A silver lining of Tuesday is that we get to watch dramas like this, wherein John Boehner's boys club does its best to keep the GOP's tea party riff-raff out of power:
House Republicans look like they’ve largely been spared any uncomfortable leadership races as they cruise into their robust new majority, except for one little speed bump: Michele Bachmann.
The often fiery and always unpredictable Bachmann, a tea party favorite, is trying to make a contest out of the battle for the Republican Conference chairmanship, a job that is critical for setting the party’s message and is seen as a steppingstone to higher leadership positions.
The favorite is Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, and top Republicans are making it clear that he is the insider’s choice. Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia and outgoing Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana already have endorsed Hensarling, sending a clear message that if Bachmann wants the job, she’s going to have to run an insurgent race for it.
Uh oh. She's an insurgent! Just like Christine O'D! You know what that means! And even better, Bachmann's got herself the GOP trump slogan on her side:
Bachmann has been known to do things on her own on the Republican side. She started the Tea Party Caucus and is going to make the case that it’s important that a "constitutional conservative" is at the leadership table, her spokesman Sergio Gor said.
Yeah, she's not just any old conservative. She's a "constitutional conservative." And that's the kind of conservative that Boehner's boys club takes on at its own risk. Just ask Mike Castle. Or Charlie Crist.
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