The conventional wisdom swirling around D.C. is that next week, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will be elected House majority leader. Like any good Machiavellian, McCarthy reacted to the news of incumbent majority leader Eric Cantor’s primary defeat on Tuesday by immediately moving to consolidate his own support within the Republican caucus and freeze out his potential rivals. One of those rivals, Jeb Hensarling of Texas, announced yesterday that he would not be seeking the position. That left the lone figure of Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, to stand in McCarthy’s way, but he also stood down late Thursday night.
For an average person, none of this really matters. But for conservative activists, it really matters. They succeeded in taking out Cantor, striking a blow at the leadership they felt was abandoning their conservative principles. And after scoring that huge victory, the establishment is throwing it right back in their faces.
McCarthy, the current majority whip, is no more loved by the hard right than Cantor is. As a member of the leadership, he voted for many of the same pieces of legislation that got Cantor in trouble with the conservative base. He’s a stronger advocate for immigration reform than Cantor ever was. He’s shown a willingness to work to “fix” the Affordable Care Act rather than just agitate for its full repeal. That’s more than enough to earn himself the RINO stamp, and the right is not happy at his likely ascendance.
Erick Erickson reacted by calling the GOP “the stupid party” and attacked House Republicans for elevating McCarthy, who is “not a friend of conservatives.” Erickson laid out an indictment of McCarthy that was so thorough that it attacked McCarthy for raising the debt ceiling twice in three sentences.
http://www.salon.com/2014/06/13/gop_...to_lead_house/
Well played, Tea Party! Now instead of a total obstructionist as majority leader, we have a real deal-maker in Kevin McCarthy.
Looks like Obamacare is here to stay, and amnesty is only a few months away... what a coup!
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