Washington – In eight concise paragraphs, two moderate and two conservative House Republicans put into writing last week what they say many of their colleagues quietly fear: the GOP’s plunging poll numbers, the rising public support for a Congress controlled by Democrats and the increasing belief among voters that the Republican Party is corrupt.
House Republicans will gather Thursday to elect a successor to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, as majority leader, and the perceptions of corruption, though “neither fair nor accurate … are reality,” Reps. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., Charles Bass, R-N.H., Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Tom Feeney, R-Fla., wrote in a letter to their colleagues, imploring them to vote for change. “We must realize that the majority we have all worked so hard for is in jeopardy.”
It is not clear how widespread such fear is on Capitol Hill, with Congress in recess, but it has shaped the campaigns of Reps. John Boehner, R-Ohio, and John Shadegg, R-Ariz., as they try to derail the front-runner – Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the majority whip and acting majority leader – in a race that has taken on enormous significance.
Blunt aides insist that their boss, running as the candidate of continuity and proven leadership, has the race wrapped up, with more than enough committed supporters to hand him a swift victory on the first ballot.
Blunt’s chief deputy whip, Eric Cantor of Virginia, has said he also has the votes to move up to the whip’s job, if Blunt vacates the post to become majority leader.
