Oct 9th, 2015, 04:18 PM
The Rise and Fall of Kevin McCarthy
(Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Did Kevin McCarthy pull out because he cheated on his wife or because he simply wasn't up to the job?
Boy oh boy, has it been a busy week for Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, our almost Speaker of the House.
Hailing from the great state of California, he has spent the past eight years keeping his Capitol Hill office chair warm and quietly working his way up the ranks. In spite of having only passed two pieces of legislation since his election in 2006, he has steadily moved through the ranks of Republican leadership -- becoming Deputy Whip in 2009, Majority Whip in 2011, then landing the position of House Majority Leader in August 2014. I guess there is something to be said for keeping your head down.
Most recently, McCarthy was on the cusp of gaining the most powerful position in Washington -- excluding the President and Vice President. But as the news broke early last week that McCarthy was the front-runner for the recently vacated Speaker of the House position, his flying-low strategy had to be scrapped. The public clamored to know more about the soon-to-be third most powerful man in America. What we have discovered about him in the past few days has been a perfectly terrifying combination of vapid accomplishments, unintelligible comments on foreign policy, and the most perfectly timed forced error in recent political memory.
Hailing from the great state of California, he has spent the past eight years keeping his Capitol Hill office chair warm and quietly working his way up the ranks. In spite of having only passed two pieces of legislation since his election in 2006, he has steadily moved through the ranks of Republican leadership -- becoming Deputy Whip in 2009, Majority Whip in 2011, then landing the position of House Majority Leader in August 2014. I guess there is something to be said for keeping your head down.
Most recently, McCarthy was on the cusp of gaining the most powerful position in Washington -- excluding the President and Vice President. But as the news broke early last week that McCarthy was the front-runner for the recently vacated Speaker of the House position, his flying-low strategy had to be scrapped. The public clamored to know more about the soon-to-be third most powerful man in America. What we have discovered about him in the past few days has been a perfectly terrifying combination of vapid accomplishments, unintelligible comments on foreign policy, and the most perfectly timed forced error in recent political memory.
Almost as quickly as he came into the American public's consciousness, McCarthy was suddenly on his way out. On Thursday, he announced his withdrawal from the Speaker's race.
Why? Why would such a qualified candidate give up such an incredible opportunity? Was it that he passed only two pieces of legislation in his eight years in Congress? Or that he cannot speak in coherent sentences (an obvious requirement for the position of Speaker). Or that he ham-handedly spilled the beans on the biggest Republican secret of the 114th Congress?
Why? Why would such a qualified candidate give up such an incredible opportunity? Was it that he passed only two pieces of legislation in his eight years in Congress? Or that he cannot speak in coherent sentences (an obvious requirement for the position of Speaker). Or that he ham-handedly spilled the beans on the biggest Republican secret of the 114th Congress?
Hungria?
Speculation abounded as McCarthy dropped this bomb -- and now we can add a new theory to the mix. The Huffington Post reported that Kevin McCarthy might have been unfaithful in his marriage. Although the title of the article, "Kevin McCarthy’s Exit Came After Personal Threat Over Affair Allegations", is attention-grabbing, the article succinctly concludes that there is no evidence that anything happened and what sources they did have were anonymous and conflicting.
Benghazi, Benghazi
Regardless of why, McCarthy is out of the race. But, I find little comfort in the thought that McCarthy might have been forced to drop out because of a personal indiscretion and not because he thinks "Hungria" is a country. Or that we might be more outraged that he might have cheated on his wife, and not the fact that he definitely cheated the American tax payers out of $4.6 million for a politically motivated witch-hunt. I personally would like to believe that his quick exit is attributable to the fact that he cannot muster the 218 votes required for confirmation. Why do I take this view? Because I need to believe in these tumultuous political times that a Republican can make a logical, sane and expedient choice…I take back what I said: he totally cheated on his wife.
All joking aside, Rep. John Bohener has in fact resigned, and in such a fashion as to leave little doubt as to his feelings about the decision. But he will not officially vacate the position until a successor is chosen. And unfortunately for Bohener, the dream of leaving the cluster-f*** that is the House Republican Caucus has become an ever-receding goal post. With McCarthy out of the race, the next obvious choice is Representative and former Vice Presidential hopeful Paul Ryan. Too bad he adamantly said he does not want the job. The only two other announced candidates are Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Representative Dan Webster of Florida, whose unpopularity is rivaled only by their obscurity.
As the inmates take over the asylum in the shadow of a potential government shutdown with no white knight on the horizon, should we American’s be worried? Yeah, kind of. I have no idea how this one will end, but I can tell you that we better pray for a yet unidentified Republican leader who is coherent and uniting of the Old Guard GOP and the Tea Party and everyone in between. The prospects are not bright.
