McCain To Back Shadegg

[Annie]

MCCAIN GETS IN ON THE HOUSE RACE [KJL]
"Today, Sen. McCain will officially endorse Rep. Shadegg's candidacy for House Majority Leader."
Posted at 12:17 PM

http://corner.nationalreview.com/06_01_29_corner-archive.asp#089044

 

[5stringJeff]

 

[Annie]

Yup, who would have thought?

 

[Annie]

I wonder if the GOP recognizes that some of us do pay attention, even in off year elections?

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007908

Republican Referendum
Something new, or same-old, same-old?

Thursday, February 2, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST

House Republicans vote for a new Majority Leader today, and whom they pick will tell us a lot about how they view the performance of this Congress so far. Are they proud of the record amount of pork-barrel spending? Or that they ran for cover at the earliest criticism of President Bush's plans for Social Security reform?

The status quo candidate is current Majority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri. He's made his way up the leadership working for Tom DeLay, and his specialty is transactional, K Street politics. The uproar over Jack Abramoff has caused him to endorse some spending reform of late. But he fundamentally believes--and he's told us so himself--that "earmarks," as designer pork projects are euphemistically known, are a good use of federal tax money and a prerogative of Congressional power. He also hasn't been shy about using his current post as part of his attempt to climb the ladder, promising committee posts to supporters and even urging GOP contributors to make calls on his behalf.

The alternative candidates are Ohio's John Boehner and Arizona's John Shadegg. Mr. Boehner has served in leadership positions already, but has admirably never lobbied for pork in his own district. He also voted against last year's bloated highway bill, which gives him a credible claim to be a candidate of change.

Even more impressive on the spending front is Mr. Shadegg, one of only two dozen courageous GOP souls to buck the White House and oppose the 2003 Medicare drug entitlement. We'd have to give him a slight edge on Mr. Boehner when it comes to ideas, too. Mr. Shadegg's bill to free up interstate commerce in health insurance is one of the most important to be introduced in the current Congress, and shows exactly the kind of creative thinking people ought to look for in a potential leader. He also sponsored an amendment in 2001 to make the Bush tax cuts bigger.

The question is, does the Congressional GOP think it really needs a major change? It's easy to be complacent in this age of gerrymandered districts and "safe" seats. But Republicans might also want to consider that they now have worse approval ratings than the Democrats did in February of 1994--eight months before they were swept from power by the Gingrich-led GOP.

What has core Republican voters agitated is exactly what we've been warning about for months. Republicans are acting as if they are the party of incumbency and big government. The federal budget is now almost 40% larger than it was five years ago--thanks to a budget process rigged for spending by the Democrats in 1974 that the GOP hasn't changed, and to such embarrassments as a highway bill with an average of four pork barrel projects for every Congressional district in America.

Republicans still have eight months to try for redemption with the voters who put them in charge. But the clock is ticking. Today's vote will tell a lot about whether the process starts now--or ever.