Thursday, February 02, 2006
A GOP Boner -- Then A Boehner
On Thursday afternoon, House Republicans needed TWO votes on the first ballot to elect their new majority leader. The number of voters exceeded the number of members of the GOP caucus -- except it didn't because they forgot to include the delegate from Puerto Rico! (The delegate doesn't vote in the full House, but can in GOP Conference matters).
Oops! What Kathryn Lopez said!
Anyway, in a come-from-behind surge on the second ballot, Rep. John Boehner from the beleagured GOP state of Ohio upsets Roy Blunt, 122-109.
Congratulations to Mr. Boehner (pronounced 'Bey-ner').
This is about as clear a repudiation of Tom DeLay as one could imagine. Yes, John Shadegg would have been the clearest "new face/anti-lobbying" choice. However, given the history between DeLay and Boehner, picking the latter to replace the former sends a pretty strong message.
Bad blood existed between Boehner and DeLay going back to the ill-fated coup attempt of Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997. DeLay then engineered J.C. Watts' victory over incumbent Conference Chair Boehner, after Republicans lost seats in the '98 midterms (and Gingrich resigned, to be succeeded by another DeLay ally Dennis Hastert).
Boehner's comeback must be especially sweet considering that Blunt was also a long-time DeLay ally.
And, apparently, House Democrats might not be too thrilled by this outcome either.
Tags: John Boehner, politics, Republicans
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Oops! What Kathryn Lopez said!
Anyway, in a come-from-behind surge on the second ballot, Rep. John Boehner from the beleagured GOP state of Ohio upsets Roy Blunt, 122-109.
Congratulations to Mr. Boehner (pronounced 'Bey-ner').
This is about as clear a repudiation of Tom DeLay as one could imagine. Yes, John Shadegg would have been the clearest "new face/anti-lobbying" choice. However, given the history between DeLay and Boehner, picking the latter to replace the former sends a pretty strong message.
Bad blood existed between Boehner and DeLay going back to the ill-fated coup attempt of Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997. DeLay then engineered J.C. Watts' victory over incumbent Conference Chair Boehner, after Republicans lost seats in the '98 midterms (and Gingrich resigned, to be succeeded by another DeLay ally Dennis Hastert).
Boehner's comeback must be especially sweet considering that Blunt was also a long-time DeLay ally.
And, apparently, House Democrats might not be too thrilled by this outcome either.
Tags: John Boehner, politics, Republicans
