mtutiger

They aren't going to give up their majority. If the rest of the caucus are embarrassed, they need to figure out a way to isolate them. This happens all the time at the state level, in Texas, Speakers have been elected for years with Democratic votes. That will be happening in Ohio this upcoming year, Pennsylvania will have a coalition government, Alaska, etc.

Enough talk, Don... time to put forward an alternative.

Today should tell a lot... if McCarthy can't get there after putting the deals down on paper... And one of the flaws of McCarthy's line of thinking is that the pressure should rachet up on the remaining holdouts if he wins some votes back today. I wouldn't make that bet, the hardcore holdouts (ie. Goetz, Boebert) are shameless. You can't negotiate with that.

I'm with Oblong... she may seriously consider it, but I doubt she actually does it. Some of it may have been her opponent (Karamo) and the relevance of SoS elections in 2022, but aside from Slotkin, Benson may be best positioned as she outran the rest of the statewide ticket. Even Whitmer (who has suggested she will not run)

The compromise candidate has to be a Republican, and if we are being completely honest, it would have to be put forward by a Republican as well. The moment a Democrat formally advances a candidate while McCarthy is maintaining his current share, that candidate would become politically radioactive imo.

First they had a breakthrough, now they're pushing to adjourn. Sounds like they still don't have the votes lol

I think we both know that isn't going to happen until there are members of the majority party who show real interest in a coalition Speaker. Outside of maaaybe Don Bacon, not sure I've heard a single member of the majority party express interest up until now.

Onto Round 9.....

Not a single vote moved to McCarthy since Round 6

LOL, Gaetz just voted for TRUMP

The downside of horse trading on committee seats: you risk upsetting those in line to get kicked off seats or to be skipped in seniority

A lot of the punditry talks about the distinction whether this group wants something or whether it's personal as if it really matters... all that matters is the math, and Kevin doesn't appear to have it in his favor and it's questionable if he ever will. And at some point, this does have to get called out as an ego-stroking exercise for Kev, no?

There was never gonna be a good time to have an open seat, but this seems like a decent cycle for it - deep bench, MIGOP with a weak bench and a Presidential election cycle that will index the race pretty closely with results in the state. Slotkin seems like the best overall candidate to me, but that does open her seat in the House up which is suboptimal

I mean, that's what they will expect, not sure any candidate (such as Scalise) would be willing to give it to them.

It's not a safe seat by any means, but I commend Stabenow for knowing when it is time to pass the torch. A lot of pols (like Feinstein) don't.

Exactly. All this horse trading, but if it doesn't get him to 218 (absent present votes), it's all for nothing. It's almost like he just values having "Former Speaker" on his resume at this point lol

This is the other space to watch... now that he's given up more concessions, how does his other flank feel about it?

The thing about these concessions is - frankly, we still don't know if it the degree that the changes will even close the gap. McCarthy has sold the farm and liquidated all of his other assets, and it *still* may not be enough to win the job. On one hand, one imagines this is the best it's gonna get for the 20, but OTOH, there's a percentage of that group who are intractable and may be impossible for McCarthy to overcome.

Talk about the tail wagging the dog... Jeebus

lol

This is definitely what have trouble countenancing... He's not entitled to the job anymore than anyone else in that caucus yet it kinda feels like he feels that way and his supporters do as well. Although the longer this goes on, the more I wonder if anyone in that caucus can get across the finish line.

Yep, Harris is just sitting back on the beach drinking mai tais... right

Maybe a 7th vote will do the trick lol