Kevin McCarthy’s Withdrawal Leaves House Republicans In Disarray
Rep. Kevin McCarthy left his party flummoxed about where to turn next for a leader, and the rest of Washington stunned by the chaos within Congress’ ruling party, when he removed himself from the running Thursday for House speaker.
In a closed-door session originally scheduled as a coronation for the 50-year-old Bakersfield Republican, McCarthy told colleagues that he is “not the one” to unite the party, despite having more than 200 of the 247-member Republican caucus behind him, the largest GOP majority since 1928.
Even with their stranglehold on the House, Republicans have demonstrated time and again their difficulty knitting the party’s uncompromising Tea Party faction, numbering roughly 40 to 50 members, into a governing majority.
That conservative bloc, operating under various groupings, including one called the Freedom Caucus, does not have enough support to elect a leader, but does have enough to keep anyone they oppose from holding the job.
Republican analyst Ford O’Connell agreed that the mayhem could damage Republicans next year. “They have to resolve it,” O’Connell said, or else “the majority could come into play in 2016. There’s a lot on the line.”
Hillary Clinton Sees Opening In Republican Gaffe On Benghazi
Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California still appears to be on track to become the next speaker of the House. He did himself no favors this week, however, with some comments on the Benghazi investigation and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
McCarthy has been in apology mode the past few days after he told a Fox News program that since House Republicans had created the special committee to look into the 2012 terrorist attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, Clinton’s poll numbers have dropped.
McCarthy added, “Why? Because she’s untrustable. But no one would have known any of that had happened had we not fought and made it happen.”
The Clinton campaign, congressional Democrats and even disenchanted Republicans quickly jumped all over McCarthy’s comments.
Clinton is scheduled to testify before the panel on October 22 and it is seen by many as a key test of her presidential campaign.
But Republican strategists still expect the House committee to grill Clinton about her handling of the aftermath of the Benghazi attacks.
“I think the optics of it could really be damaging to Hillary Clinton regardless of what comes out of that hearing,” said strategist Ford O’Connell.
But is there a danger Republicans could go too far?
“Oh, absolutely. They can overplay their hand.” He quickly added, “The Clinton camp likes to say that so far they [Republicans] are overplaying their hand on the email [controversy]. But so far, it’s working.”
Boehner Departure Could Put 2nd Californian In Top House Spot
Kevin McCarthy, the prematurely gray, 50-year-old former “young gun” Republican from Bakersfield, is heir apparent to become speaker of the House of Representatives with the surprise resignation of embattled Speaker John Boehner of Ohio on Friday.
With Democratic leader and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco showing no sign that she intends to retire anytime soon, the powerful but deeply divided California congressional delegation would have the top two jobs in the “people’s chamber” of Congress should McCarthy win election by his colleagues.
The leadership election is yet to be announced, but presumably will take place before Boehner leaves office in a month. Vicious internal power struggles are expected to roil the leadership even if McCarthy wins the top slot.
A small-business moderate early in his career, McCarthy has moved right with the national GOP since he entered the House in 2007 on issues such as immigration, but never has been closely allied with the party’s fire-breathing conservative wing.
His rise is due in part to his success in recruiting House candidates and raising money. That could potentially earn him loyalty from members who thought nothing of bucking Boehner.
Even so, McCarthy will face the same “antiestablishment feeling that is going throughout the country, particularly among Republican primary voters, that’s being pushed by Donald Trump’s message,” said GOP strategist Ford O’Connell. “It’s this message going on in Republican circles that everyone in politics is lying to you and is bad at their jobs and Republican leaders are the worst of all because they’re elected to represent your views.”
Read more from Carolyn Lochhead at The San Francisco Chronicle
Ford O'Connell: Next Five Months Are Trial Period for McCarthy
Republican strategist Ford O'Connell joined J.D. Hayworth on "America's Forum" on Newsmax TV Friday to discuss the win by Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California as the new House majority leader.
"The next five months for Kevin McCarthy are really seen as a trial period because we don't know what's going to happen in the midterm elections," O'Connell said.
"Do the Republicans take the Senate? If they take the Senate, he probably won't be challenged when we get to the next round of elections," he said. "But as of right now, he has to consolidate people's confidence in him. That's where he's trying to head right now."
GOP Strategist O'Connell: Majority Leader Spot McCarthy's To Lose
The race to replace Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia as House majority leader after his primary loss is California Rep. Kevin McCarthy's to lose, says Republican strategist Ford O'Connell.
"McCarthy built up a heck of a lot of IOU's, and nobody really wants to expend their political capital between now and the midterms trying to secure that slot," O'Connell told J.D. Hayworth on "America's Forum" on Newsmax TV on Wednesday.
