Novakula discusses Hastert’s woes. He has cancelled a fundraiser for Mike Sodrel (IN-09), and has been disinvited to appearances with Jim Gerlach (PA-06), Ron Lewis (KY-02), Joy Padgett (OH-18), and Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (TX-22). Then he gets to the meat of the matter.
The spectacle of Hastert showing up at political events across the nation where he is not wanted is a by-product of his survival. Early last week after the Foley scandal broke, the buzz on Capitol Hill was that he would be gone within hours. By week’s end, however, Republicans were acting more like Republicans. They had decided Hastert must stay, because it was both fair and politically prudent. House GOP leaders, who had started the week shooting at each other, now were on the same page.
“It’s really moot,” one of Hastert’s most severe Republican critics (who would not be identified) told me. “We are sure to lose the House, and Denny never would want to be minority leader.” With Hastert’s last performance as speaker coming in a predictably do-nothing lame-duck session after the Nov. 7 election, the month of October will be challenging for him and his party as he decides what to do with plans to campaign for challenged House candidates…
The decision to stick it out with Hastert postpones what House Republicans will do about leadership in the wake of probable defeat Nov. 7. Will they look for leaders unafraid of tax and spending reform and who will be more watchful of aberrant behavior by their colleagues?
Now it is the Republicans that don’t seem to stand for anything. Meanwhile, a newly invigorated John Kerry looks set to make another run at the Presidency.
The decision to stick it out with Hastert postpones what House Republicans will do about leadership in the wake of probable defeat Nov. 7. Will they look for leaders unafraid of tax and spending reform and who will be more watchful of aberrant behavior by their colleagues?
Will they wait and see which of their candidates are not tainted by Foley (and other scandals) before they choose a minority leader?
They can’t afford to make a choice today and have him/her be tommorows GOP leadership scandal… They must know they really are in it deep! heh
They will let the sh!t fly and see where it lands before they make a move.
The GOP’s newly refurbished talking points in need of revision as it is revealed;
Congressman Jim Kolbe, R-AZ, knew of those email messages way back, 6 year ago.
Or you can read about Kolbe over there>>> In the diary I wrote this morning… lol
sorry.
Another man for himself.
How can he even think of running again after his performance in 2004?
He may have been a military hero in the VietNam War, but he was a political coward in his campaign for the presendential election and its aftermath.
I will not vote for a person who will not stand up for the people who vote for him.
And I admit to a very real prejudice here: I will not vote for someone who belong(s, ed) to a secret society. Secret societies, whether the KKK or the Skull and Bones, are inherently anti-demoratic.
Yup, that quick concession, despite the endless promises and fundraising about supporting Democratic voters, just fills this voter with joy at the thought of another Kerry run. This party is a fish rotting from the head down.
2004 is the LAST time I give my vote to one of these clueless hacks.
“House GOP leaders…were on the same page”
Did no one edit his essay?
Oh shit! I totally missed that. LOL.
OMFG! How could an editor let that get through???
Billmon notes: ” Why daddy is a Republican”
I hope Kerry changes his mind.
his behavior after the Ohio BS was lame.
Speaking of Ohio, mydd says carville has some ‘splainin’ to do.
Kerry won’t mind losing 2x straight up. The 2nd time around it’ll be in the primaries, at least I hope we’ll be smart enough to remember.
Yah, I can imagine the shitstorm that will gather at the prow of any JK attempt at the nomination. This time he has no Gephardt willing to kamikaze the front runner the way they did Dean in Iowa, and the progressive activists among the party apparatus have long memories.
With Feingold positioning himself aggressively, Edwards still hungry, a burgeoning Draft Gore movement among the Hollywood moneyliberals and the uber-scarecrow herself out in New York, there is just too much drama out there for Kerry to command any significant media attention.
And remember, this will be the first primary cycle to feature Iowa/Nevada/New Hapshire as the gauntlet. I would look for NV to be a potential California establishment stalking horse. Regardless, it will be a very gritty nomination process.
Isn’t this gang-banging?
I don’t really want to envision the orgiastic writhing of overweight Republicans when the closet doors spill open, but Novak is a seasoned writer who knows how to sling the innuendo. Surely he was aware of the implications?
Given that Dobson and Limbaugh are blaming the Louisiana (non-gay) page for protesting, I wouldn’t be surprised if the GOP leadership piles on, too.
Pressure politics.