch of self-serving yahoos to vote him into a slot from which god forbid if "something happened" to the prez and VP, he would become the President of the USA.

This is a guy who meanwhile trades away the very powers of the leadership job he seeks while trying to get hired into it. "Hire me, I promise if you hire me you can start trying to fire me on day one, honest."

But hey if that's what the GOP will finally settle for, good luck to them in the next two years. The preview should be enough to turn stomachs of most conservatives. They might not vote for a Dem in 2024 but they might stay home, which is almost as good as if they'd voted Jeffries into the speakership.

In fact, conservative Americans would probably make out better with Jeffries as Speaker in a closely divided House. No one's taking away the R majority that voters chose to install in that House. The idiocy is that the purported "leader" of those conservatives is devaluing the future capability of that majority by the hour.

Mainstream conservative voters wanted change. What they're getting instead, thanks to Kevin McCarthy's negotiations with 20 extremists, is chaos, and what Kevin McCarthy promises is more chaos. It's not going to sell well out here in the boondocks of upstate NY, and it's not going to sell in the holdout's districts either.

Chaos does not translate into legislative achievement in DC. Chaos does not fix what's wrong with the broadband maps. nor make sure that the right bridges get fixed after waiting since 2006 for federal infrastructure funds, nor deal with the terrible fallout from the whole idea of capitalizing deferred interest on student loans.

Tell me that the 20 holdouts in that rump mini-caucus of the HFC are going to address those issues or any other "issues of the common man." No. All they mean to do is challenge the Speaker over and over again because they can... and then try to prevent a debt limit increase and throw monkey wrenches into the next omnibus spending bill. They haven't a CLUE how to help govern, and their antics now disrespect the work that their nose-to-grindstone peers and staffers in the House (both sides of the aisle) do every day for constituents.

 

[Macky-Mac]

That may be the only thing the Dems would want to work with McCarthy!

they wouldn't even have to make an agreement with McCarthy......they could just hold out20 of their votes and he'd find himself elected as speaker

getting rid of Gaetz would be in the national interest


of course Gaetz would weasel out

 

[shadow puppet]

McCarthy gains +5 including SC Rep Dan Bishop and FL Rep Byron Donalds.

Still will probably lose this round. Some conjecture it will be lucky round 13 to win.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

You guys are talking about something else. Several something elses, actually.

I'm talking about how a once amiable and moderate Republican from Californ-i-ay became an ass kissing insurrectionist and now strives to retrieve from his "negotiating" skills the wherewithal to convince a bunch of self-serving yahoos to vote him into a slot from which god forbid if "something happened" to the prez and VP, he would become the President of the USA.

This is a guy who meanwhile trades away the very powers of the leadership job he seeks while trying to get hired into it. "Hire me, I promise if you hire me you can start trying to fire me on day one, honest."

But hey if that's what the GOP will finally settle for, good luck to them in the next two years. The preview should be enough to turn stomachs of most conservatives. They might not vote for a Dem in 2024 but they might stay home, which is almost as good as if they'd voted Jeffries into the speakership.

In fact, conservative Americans would probably make out better with Jeffries as Speaker in a closely divided House. No one's taking away the R majority that voters chose to install in that House. The idiocy is that the purported "leader" of those conservatives is devaluing the future capability of that majority by the hour.

Mainstream conservative voters wanted change. What they're getting instead, thanks to Kevin McCarthy's negotiations with 20 extremists, is chaos, and what Kevin McCarthy promises is more chaos. It's not going to sell well out here in the boondocks of upstate NY, and it's not going to sell in the holdout's districts either.

Chaos does not translate into legislative achievement in DC. Chaos does not fix what's wrong with the broadband maps. nor make sure that the right bridges get fixed after waiting since 2006 for federal infrastructure funds, nor deal with the terrible fallout from the whole idea of capitalizing deferred interest on student loans.

Tell me that the 20 holdouts in that rump mini-caucus of the HFC are going to address those issues or any other "issues of the common man." No. All they mean to do is challenge the Speaker over and over again because they can... and then try to prevent a debt limit increase and throw monkey wrenches into the next omnibus spending bill. They haven't a CLUE how to help govern, and their antics now disrespect the work that their nose-to-grindstone peers and staffers in the House (both sides of the aisle) do every day for constituents.

And Trump is a successful businessman.

It’s seems many people’s perception of McCarthy was off. It’s easy to seem respectable when that makes up the majority of your peers. Clearly he’s a career climbing opportunist and put his finger in the wind…like so many others. Many wouldn’t have gone down this path on their own accord but they were easily pushed into it by others when they saw it as a winning strategy. Lack of character, moral compass, or principle is 100% the fault of those who have those traits. Fortunately, or unfortunately, most aren’t tested to this extreme.

