Kevin McCarthy of California, House Majority Leader, dropping out of the race for Speaker of the House on the day of the election among the Republican Caucus merits a third FPP on the contest this week. The first two were predicated on the basic math that more than suggested that McCarthy couldn’t get to 218 votes, something absolutely necessary for a Republican to prevail in the election involving the entire chamber .
This basic math was due to intensely strong feelings on the part of those willing to go to the mattresses against the old leadership. While there are 247 Republicans in the House and only 188 Democrats, the fact that there are more than 30 members with those feelings necessitates finding someone outside of the old leadership group to represent the Party.
This problem seemed unsolvable until Jason Chaffetz of Utah threw his hat into the ring, running on the idea that someone with the right disposition, and with superb communication skills, and an established record of working well with both sides is needed to bridge the divide and establish unity.
Having watched the clueless reaction by both Fox and CNN following McCarthy’s decision, it’s safe to say that his election had been assumed to be inevitable, and the brief news flashes of Chaffetz getting into the race had been mere lip service to his announcement. But it is clear that Jason’s reason for getting in, that the math didn’t add up, was right on target.
Meanwhile, the obvious people to take on the job have all declined to go after it. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin wants to stay on as head of Ways and Means. Jeb Hensarling of Texas and Trey Gowdy of South Carolina are going to stay on as head of their respective committees. No major figure has stepped up or expressed interest as of now. Daniel Webster of Florida, who was in the race, and who had won the support of the House Freedom Caucus led by Jim Jordan of Ohio, has expressed that he’s not sure if he will stay in with the majority leader out of it. He was, by implication, not really running for the job as much as he was standing in opposition to the status quo.
Only Chaffetz, the head of The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is definitely still in the running, and he is still campaigning and lining up support. Unless someone with real stature in the body jumps in, it’s hard to see anyone else coming out of this. Chaffetz is the logical candidate to gain support from both sides. If he does, the House will get more combative, and more conservative.
He figured out the math before anyone else and offered a solution to it.
