Former GOP House Speaker Sounds Alarm on McCarthy Vote Debacle

Republican Demoralization

 

By Newt Gingrich

Happy New Year. We had a great New Year’s weekend. Callista and I were with our children and grandchildren for New Years in Key Biscayne, Fla. I watched the astonishing University of Georgia’s come from behind victory over Ohio State (winning the fourth quarter 18-3 to gain a 1-point victory in the last 54 seconds). Then I watched with great happiness as Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers proved the Pack was back with a resounding 41-17 win over the Minnesota Vikings.

Then I turned to the sad, frustrating, unsettling business of thinking about the Republican Party, the conservative movement, and the challenges we face.

I am writing this after the House recessed following three failed efforts to elect a speaker. This is a long way from the record for speaker frustration. In 1923 it took nine ballots. Back in 1855 it took 133 ballots and two months to pick a speaker. (The parties were disintegrating under the pressures of slavery and anti-slavery bitterness which ultimately led to the Civil War). However, in the age of television, the frustration and pressures build more rapidly. There is no easy answer to the current disaster. By a little better than 10:1, 202 House GOP members have stayed with Kevin McCarthy through three ballots, while only 20 have voted against him.

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Source: gingrich360.com