The Columnist Manifesto

Boehner Unexpectedly Raised to Majority Leader
"He just seemed to pop up out of nowhere," says Blunt

Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) (pronounced: Boner), who ran an insurgent campaign calling for change in the face of a widening corruption scandal, was elected yesterday to succeed Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) as House majority leader in an upset over the acting majority leader.

Boehner's victory over Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a longtime DeLay ally, stunned House members attending the closed-door election.

"I had Boehner totally beaten," said the plain-spoken Blunt. "The thing was in my hands, but it just slipped away."

GOP's Boehner to Lead Dick Armey

Former Republican House Majority Leader, Dr. Richard Keith "Dick" Armey, PhD, praised the selection, saying "I would follow Boehner anywhere."

Boehner Succeeds Dick Armey after DeLay

Ohio's Boehner replaces the scandal-ridden Tom DeLay, who had succeeded fellow Texan Dick Armey as Majority Leader...

Boehner to have no special access to Bush

"Representative Boehner will be no more or less welcome than Dick Armey to come inside [the White House]," said White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, who failed to explain the pointed omission of Tom DeLay.

Boehner's election portends a change of direction for the House this year. In campaigning for the job, he said that the current leadership has been too top-down in its control of the legislative agenda ...

"We must act swiftly to restore the thrust between Congress and the American people," Boehner said in a written statement. [Sorry, I cheated: he said “restore trust.”] ...

Blunt Short of Boehner by Six
[okay, me again – but look, it’s true!]

Blunt, who as majority whip will still be the third-ranking Republican in the House, came within six votes of victory, as the winner needs more than half the votes cast. He picked up 110 supporters in the first round of the secret balloting, compared with Boehner's 79. Forty votes went to Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), while two lawmakers wrote in Rep. Jim Ryun (R-Kan.). With just a handful more needed in a second round of voting, members began sending e-mails saying that Blunt appeared to have won.

But in a second, head-to-head tally pitting the first- and second-place finishers, Boehner scored a decisive 122 to 109 win. ....

"The members wanted to make a big decision, and they did," Boehner said.

...

But it was mounting concern about a political corruption scandal -- not Boehner's or Blunt's legislative skills -- that colored the leadership contest until the end.... Under mounting pressure [from Boehner supporters?? –ed.], DeLay relinquished his claims to the majority leader's post, officially beginning a scramble for new leadership.

Boehner's Extra Six Trumps Blunt's Personality
[yup... me. --ed.]

From the start, .... Blunt's list of public supporters was always comfortably longer than Boehner's. But it was not until this week that House members returned to Washington from a long recess and the candidates could campaign in person. Boehner said even members who committed to Blunt began realizing this vote had far more significance than the typical leadership contests that are decided on personality, personal contacts and promises. [So size does matter! -- ed.]

Although he campaigned as a reformer, Boehner (pronounced BAY-ner) is no stranger to Washington. ... Once in the leadership, he avidly cultivated ties to the K Street lobbying community. He made headlines for handing out checks from tobacco interests to colleagues on the House floor.

# posted by Oscar Madison @ 9:33 AM