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Perhaps no Speaker of the House in American political history has been repeatedly made to look so impotent by his own party members as Rep. John Boehner. And the political humiliation is continuing as the no votes against him pile up. This once again shows how meaningless (and almost laughable) most punditry is since pundits suggested there’d only be a few no votes and it was a slam dunk.
There isn’t a dunk (yet), but Boehner is being slammed (again):
A bloc of at least 15 conservative lawmakers will vote Tuesday to deny John Boehner a third term as Speaker of the House, more than the dozen who organized a botched coup attempt against the veteran Ohio Republican two years ago.
Hours before the vote, the number of Boehner defectors was building. Tea Party Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) announced on Facebook he wouldn’t be voting for Boehner, just like in 2013.
Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) reversed his previous position and said he now will voted against Boehner. And Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) said he had joined the “dump Boehner” movement.
“A fresh start often requires change, and I believe that change should start with the election of a new Speaker,” Duncan wrote on Facebook.The spectacle on the opening day of the 114th Congress is remarkable given that Boehner led the GOP in the November election to its largest House majority since the Harry Truman administration. On the other side of the Capitol, Senate Republicans will grab the reins of power from Democrats.
And in recent history, no sitting Speaker has seen so many defections from his or her own party in the first vote of a new Congress. Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) saw nine defections in 1997, while Dennis Hastert watched five fellow Republicans cast votes against him in 2005, according to an analysis by the New York Times.
Only one Democrat voted against Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in 2009, but after losing the majority, 20 Democrats did not back Pelosi as their leader on the House floor in 2011.
Boehner allies are still expressing confidence they have the votes to beat back a rebellion from the right. “We expect him to be reelected,” Boehner spokesman Kevin Smith said in an email Tuesday morning.
But:
–it’s another humilition Boehner
—it’s a sign that he may (again) prove to be someone following the leaders (tea party conservatives) rather than leading in some matters
–it isn’t a good harbinger of the health of compromise with the White House or Democrats to pass legislation on more than power politics votes.
Twitter gives a good idea of how this story is developing:
I will not vote for John Boehner as #Speaker of the US House. I will vote for an alternative Here's why: http://t.co/psR7SHO7Bh
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) January 5, 2015
Boehner rallies support for re-election as speaker while conservative opposition mounts. http://t.co/9vo5u75tO1
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) January 6, 2015
Speaker Boehner faces protest votes, but no real threat http://t.co/UxQWXw8dnv
— TIME.com (@TIME) January 6, 2015
Boehner waits to see how badly extremist Republicans can embarrass him in speaker vote http://t.co/oBezYNcSdr
— Daily Kos (@dailykos) January 6, 2015
Action Alert! CALL your rep and tell them to vote against Boehner for Speaker! #TeaParty pic.twitter.com/sSNMrQMWE6
— Tea Party Patriots (@TPPatriots) January 6, 2015
@TPPatriots stop demonizing him,give him a chance
— dont put name on twi (@sher308) January 6, 2015
The Forces of Nullification Behind Opposition to Boehner http://t.co/Dkvb0Egw0R
— ramaxe (@ramaxe1965) January 6, 2015
John Boehner: A bargainer by nature saddled with members who didn’t want to bargain
http://t.co/U3LC7LIEUn
— POLITICO (@politico) January 6, 2015
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Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.