10/11/2015 articles
218 Votes Needed to Win a Floor Vote for Speaker
Contenders
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, (R-CA),
Majority Whip, withdrew from the race.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he remains a candidate for Speaker, but also would support Paul Ryan if he entered the race.
Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Florida)
Freedom Works backs Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Florida) for Speaker. Richard Armey, former House Majority leader founded Freedom Works. This is one of the leading groups advancing tea party causes.
They could force an embarrassing floor fight unless the House Republican Conference adopts rules that would diffuse some of the power of the leadership team and give more input to the rank-and- file members. More than 30 conservatives favor the Freedom Works pick. This is enough to fall short of the 218 votes needed.
Rep. Paul Ryan, (R-Wisconsin)
Ryan is urged to run by his GOP peers including outgoing House Speaker, John Boehner. Rep. Paul Ryan currently chairs the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
He is a favorite but a reluctant favorite to run for Speaker. Ryan is the top choice for speaker among people from nearly every corner of the caucus. He retains a high degree of respect from his role as the party’s vice-presidential nominee in 2012.
Richard Armey: “It’s a terrible responsibility when you’ve got a young family, but someone should say to Paul Ryan, ‘The institution of the House needs your leadership.’ Sometimes the burden of leadership falls on you when you’re not seeking it.”
“He’s the consensus candidate at this point,”
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said after the meeting. He’s both vetted and has some experience of chairing not one but two committees.”
Ryan is home in Wisconsin on a 10-day break to mull over what would happen to him if he were to become House Speaker, a position third in line for the presidency. He has moved from a firm “no” to privately reconsidering.
2016 Presidential Candidates: Outsiders vs. Insiders
“During a race favoring such novices as
Donald Trump,
Carly Fiorina and
Ben Carson, Bush and several other 2016 candidates are scrambling to unhitch themselves from Washington and from government – even as they seek the nation’s most powerful government job.” (The Washington Post, Oct 10), Sean Sullivan.
Trump, Carson, Fiorina are leading in the polls but have never held elective office. The voters are angry, frustrated, and don’t trust the government.
Sen. Marco Rubio
criticized the government: “there has never been a government more out of touch with its people than our federal government is today.”
Sen. Ted Cruz
distanced himself from the Republican leaders criticizing their strategy in Congress and railing against the “Washington cartel.”
Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) compared the upheaval in the ranks of Republican leadership in the House to ‘Game of Thrones’.
In a campaign speech
Jeb Bush
said “he disrupted the place (Florida). I’ve got tire marks on my forehead from doing it’. He noted rising incomes and education reform in Florida.
Hillary Clinton
is distancing herself from the Obama legacy flip flopping over the Pacific Trade Agreement. To improve the economy Clinton would break up the big banks, a rallying cry of the liberals.