This is a relief, almost, and if Kevin McCarthy had any awareness, which he does not, he would be relieved himself. He was never cut out to be a Majority Leader. He thought that if he waited out Paul Ryan somehow, magically, the gavel would pass to him. Doesn’t work that way.
McCarthy has flamingly botched this midterm election. All his bluster and boasting have failed to materialize his 60-seat red wave. Nothing even close. He’s been living in a complete fantasy land.
The image above this post is of the big victory party that never was last night. McCarthy self-immolated on Tuesday and his boasts of victory rang the way that a Captain’s claim of getting over the next hill would ring when it’s evident that the tank has just been hit and is in the process of blowing up, since it just caught fire. That’s why Scalise has wasted no time. The Hill:
“The American people deserve a House of Representatives that can move the agenda that was promised to them on the campaign trail,” Scalise said in a letter addressed to his GOP colleagues in the House.
“As your Majority Leader, I will work relentlessly to usher our vision through the House and show the country how conservative ideas can solve the problems that families are facing,” he added.
Here are scenes from last night’s debacle.
“It is clear that we are going to take the House back.”
— House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, with heavy uncertainty still surrounding House control, declares victory. pic.twitter.com/uDYO2qRt0z
— The Recount (@therecount) November 9, 2022
If it sounds to you like there’s about ten people in the room, you’re not far off.
It’s 1:50am on the east coast. The bar has made their last call, Billy Joel’s “We didn’t start the fire” is playing over the speakers and a pretty mellow party crowd is awaiting remarks from @GOPLeader pic.twitter.com/6kAYPfDT2q
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) November 9, 2022
No, they didn’t start the fire. That’s an understatement. NCRM:
Nobody wanted to hear this drivel from McCarthy. Yes, indeed, the House might be regained, but with a single digit majority and that will lead to what one pundit has called “a spectacular shit show.”
Scalise jumped into the race because he’s seen the handwriting on the wall that McCarthy is only going to eff things up worse than he already has. The man is clueless.
Indeed, just past midnight, CBS News Chief Election and Campaign Correspondent Robert Costa reported: “Several House GOP sources tell CBS after midnight tonight that they are now increasingly worried that if GOP wins a narrow House majority, it’ll be utter chaos for McCarthy/leadership team. Rep. [Marjorie Taylor Greene] & her allies would have much more sway in a tight GOP House, the sources predict.”
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes summed up what some appeared to be thinking.
“One of the possibilities currently on the table is Speaker Kevin McCarthy presiding over, like, a 10-vote R majority in the house, which will be a *spectacular* s-show.”
To which former Biden White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki replied, “If he can get elected speaker with that narrow of a majority…”
A reporter for the far right Newsmax adds, “Despite the talk of Trump today, a lot of the blame in GOP circles is being allocated to Rep. Kevin McCarthy who insiders say may not have the votes to be Speaker in the likely event Republicans take House control.”
It’s not looking like an “easy ascension” to the Speakership for Leader McCarthy.
“House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy is moving swiftly to lock down the votes to claim the speaker’s gavel as a hard-right faction of his conference discusses whether to mount a long-shot challenge to complicate his bid and force concessions in the process, according to multiple GOP sources,” CNN reports Wednesday at 1:45 PM ET.
“McCarthy privately spoke to his closest advisers and confidantes in a Wednesday morning phone call just hours after his party appeared on track to take the House but fell short of their bullish expectations of a massive GOP landslide. The California Republican tapped a group of members to be on his whip team that will help him secure the 218 votes in order to win the speakership in January, with GOP lawmakers on the call promising to ‘work hard to get him elected,’ according to a source familiar with the matter.”
“But McCarthy’s easy ascension to the speakership will be determined in large part by the size of a potential GOP majority. If McCarthy maintains a narrow majority, then the pro-Trump House Freedom Caucus could stand in the way of his leadership ambitions. CNN has not yet projected a Republican takeover of the chamber.”
McCarthy is gone, is my take. Scalise might have a better time lion taming the crazies. The announcement is too new for any of them to weigh in, but I feel very comfortable saying that Congressman McCarthy has hit the end of the trail. Sad.
This could get more than ugly – it could get interesting. IF the GOP gets control of the House (looking likely, but at best by the margin Dems have had the last two years if that) then the wheeling and dealing behind the scenes will be off the charts. Scalise has the experience and gravitas that some would-be candidate (like Gym Jordan) lack so I’m pretty sure opposition to McCarthy would coalesce around him by the end of the week. It was a “you snooze you lose” situation and Scalise was wise to throw his hat in the ring so quickly.
But both he and McCarthy will find themselves having to make Faustian bargains with true RWNJ asshats for support and the wheeling and dealing will continue right up to when the voting starts. So imagine this delicious possibility – a split vote and not by just a handful of votes, but one of them getting a significant chunk of votes. So Democrats simply ALL vote for Nancy Pelosi! Ok, so it wouldn’t last but the GOP shit-show that would ensue will make a lot of voters, especially Independents say to themselves “what the fuck did we just do” and resolve to not vote for a single Republican n 2024!
Very interesting possibility, to be sure.