(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Who are next in the fight to be Speaker? (Spoiler alert, mostly white, all men) [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-20 Power is a potent drug. McCarthy sold his political soul for it (the check bounced.) Scalise grasped for it and tripped. Jordan tried thuggery and ran into a brick wall. They will not be the last. Driven by ambition and delusion, the next wave will attack the beach. They will ignore the humiliation and failure of those who went before and toss their hats into the ring. Who are these people? It turns out that, with the marquee names gone, there will be quite a few of them, either announced, gauging support, or rumored to be interested. They may be familiar to political junkies, but most Americans could not pick them out of a lineup, let alone guess where they fall on the conservative spectrum. Do they play well with others? Are they respected? Can they add? Let us have a look — alphabetically. Note: abbreviations include RSC ( Republican Study Committee , center-right by conservative standards), FC ( Freedom Caucus , ultra-right by anybody’s standards), PSC ( Problem Solvers Caucus , a genuinely centrist group. It includes an equal number of democrats and Republicans) Jodey Arrington (TX) Arrington (51) was a George W Bush functionary during his governorship and presidency. Before his election to Congress in 2016, he was in University administration and then a healthcare executive. Arrington is an election denier and member of the RSC. Jack Bergman (MI) Bergman (76) is part of a disappearing demographic. He is a Vietnam War veteran and career military. He retired as a Lt. Gen. of the Marine Corps and was elected to Congress in 2016 as a fiscal hawk. Bergman is a committed election-denier. He is a member of the RSC. However, he also belongs to the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus . Byron Donalds (FL) Donalds (44) is the youngest and the only Black candidate. He was a middle manager in the banking industry and a Tea Party enthusiast. Donalds was elected to Congress in 2016. He belongs to RSC and FC — but was blocked from joining the Congressional Black Caucus . The fact he described himself as a "Trump-supporting, gun-owning, liberty-loving, pro-life, politically incorrect Black man" may have had something to do with it. Tom Emmer (MN) Emmer 62 , as House Majority Whip, is second only to Steve Scalise in Republican House Leadership (Speaker is technically not a party position). He was a country lawyer who, after losing his 2010 election for Governor, was elected to the US House in 2014. Emmer is a member of the RSC. In 2009, while a member of the Minnesota House, he sponsored a bill that would have reduced the penalties for drunk driving, which was particularly notable as he was ticketed for DWI twice — he says the two things were not related. Kevin Hern (OK) Hern 61 has an MBA and once owned 18 McDonald's franchises, which he subsequently sold. He is the Chairman of the RSC. He was part of the initial group vying to replace McCarthy before withdrawing his name. After the Scalise/Jordan debacle, he reentered the race. He is another election denier. Notably, despite being a fiscal hawk, he willingly took forgivable loans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mike Johnson (LA) Johnson 51 is a lawyer who worked for such groups as the Alliance Defending Freedom , an Orwellian-named organization that aims to make the US into a Christian nationalist theocratic state. He was elected to Congress in 2016. He is currently the Vice-Chair of the Republican Conference, which makes him fourth in GOP House leadership. He is an election denier. In 2015, while a member of the state House, Johnson proposed the Marriage and Conscience Act to protect people who discriminated against married gay couples. The bill was so vile that it was voted down 10-2 in Committee (note this was in Louisiana). And fellow Republican John Delgado called him a "despicable bigot of the highest order." Dan Meuser (PA) Meuser 59 was a businessman who helped run the family’s business, Pride Mobility Products which had to pay a fine for employing undocumented workers. He was elected to Congress in 2018. He is a member of both the RSC and PSC. He is a MAGA PAC endorsee. And he is an election denier Austin Scott (GA) Scott 53 has been involved in politics and lobbying since his election, at 26, to the Georgia House. He was elected to Congress in 2010. He is an election denier. However, he did not vote against Biden’s certification (on constitutional grounds). He spoke out against the violence on Jan 6. He is also a supporter of aid to Ukraine Pete Sessions (TX) Sessions 68 was a middle manager for Southwestern Bell. He was first elected to Congress in 1996 and was involved in both attempts to impeach Bill Clinton. Sessions has been sailing close to the wind on ethics issues ever since. In the early 2000s, he took money from Jack Abramof f . In 2008, he added a $1.6 million earmark for dirigible research to Jim G. Ferguson & Associates, which had no experience in government contracting or dirigible research. Then, in 2016, he tried to ax the Office of Congressional Ethics (I wonder why?) He is also a hypocrite. In 2012, he voted against disaster relief after Hurricane Sandy. Then, in 2017, he called for disaster relief after Hurricane Harvey (which had hit Texas). He also voted against increasing sanctions against Russia and Iran. And he lobbied to dismiss the US Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, during Trump’s attempted strong-arming of Zelenskyy. He is a member of the RSC. Conclusion In the MAGA era, the GOP has become so hoogenous it is hard to differentiate between many of the candidates. If I had to, I would say that Johnson is the biggest shit. And Scott is probably the one most amenable to the Democrats. But I am sure he too has done something. If anyone knows what it is, I welcome comments. In fact, for my own edification, I would love comments on any of them [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/20/2200677/-Who-are-next-in-the-fight-to-be-Speaker-Spoiler-alert-mostly-white-all-men?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/