Which brings up another point, “It’s my time”. Maybe it looked like it would be his time when he started is trajectory, but that’s not where we are now. Go talk to Hillary about wrong person at the wrong time and maybe reflect on how that came to be.

 

[Macky-Mac]

McCarthy isn't going to win on this round, but the Gang of 20 has lost some of its members.

Voting is still underway but at the moment 7 10 12 of the 20 have switched to McCarthy

 

[shadow puppet]

McCarthy isn't going to win on this round, but the Gang of 20 has lost some of its members.

Voting is still underway but at the moment 7 of the 20 have switched to McCarthy

Yep. As stated above. Kevin is currently up 9. I think round 13 may be the charm.

 

[dada_dave]

Even if he eventually wins the below holds true …

 

[shadow puppet]

14 anti-McCarthy peops came around on that ballot. 7 remain opposed. He needs a plan to win them over.

 

[Herdfan]

14 anti-McCarthy peops came around on that ballot. 7 remain opposed. He needs a plan to win them over.

And I'm pretty sure 6 of those are "Never-Kevins".

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Don't know why he's still fighting so hard to be the captain that steers the Republican party down the toilet. I don't think he comprehends how relentlessly the bleach drinkers are going to ride his ass and every win he gives them is going to be a loss for the national party.

 

[lizkat]

And Trump is a successful businessman.

It’s seems many people’s perception of McCarthy was off. It’s easy to seem respectable when that makes up the majority of your peers. Clearly he’s a career climbing opportunist and put his finger in the wind…like so many others. Many wouldn’t have gone down this path on their own accord but they were easily pushed into it by others when they saw it as a winning strategy. Lack of character, moral compass, or principle is 100% the fault of those who have those traits. Fortunately, or unfortunately, most aren’t tested to this extreme.

Which brings up another point, “It’s my time”. Maybe it looked like it would be his time when he started is trajectory, but that’s not where we are now. Go talk to Hillary about wrong person at the wrong time and maybe reflect on how that came to be.

I believe McCarthy is not so much claiming that it's "his turn" but that he has earned the right to stand for the position and be taken seriously.

And largely, that is or at least was true.... until he started this round of desperate bargaining with extremists to win the post he covets.

McCarthy did work very hard to help elect Rs to the incoming Congress, including making some low-profile fundraising trips to red states where the base didn't know him or favor him personally but high dollar R donors entertained his pitches and wrote big checks.

The base unknowingly took benefit from those no-spotlight-on-Kevin trips, because the ads that were then funded were indeed for the candidates favored during primaries by that base.​

​

McCarthy didn't whine about views of the base, the common man. He raised money for the election of their chosen primary winners in November because they campaigned under the R banner "for the people" --per their ads-- and electing Rs to the House was the main part of his job, and he did it.​

​

Now some of these rep-elects he helped to win just turn on him? That will be remembered, no matter if they make short term power gains by holding up his election to the Speakership, and by making his professional life impossible in the coming term. They are self-serving ingrates. Pols who are ingrates fall by the wayside because their reputation precedes them amongst their peers and in successive trips to the polls. Their base knows more about them too now. The gloss of their ads and speeches pales next to their antics this week.

McCarthy's hard work and not his waltz with that godforsaken rump caucus of the HFC is why the vast majority of the GOP conference supports him. The question does remain though why McCarthy didn't trust the rest of the conference enough to take a stand and refuse to bargain with the holdouts. The answer is problematic: because he wanted the post enough to put getting it above good of the House, his own party or the country. He's as bad as they are, in a different way and at a different level. How did it happen? Desire for power corrupts even as one accrues more power. It's almost inevitable. But it shows up more often in some than in others. Behold a doomed speaker and a handful of common jerks. One can only hope for the Republic if McCarthy wins and actually manages to tweak the rules and posts demanded by those jerks.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Don't know why he's still fighting so hard to be the captain that steers the Republican party down the toilet. I don't think he comprehends how relentlessly the bleach drinkers are going to ride his ass and every win he gives them is going to be a loss for the national party.

They can't see past today. McCarthy's vision is tunnel-focused on winning the Speakership. Not the day after, not a year from now, not 2024. Getting the gavel, at all costs, and nothing else. Gaetz and Boebert - at least until a couple of years - are presumably not going anywhere.

So the goal - as always - is for the establishment to kick the can down the road until something else comes up. And the last few years, those "something else"s have come at a rapid pace. How long until Matt Gaetz or Boebert take advantage of the rules (or lack of) that conservatives have put in place? A day? A week? Month?

