Ted Cruz wasn’t kidding when he said that John Boehner has been a very effective Democrat leader. According to The Hill, Nancy Pelosi said that if he hadn’t resigned Democrats would have helped him hold onto the Speaker’s gavel. She also said that she’d be “open” to the Democrats helping to choose the next Republican speaker.
“I think in our caucus there is interest and support. There’s an openness to a bipartisan approach to this,” Pelosi said in an interview at the Texas Tribune Festival.
Pelosi stopped short of endorsing by name any particular Republican for speaker.
“Do you want him to be totally destroyed in his caucus if I mentioned who I thought would be good?” Pelosi said when asked by the Texas Tribune’s Abby Livingston about the prospects of her casting a vote for a Republican speaker. “That would be the end of him.”
Pelosi also indicated that her caucus would have thwarted a bid by House conservatives to oust Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, should they have brought up a motion to “vacate the chair.” (Read More)
I think McConnell and the whole culture of the Senate is a much worse problem than Boehner. Still, it impresses you how insular and refractory the House caucus is. Having lost Boehner and McCarthy, the favorite to succeed him would be Paul Ryan (open borders extremist). There are seven other possibilities on the short list at least one of whom (Jason Chaffetz) is another open borders advocate. I think only one or two are immigration patriots.