Chad’s Morning Brief: Conservatives Oppose John Boehner, Mike Huckabee Ends TV Show to Explore Running for President, and Other Top Stories
After a small break, we are back! Here is your Morning Brief for January 5, 2014.
Conservatives Against John Boehner
Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert who is considered one of the most conservative members of the House announced over the weekend that he would challenge House Speaker John Boehner this week. According to FOX News, Gohmert isn't the only Republican who may challenge Boehner for position of Speaker.
Gohmert, among the House Republican caucus’ most conservative members, made the announcement on “Fox and Friends,” saying he decided to run after Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., said Saturday that he would challenge Boehner for the chamber’s top post.
“We have heard from a lot of Republicans that said, ‘I would vote for somebody besides speaker Boehner.’ But nobody will put their name out there,” Gohmert said. “That changed yesterday with Ted Yoho.”
Gohmert also hinted that another House member will announce a challenge to Boehner on Sunday.
Boehner once again returns to Capitol Hill amid challenges to keep his post, largely from the conservative members who most recently say he caved in by agreeing last month to a $1.1 trillion temporary federal spending bill, which averted another partial government shutdown.
Group members complained in part because they think Boehner did not try to punish President Obama enough for sidestepping Congress on immigration reform.
“After the November elections gave Republicans control of the Senate, voters made clear they wanted change,” Gohmert also said Sunday. “There have been numerous examples of problematic Republican leadership, but we were hopeful our leaders got the voters’ message. However, after our speaker forced through the CR omnibus by passing it with Democratic votes and without time to read it, it seemed clear that we needed new leadership. There had been much discussion. But, until yesterday, no one had stepped up.”
I have no problem with Republicans challenging Boehner as I believe he is a weak and largely ineffective Speaker. However, I don't see Boehner losing the vote.
Huckabee in 2016?
Mike Huckabee is thinking about running for President in 2016. Huckabee ended his FOX News TV Show over the weekend and while he does have some support from evangelicals, he will have some problems according to the Washington Post.
If Mike Huckabee is going to make a serious run for the Republican presidential nomination, he will have to do something he was unable to do in 2008: raise millions of dollars and build a sprawling national campaign to complement the well of support he has among evangelicals and grass-roots activists in early primary states.
The former Arkansas governor, whose sudden departure from Fox Newshas ramped up speculation about his political future, would immediately bring to the 2016 contest a high profile from his TV work and goodwill with the GOP’s most socially conservative voters, but he would be dogged from the start by questions about his organizational and fundraising abilities.
“You’re going to need $150 million to win the nomination, and probably $75 million to get you through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina,” Ed Rollins, a former Huckabee adviser, said in an interview. “That means 200 to 300 fundraising events and a vast, focused apparatus. Mike didn’t have that last time, and he still has to prove he can develop one.”
Huckabee’s challenge is one shared by an emerging faction of nearly a dozen Republicans — including Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina — pondering how to mount bids that could be sustained beyond the race’s initial stages and compete with the fundraising prowess of more prominent potential contenders, such as former Florida governor Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
The movement in the GOP contrasts with the Democratic Party, whose ranks are rapidly coalescing around Hillary Rodham Clinton as their standard-bearer. Other potential Democratic candidates, such as former Virginia senator Jim Webb and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, have failed to gain much traction.
The candidate from the crowded pack of Republicans who is most able to raise significant money and develop on-the-ground heft in the coming year may have the best shot of lasting through what could be a bruising and drawn-out nominating fight, according to several GOP strategists interviewed Sunday.
My thoughts on Huckabee and 2016? No. Please no. I would rather have Jeb Bush or Chris Christie than Mike Huckabee.
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