And if McCarthy gives them the rules they're asking for, I will not blame Gaetz or Boebert for using them to their advantage; I will blame him. If you didn't want the rules, you shouldn't have agreed to them.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I’ve heard several analysts say the freedom caucus learned from the progressives – watching them continually bend and cut deals with the democrats that ultimately got them very little in return and have for the most part been neutered until if/when they get more members voted into office. The freedom caucus doesn’t want to suffer the same fate of being reduced to irrelevant other than being used by the opposition as a boogieman. They want tangible results.

 

[GermanSuplex]

I believe McCarthy is not so much claiming that it's "his turn" but that he has earned the right to stand for the position and be taken seriously.

And largely, that is or at least was true.... until he started this round of desperate bargaining with extremists to win the post he covets.

McCarthy did work very hard to help elect Rs to the incoming Congress, including making some low-profile fundraising trips to red states where the base didn't know him or favor him personally but high dollar R donors entertained his pitches and wrote big checks.

The base unknowingly took benefit from those no-spotlight-on-Kevin trips, because the ads that were then funded were indeed for the candidates favored during primaries by that base.​

​

McCarthy didn't whine about views of the base, the common man. He raised money for the election of their chosen primary winners in November because they campaigned under the R banner "for the people" --per their ads-- and electing Rs to the House was the main part of his job, and he did it.​

​

Now some of these rep-elects he helped to win just turn on him? That will be remembered, no matter if they make short term power gains by holding up his election to the Speakership, and by making his professional life impossible in the coming term. They are self-serving ingrates. Pols who are ingrates fall by the wayside because their reputation precedes them amongst their peers and in successive trips to the polls. Their base knows more about them too now. The gloss of their ads and speeches pales next to their antics this week.

McCarthy's hard work and not his waltz with that godforsaken rump caucus of the HFC is why the vast majority of the GOP conference supports him. The question does remain though why McCarthy didn't trust the rest of the conference enough to take a stand and refuse to bargain with the holdouts. The answer is problematic: because he wanted the post enough to put getting it above good of the House, his own party or the country. He's as bad as they are, in a different way and at a different level. How did it happen? Desire for power corrupts even as one accrues more power. It's almost inevitable. But it shows up more often in some than in others. Behold a doomed speaker and a handful of common jerks. One can only hope for the Republic if McCarthy wins and actually manages to tweak the rules and posts demanded by those jerks.

Yup. Reminds me of a quote... "It is always good men who do the most harm in the world."

And you're also right about McCarthy initially being a bridge between the hard-right and the moderates - He votes for conservative principles on things like abortion, but doesn't demean people very often. He did try to be the actual "Tea Partier" on POLICY, not antics like we've seen from the others. He and other leadership members did put together a couple of good bills (over a decade ago), but I can't remember how the votes played out, they were either defeated by dems or republican holdouts, can't remember.

I don't think McCarthy - up until Trump resigned - could have done very much to fix the Republican party. It's going to take most of them working together to do that. Maybe both parties working together. But after January 6? I think he lost a lot of people on both sides of the aisle for his actions, for different reasons. But the result is the same.

I'll sum it up by saying I do have a shred of empathy for McCarthy - just being honest - he seems like a good man blinded by a job he's passionate about, and that has done him in. One thing is for sure, with Trump running again, a divided government, a handicapped speakership, razor-thin margins and a hardline republican caucus - the show is just getting started. This is only round 1.

 

[GermanSuplex]

I’ve heard several analysts say the freedom caucus learned from the progressives – watching them continually bend and cut deals with the democrats that ultimately got them very little in return and have for the most part been neutered until if/when they get more members voted into office. The freedom caucus doesn’t want to suffer the same fate of being reduced to irrelevant other than being used by the opposition as a boogieman. They want tangible results.

Not a bad strategy, really. Democrats have passed many major bills by progressives caving to the mainstream. They negotiate and don't follow through on their threats. But a neutered bill in the right direction is better than no movement at all. Biden's legislative victories (and democrat performance in the midterms) may have been much more severe if democrats refused to cave into the Manchins and passed NO bill instead of simply a not-as-good one.

 

[Macky-Mac]

we may be hearing from Trump about how he made the difference for McCarthy....from CNN's coverage;

...The emerging strategy, according to sources involved, includes leaning on former President Donald Trump to help squeeze the holdouts. Their camps have been in touch and believe Trump is willing to make some more calls.

Another source says Trump is making calls for McCarthy.

So far, however, Trump’s entreaties have not moved the needle. But he also has not put much capital into it.

But now, for Trump, he has an opportunity to claim victory with a McCarthy speakership actually in reach.

However, Trump’s team sees a handful of the critics as un-winnable, including Reps. Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, and won’t waste time on them....