Congress Watch: Few expect dark horse in House GOP race
House Republican lawmakers do not think that a third candidate will move forward this week to challenge Ohio Rep. John Boehner and Missouri Rep. Roy Blunt for the House majority leader's post.
"It's just too late to get in," said a key GOP leadership aide. However, added another, if neither Blunt nor Boehner can nail down the job within the next six to eight days, a move could be made to seek a consensus candidate. The leading alternative there, said several leadership officials and GOP consultants, is Rep. Tom Reynolds, head of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Insiders close to the two campaigns to replace Rep. Tom DeLay as the permanent majority leader said that while Blunt is the leader, Boehner is gaining ground.
"Boehner is making good progress, so Blunt may have some vulnerability," said a key source, who added that Blunt's position as House whip should make it easy for him to nail down the job quickly. "If we don't see Blunt wrapping it up this week, then all bets are off," added the insider. A Republican consultant who was involved in the 1998 coup and installation of Dennis Hastert as speaker said that the first week is critical.
"If you can't nail it down then, the members start looking for somebody else. And in that case, anybody could emerge," he said. Meanwhile, socially and fiscally conservative members want a candidate who is close to them on their issues, but one said Tuesday that they don't expect to persuade a member from their caucus to enter the race.
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