Pressure builds for ‘outsider’ as next speaker

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio

WASHINGTON – Conservatives are battling to make the resignation of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, a game-changer – not just a temporary pause in business-as-usual in Congress – and some observers believe they may have the means to do it.

Much may hinge upon Boehner’s replacement and whether he is succeeded by odds-on-favorite, and fellow establishment Republican, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

“I’m not convinced the towel should be thrown in on stopping McCarthy,” a prominent Capitol Hill insider observed, as the battle to replace the speaker got underway in earnest on Monday.

The source told WND it would be a “tragedy” for conservatives not to fight what the mainstream media are predicting will be McCarthy’s automatic ascension after Boehner retires at the end of October.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

“We need an outsider. No one in the current GOP House leadership should ‘move up,’” said the source.

Conservative critics see McCarthy as an establishment Republican in the same mold as Boehner, unwilling to ignore the president’s threat of another shutdown and to vigorously fight the Obama agenda, in the most recent instance, by moving to defund Planned Parenthood.

How could outnumbered conservatives prevail?

“A month of conservative talk-show hosts explaining who McCarthy is can derail that fait accompli,” predicted the source.

Recent trends may favor that analysis.

The 30-to-45 most conservative members of the House may represent only about 20 percent of the 247 Republicans in the chamber.

But conservative voters may be seriously under-represented in the House, if they comprise 50 percent of Republican voters and one-third of all voters, as Family Research Council Tony Perkins argued Friday at the group’s Values Voter Summit.

Nonetheless, under-represented conservative voters may have found a way to exercise the power of their numbers by creating an overwhelmingly anti-establishment climate.

Polls showing Washington outsiders Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina leading the GOP presidential race appear to have sent a strong anti-establishment message to Washington.

Asked if that was emboldening conservatives and boosting their power in Congress, by knowing voters have their backs, the source said simply, “Yes.”

Republican front-runner for Republican presidential nomination Donald Trump

The source also predicted that momentum will keep growing, as more conservatives resist the status quo.

“Anyone who stands up and fights gets heard and advances the agenda. Boehner and (Senate Majority Leader Mitch) McConnell have shielded Obama’s radical agenda by not fighting him. Boehner’s real enemies were the conservatives!”

On Monday, talk-radio kingpin Rush Limbaugh backed the theory that public opinion was increasing conservative power in Congress, and predicted the ouster of Boehner would be the beginning, not the end, of the GOP upheaval.

Limbaugh pointed to three articles:

• Gerald Seib in the Wall Street Journal: “Boehner’s exit leaves GOP establishment shaking – Tea-party forces increase power and further loosen Republican establishment’s grip.” Limbaugh commented, “Now, I’m not sure the establishment’s actually shaking, but this is a start.”

• Heritage Action for America CEO Michael Needham in Politico: “Boehner betrayed his party – Why the speaker’s resignation is great news for conservatives.” Needham said of Boehner, “He ignored the hopes and dreams of those Republican voters who delivered the GOP control of the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014 and instead pushed the agenda of Washington’s ruling class.”

• Washington Times: “Top GOP official seeks McConnell ouster as Senate leader. ‘GOP brand is being damaged.’” Limbaugh noted that the man calling for McConnell’s ouster, Louisiana Republican chairman Roger Villere, was “no less than a Republican National Committee vice-chairman.” Villere said, “‘Mitch is a good and honorable guy, but the base is leaving our party” … “I’m out in the field all the time and we have all our elections this year for state offices, and it’s hurting us tremendously with our elections …’cause the base is not showing up … The GOP brand is being damaged. We’re having to work from scratch to do all the groundwork we’ve already done with elections of Republicans to Congress and in the state because everybody is so furious at the leadership.”

Limbaugh said politicians have always promised to do one thing then done another, but one key thing has changed: Voters now have access to so much information they can’t be as easily fooled.

“They (politicians) used to be able to get away with it, is the point. They don’t any longer. And I believe all these stories about McConnell being next. People are serious about this. This is the country we’re talking about here,” Limbaugh told his radio listeners.

Before Senate conservatives give much thought to toppling McConnell, House conservatives have to deal with replacing Boehner.

“What any new leader must commit to is a complete housecleaning of leadership staff. They operated behind the scenes in league with the ruling class and must go if we’re to have any shot at all at bold, effective leadership,” the Capitol Hill source told WND.

Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

That could be a long shot and wishful thinking, if McCarthy already has the votes needed to succeed Boehner, as most congressional observers believe.

But most of those observers considered the effort to oust Boehner a long shot, with many wondering if Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., had virtually committed career suicide by offering a motion to oust the speaker in July.

When, instead, Meadows’ motion triggered an all-out revolt that led to Boehner’s demise, the scramble to replace the speaker ensued.

ABC News offered a look into the mainstream media’s perspective by handicapping possible contenders to become the new speaker of the House:

• Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.: ABC called the front-runner “the natural choice,” but it also warned, “On the other hand, his close association as Boehner’s top lieutenant could spoil his chances.”

• Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc.: Called “popular but disinterested,” Ryan has made it clear he does not intend to try to become speaker.

• Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas: Described as a “fundraising powerhouse” with “extensive popularity among congressional conservatives.”

• Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.; and Raul Labrador, R-Idaho: ABC called all of them “second-tier contenders.”

• Reps. Daniel Webster, R-Fla.; Ted Yoho, R-Fla.; and Mark Meadows, R-N.C.: All were described as long shots.

Hensarling has since announced he will not run for the top post.

Gowdy, a witty and outspoken conservative darling, is unlikely to want to sacrifice his position as chairman of the House committee investigating the Benghazi scandal.

Webster came in distant second in the balloting for speaker last time, and he will be supported again by staunch conservative Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

Conservative talk-show star Mark Levin had his own assessment, calling McCarthy “Eric Cantor with 10 less IQ points,” a reference to the former House majority leader who lost re-election last year, largely because of his support for amnesty.

Mark Levin

Levin wouldn’t support any of Boehner’s lieutenants – McCarthy; Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.; and House Republican Conference Chairwoman McMorris Rodgers – calling them “the usual conga line of the Republican apparatus and bureaucrats, and that’s exactly what we don’t need.”

He favors Hensarling and Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, although a source close to Jordan confirmed to WND that he will not run for speaker.

Levin added, “There are a number of them I like, and I don’t want to exclude anybody by mentioning those two off the top of my head. They would be tremendous.”

House conservatives appear to be playing their cards close to the vest, for the moment, while waiting to see who runs.

A source close to the Freedom Caucus told WND its members want to meet with candidates, and House Republicans will likely hold a meeting to discuss the future before holding any elections for office, which “should clarify things.”

On Sunday, the caucus issued a statement titled: “House Freedom Caucus seeks to ensure careful and deliberative discussions about future leadership in the House.”

It read:

“The House Freedom Caucus has not yet decided who we will support for the office of speaker of the House, nor for any positions that could subsequently become vacant. We look forward to meeting with each of the candidates and our Republican Conference colleagues over the coming weeks in a careful and deliberative fashion to discuss how best to ensure that we follow regular order in the House and give a voice to the countless Americans who still feel that Washington does not represent them.”

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