John Boehner of Ohio chosen as House majority leader to replace Tom Delay...Developing...

drudgereport.com

 

I thought he had finished quite a distant second in the first ballot so this seems a little odd.

I thought Blunt had it in the bag. At least according to Blunt he did.

Odd, I thought I had a Blunt in my bag! Turns out I was wrong.

First Vote:

 

Blunt 110 Boehner 79 Shadegg 40

 

Second Vote:

 

Boehner 122 Blunt 109

 

Strange.

Not really, Shadegg's support was from the Anyone but Blunt camp. When he was eliminated from the second ballot, they threw their votes to "Anyone but Blunt." One other Congressman seeing the writing on the wall, switched his vote accordingly.

"The first count showed more votes cast than Republicans present at the Conference meeting." - Roll Call.

The Hill on Boehner's lobbyist connections.

The Hill on Boehner's lobbyist connections.

Yeah, he felt quite at home on K Street.

Odd, I thought I had a Blunt in my bag! Turns out I was wrong.

 

Turns out it was just a Boehner in your pants

Is the new leader considered a reformer, that is, reducing lobbyists' influence and limiting earmarks?

Turns out it was just a Boehner in your pants

 

And curiously enough, both of those things can help you get DeLay'd.

 

 

And curiously enough, both of those things can help you get DeLay'd. 

 

Is that why the caged Byrd sings?

 

 

Editors note: It's not a joke unless a Maya Angelou reference is made.

 

Is the new leader considered a reformer, that is, reducing lobbyists' influence and limiting earmarks?

In the mid 90's...Boehner was so into lobbying reform that he was handing out checks from the tobacco lobby on the House floor.

 

Out of the 3 candidates, he has a big lead in number of his former staffers working as K street lobbyists (14 for Boehner, 3 for Blunt, 2 for Shadeeg).

Well, this will be a big catalyst for reform in the near future, I guess.

 

The more things change...

Well, this will be a big catalyst for reform in the near future, I guess.

 

The more things change...

Well, he did campaign on those "reform" sort of ideas, and he probably had to make some sort of deal with Shadeeg to get the extra support in the 2nd vote, but neither is a guarantee, and as I showed in a couple posts, he does have a history of being just as in bed with lobbyists as anyone else in that party's leadership.

 

That, unfortunately for the country, is something the Republicans will have to deal with. If he claims to be a reformer while campaigning for a spot, and turns out to just be almost as corrupt as Delay (but just avoids the blatantly illegal stuff), then they'll have to decide whether or not having their leaders lie to them is reason enough to change their votes.

 

So, I guess the only thing we really can do is hope his words speak louder than his previous actions (and maybe try to make him the minority leader in the fall.)

Blunt got smoked and now the Republicans have a Boehner.

 

Newly-elected House Majority Leader Rep. John Boehner’s (R-OH) close relationship with the private student loan company Sallie Mae came “under scrutiny by the news media and some lawmakers” during his race to replace Tom DeLay, and for good reason.

 

Sallie Mae and other loan companies have generously donated to him. In return, the former chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce “shepherded through Congress student-loan legislation that will affect Sallie Mae’s bottom line and offered assurances that he will protect such lenders’ interests."

Edited February 3, 200620 yr by Balta1701

Goldberg

 

I haven't had much to add to the House leadership race, but one observation I think might be worth making is that this is bad news for the Democrats. I am agnostic about whether Boehner is a good pick to lead the House GOP. I'm also undecided about the merits of at least some of the charges against Tom Delay. But as a public relations matter Delay was a liability. Some of that liability was attributable to Delay's own actions. And some of it was due to a years of attacks by Democrats. The Democrats have invested a great deal in the demonization of "the Hammer" since the late 1990s. Obviously, Democrats will try to paint Boehner as a Delay clone and the leadership changes as superficial. Fair or not, it's unlikely they will be able to demonize Boehner overnight, at least in time for the 2006 elections. Why? Leaving aside the cosmetics and substance of the new Republic reform crusade, the simple fact is that it takes a long time for the American people to get up to speed on new faces and developments in Washington.

 

Two examples of what I mean:

 

• Two months after Newt Gingrich's historic takeover of the House, based on the Contract with America, all of which was covered with nigh upon total panic by the MSM — an ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 39 percent of Americans didn't know what the Contract with America was.

 

• In 1996, a Washington Post/Harvard survey found that "four in ten Americans don't know that the Republicans control Congress; and half either think the Democratic Party is more conservative politically than the GOP or don't feel they know enough to offer a guess."

 

In other words, even if Boehner were worse than Delay in every way, public relations-wise (an impossibility largely because the GOP caucus will not allow it), it would still take a long time to educate the public about it.