May 2, 2024
To Oust Or Not To Oust?
By Sally Zelikovsky
Conservatives are haunted by House Republicans who make all manner of campaign promises but, once in office, forget their obligations to voters or justify why they reneged on their word to support or reject a particular piece of legislation. Our biggest disappointments to date are probably their epic failure regarding Obamacare and capitulations ad nauseam regarding anything budgetary.
The Republican counter-response to these repeated failures has been less than exemplary. Basically, all we’ve done is eat our own. Recall Kevin McCarthy, who had a tough time getting elected Speaker in January 2023—a prolonged, painful, and very public process that did not reflect well on House Republicans. In exchange for enough votes to win after 15 ballots, McCarthy agreed that any one member could bring a motion to vacate his Speakership.
Out of abject frustration and the desire to make a point (and perhaps a desire to make history), Rep. Matt Gaetz caused an uproar among his Republican colleagues and millions of constituents when he successfully moved to vacate Speaker McCarthy on October 3, 2023—unleashing a Game of Thronesian Red October where candidates like Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan and Tom Emmer were paraded about as successors, then electorally crucified until Mike Johnson was elected on October 25.
It was a bloody mess. Although many agreed in principle, most didn’t see any strategic value given our newfound but very slim majority and the need to present a united front until we could re-elect Trump and increase our numbers in Congress. Looking frail and scattered, they presented the antithesis of two core Democrat party principles: Never eat one’s own and always vote in lockstep.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/05/to_oust_or_not_to_oust.html