Kevin McCarthy is already taking heat from all sides
Awhile back I wrote an article called “The last lament of Kevin McCarthy.” In it I spoke of McCarthy’s dwindling chances of becoming House speaker. Right now we don’t know what will happen. But it looks to me like even if the GOP wins the House — and that’s still a big if — McCarthy will have a hard time.
A spokesperson for House freedom caucus member Andy Biggs says McCarthy doesn’t have the votes and will face a challenger. This doesn’t surprise me. Here is what his spokesperson had to say: “McCarthy doesn’t have the votes to become speaker, and he’ll be challenged.”
Of course, he will be. I remain steadfast in my belief that many in the GOP do not really like Kevin. I do not think they ever did. Some wild choices are being thrown about, and I won’t get into them because I’ve no doubt there will be a lot more. And maybe Kevin WILL fly by on the seat of his pants and become speaker. If he does? He will be miserable.
If the GOP wins the House, they will win by barely anything. And Kevin will have to deal with infighting the likes of which he’s never seen before.
Plus, House speakers on the GOP side usually wind up mysteriously disappearing in puffs of smoke at some point. Remember Paul Ryan. Remember John Boehner. So the coming weeks will be interesting for Kevin and will be fun to watch. No matter what hand he is ultimately dealt, I do not see a good ending for Mr. McCarthy in all of this.