O'Connell explained that the decision by Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho, a tea party lawmaker, to make a bid for the leadership position is "absolutely" a protest run, but it's an uphill battle for the Idaho Republican because he doesn't "know the committee members all that well" or "his members of Congress."
The Republican strategist also said that the reason higher-profile House Republicans didn't throw their names in the hat is that "you cannot be in leadership and be a committee leader at the same time." That is why "a lot of folks like Paul Ryan and others" passed on the opportunity, O'Connell said.
"This was really McCarthy's race to lose from the outset," he added.
The race to replace McCarthy as House majority whip, being contested by Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, and Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois, has become a lot more competitive than the race for majority leader, O'Connell says.
Read more from Courtney Coren at Newsmax.com
Talkers Flex Muscle Within GOP
Conservative talk show hosts and Tea Party groups are vowing to do something they’ve never done before: Select the next Speaker of the House.
That’s bad news for Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) and other establishment Republicans who are eyeing the top perch in the lower chamber.
Emboldened by Rep. Eric Cantor’s (Va.) loss in his GOP primary, Tea Party leaders are looking to get one of their own either to replace Boehner or to defeat him after the 2014 elections.
Leadership races have long been popularity contests instead of ideological purity tests. That is changing rapidly.
Leadership elections, with the exception of Speaker, are done via secret ballot.
Republican strategist Ford O’Connell said leadership contests come down to a variety of factors: “Loyalty is measured by a different yardstick in a leadership election. It’s measured by: Did you help out when I was running for office? Did you come and do the fundraisers? Did you do what I needed to stay in power?”
If McCarthy moves up to the No. 2 spot, it doesn’t mean he would remain in that position after the November elections, The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol told conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt last week.
What Cantor's Defeat Means For California Republicans
The upset of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor by a Tea Party insurgent has planted terror in the GOP over immigration reform, left California Republicans who favor an overhaul in an isolated position, and put a Central Valley Republican directly in line for the second-highest job in the House.
Cantor's loss will reverberate in California: The contest for his leadership job pits Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, against at least two conservative Texans. Silicon Valley loses an ally in Cantor, who cultivated close ties to the valley's political money. And the party's likely rightward shift on immigration poses dangers to California Republicans in heavily Latino districts.
Immigration reform advocates point to GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham's easy primary victory in South Carolina on Tuesday as evidence that immigration was not necessarily Cantor's undoing. Graham is a longtime backer of immigration reform.
But even Republicans who think the media are overstating immigration's role in Cantor's loss concede that the party will be even more timid on the matter now.
"It's certainly a come-to-Jesus moment for House Republicans in terms of what's going to happen with the prospects for immigration reform between now and the 2014 elections," said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell.
While Cantor had eyes on becoming House speaker, he was disliked not only, as it turns out, by his own constituents, but also by a healthy contingent of his fellow Republicans.
Such is not the case for McCarthy, who stands directly behind Cantor in the leadership hierarchy and will try for the majority leader's job.
"McCarthy is the logical choice" to move into the majority leader post, O'Connell, the Republican strategist, said. "The one thing he has going for him that he's well liked by his House colleagues, and that goes a long way in these fierce leadership battles."
Read more from Carolyn Lochhead and Carla Marinucci at The San Francisco Chronicle
Cantor To Officially Step Down As House Majority Leader On July 31, Backs McCarthy As Replacement
Rep. Eric Cantor said Wednesday that he will step down as House majority leader at the end of July, after losing a primary election Tuesday, igniting a short, spirited race to fill his post in a vote of the full House GOP next week.
Mr. Cantor lost to tea party-backed challenger David Brat in one of the biggest upsets in recent political history, quashing what had been a steady rise for the 51-year-old and dealing a blow to Virginia Republicans.
Republicans said they expect the House to tilt even more conservative in the wake of Mr. Cantor’s defeat because of the candidates hoping to replace him as majority leader and because of the lessons lawmakers will draw from the Virginia primary.
The contest to replace Mr. Cantor started just hours after the election results were called, with potential candidates reaching out to colleagues to gauge support.
Although Mr. Cantor held an outsized financial advantage, much of his campaign money went to radio and television attack ads, which Mr. Brat accepted as free publicity.
“He ran an air war,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell. “It wasn’t about the money he spent, but how.”
“Would anybody argue he spent the money wisely based on the expenditures? No,” Mr. O’Connell said.
Mr. Cantor, in his remarks Tuesday evening and Wednesday, sounded simultaneously conciliatory, optimistic and grateful.
“He realized that he might not be done yet,” Mr. O’Connell said. “He can still run for governor. He could still run for a lot of things.”
Read more from By David Sherfinski and S.A. Miller at The Washington Times