Kevin McCarthy, the frontrunner to take over the Speaker of the House position, ran into trouble after "crediting the special committee to investigate the 2012 Benghazi attacks with sinking 2016 Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton’s poll numbers, and cited that as an example of the kind of conservative leadership he would provide as speaker" (Dumain, Roll Call). McCarthy said on Sean Hannity's show: “We have to have a strategy to be able to win. What you’re going to see is a conservative speaker, that takes a conservative Congress, that puts a strategy to fight and win. And let me give you one example. Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee. A select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable. But no one would have known that any of that had happened had we not fought to make that happen.” McCarthy is claiming that he is showing effective leadership by attacking Clinton's reputation with the election coming up. McCarthy is using Benghazi as a political weapon, and not everyone is on board with this.
These statements are indicative of a different style of leadership than John Boehner employed. McCarthy has been a favorite of the right-wing of the GOP, as Jake mentioned, because of his stance to stand strong against the Democrats in Congress. This is a direct response to criticism by representatives like Rubio and Cruz against Boehner's tendency to compromise with the left. But McCarthy is already getting slammed by his fellow Republicans, including Rep. Jason Chaffetz. “'I told [McCarthy] I’m supportive of him, but I have to distance myself from his comments. I just felt they were inaccurate and wrong,' the Oversight and Government Reform chairman said... 'I think he should apologize. I think he should withdraw it. I think it’s an absolute inaccurate statement as to what we’re doing and have done and the work on Benghazi,' Chaffetz said."
Already, McCarthy is setting the tone for his potential term as Speaker. His mentality to fight the Democrats as if they are enemies looks to grind Congress down even further to a halt. We have come right to the edge of the fiscal cliff, delayed passing the budget until the 11th hour, and even shut down the government all with a Speaker more willing to compromise. McCarthy has to balance his duties as Speaker (keeping America on a prudent course) and as Republican Party leader. If he leans too much towards the latter, the country could be headed for even more disillusionment with Congress and horrible gridlock. McCarthy has shown that this is the path he is likely to take, using a committee to discuss the deaths of Americans in a terrorist attack as a tool to help his party in an election.
http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/kevin-mccarthy-never-intention-benghazi-committee-politics-hillary-clinton/?dcz=
http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/chaffetz-told-mccarthy-apologize-benghazi-remarks/
http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/kevin-mccarthy-gives-boehner-b-credits-benghazi-committee-hurting-hillary-clintons-poll-numbers/?dcz=
1 comment:
It was originally speculated that Kevin McCarthy would be the number one person to selected as the Speaker. But now it seems as though there's a bit more competition. Jason Chaffez's entry into this selection at this point was definitely strategic. Because the Speaker will be selected by other Republican members of the House this Thursday, McCarthy's mess up and Chaffez's entry will be fresh in their minds. It definitely will be interesting to see who will end up as the new Speaker of the House!
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