I turned on the TV tonight and Frank Luntz was sort of freaking out because Kevin McCarthy dropped out of the race for Speaker of the House. McCarthy, who is part of the Republican leadership, knew he didn’t have the votes so he bowed out gracefully. Good for him, but not good for the establishment. I think it’s good news, and IBD argues that it presents the Republican Party with the opportunity to shake things up a bit.

What now? On the party’s left, Peter King of New York joined the media-chaos chorus and called his fellow House Republicans “a banana republic.” He’s wrong. This is no crisis; it’s a great opportunity. As messy as things seem now, it will all be forgotten if an effective leader is elected speaker.

We still believe Republicans should act outside the box and consider a provocative choice, like former Texas Congressman Tom “The Hammer” DeLay, the most effective House majority leader in history, who is eligible since the speaker need not be a member of Congress.

Or Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, the first black Republican woman ever elected to the House, a dynamic conservative with a compelling personal story who would confound Democrats’ attempts at portraying the party as anti-minority and anti-female.

Of the more conventional possibilities, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling of Texas, a protege of former senator and fiscal-conservative hero Phil Gramm, seems to possess both principle and competence. (Read More)

I don’t know about bringing back Tom Delay, but there are other good choices. Anyway, we will find out soon enough. In the mean time I won’t lose too much sleep over it.

Update: This is interesting. I almost forgot seeing that someone from the Department of Homeland Security made changes to McCarthy’s Wikipedia page and inserted a rumor that I won’t repeat.