# House Speaker Contest **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 12, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770 "2022-11-12T00:48:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/41 "2022-11-14T21:54:02Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > So let’s say you want to tempt a couple of moderate Pubs to vote for a moderate Pub as Speaker. Who will it be because it sure as hell wouldn’t be Pelosi. And then how do you convince the rank-and-file Dems to **not** vote for Pelosi? I’d say something like, “The Republicans have a miniscule majority, but a majority all the same. McCarthy wants to win the speakership, and he’ll do anything to make it happen, like put MTG, Jordan, and Gaetz in charge of committees that churn out articles of impeachment every other day. We have absolutely no chance of having a Democrat as speaker, but we can mitigate the worst Republican tendencies if we come together as a unified group and support the most moderate Republican we can to become speaker. What do you say?” ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/42 "2022-11-14T21:58:24Z")
Apparently, Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks it _is_ possible to sway a few republicans. > And we have to put someone in for speaker that is going to be elected and not allow the Democrat to pull away one or two because that’s what they want to do. And they can do it. Believe me, it can be done. We have Republicans in there that would possibly make a deal, as hard as that is for people to believe. [Marjorie Taylor Greene Pours Cold Water on Leadership Challenge to McCarthy, But Adds ‘I’m Not Afraid of the Civil War in the GOP’ (msn.com)](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-pours-cold-water-on-leadership-challenge-to-mccarthy-but-adds-i-m-not-afraid-of-the-civil-war-in-the-gop/ar-AA146tfA?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=b26544abbc0e4b358caa085070980de4) ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/43 "2022-11-14T21:58:25Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > > [@slicedalone](#): > > > > How can the Dems not even try this, once the dust settles and the GOP ends up with (I hope not) the majority? If it’s narrow enough, 218-217 or 219-216, they don’t need to reach to an entire coalition, just 1 or 3 GOP moderates, to whom they can offer a wide variety of incentives. I even heard rumored that maybe they’ll agree to compromise on Adam Kinzinger or Lynn Cheney which would be a real kick in the head. Love to see it. > > This is a weird hopeless fantasy, like the ones where the Republicans saw the light after 1/6 and voted to convict Trump. Republicans in the majority aren’t going to build a coalition with Democrats under any circumstances. Democrats who want to avoid being primaried and to preserve a chance for their jobs aren’t going to work with Republicans on the very first vote to elect a Republican speaker. Whichever Democrats did defect would be tagged with having allowed every odious Republican action as a “friend and supporter” of the speaker. Nope. Not going to happen. > > > [@slicedalone](#): > > > > One or three moderate GOPers would prefer a Speaker of their ilk. Let’s say it’s one, 218-217, and the Dems can’t hope for a majority. > > But the progressive Democrats would die rather than vote for a GOP speaker. There is no way that even Pelosi could deliver a unified Democratic caucus to vote for GOP leader. So the best they could do is allow a few Dems to defect in exchange for, let’s say, great committee assignments. The boot-licking self-serving deals that would come out would look awful in the next election cycle. It would be like working with the Vichy government in WWII. And even that would still mean getting a speaker that the overwhelming majority of Republicans would support. Not to mention that no moderate Republican is going to position themselves as King of the Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/44 "2022-11-14T22:27:41Z")
I don’t know, Kinzinger and Cheney probably have a few sympathetic (soon-to-be) ex-colleagues who barely survived getting primaried themselves and who don’t see much of a future with a party run by MAGA-crazies. If I were one of them, and saw myself as getting primaried out of a job, most likely, in 2024, and I were being offered a chance to serve two years as Speaker of the House, and maybe even eventually switching parties to serve as a conservative Dem in future houses (on the promise of no serious opposition from the Dems in running on their ticket), I’d certainly have to consider it. And remember, I’m talking about 218-217. You don’t have to persuade a lot of GOPers to pull this one off. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/45 "2022-11-14T22:41:09Z")
No one would vote for a member of the other party for Speaker without also switching to that party. You are deciding which party should control the agenda. If you think the other party should, then you’re in the wrong party. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/46 "2022-11-14T22:41:29Z")
Let the Republicans in the house spend the next two years failing to elect the speaker. They have nothing better to do anyway and it will keep them too occupied to start an impeachment circus or obsess over Hunter’s laptop. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/47 "2022-11-14T22:55:39Z")
I like this one. Which is why the Freedom Caucus are not going to get their ask of establishing a confidence vote on the Speaker, though. The leadership knows that would only create a revolving door of caretakers. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/48 "2022-11-15T02:22:17Z")
Well holy shit! > Buckle up. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/49 "2022-11-15T03:28:58Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > insult the intelligence of voters Friend, that has not mattered for at least the last six years. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/50 "2022-11-15T04:04:20Z")
He’s co-chair of The Main Street Caucus. Over 50 members it seems. Not sure he speaks for them all (or how sane they are :)) but maybe enough would be willing to threaten to go with him to offset a few Dem progressives who would vote against a “centrist” unity candidate. > **[Main Street Caucus](https://bacon.house.gov/mainstreetcaucus/)** > > The Main Street Caucus is a group of Republican Members of Congress who are dedicated to strong, conservative principles related to economic, business, environmental, and national security policy, and believe in governing in a thoughtful and... ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/51 "2022-11-15T05:01:53Z")
He’s also in the Problem Solvers Caucus which is a bipartisan group of congressfolk that are mostly from purple districts at glance. > **[Problem Solvers Caucus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_Solvers_Caucus)** > > The Problem Solvers Caucus is a bipartisan group in the United States House of Representatives that includes members equally divided between Democrats and Republicans, who seek to foster bipartisan cooperation on key policy issues. The group was created in January 2017 as an outgrowth of meetings held by political organization No Labels starting in 2014. It is currently co-chaired by Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). > The Problem Solvers Caucus developed over time as an outgrow... ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/52 "2022-11-15T14:10:10Z")
This is an idle threat to change the negotiating posture of the right-wing Republicans. I suspect Democrats are the only ones taking it at face value. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/53 "2022-11-15T14:57:48Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > This is an idle threat to change the negotiating posture of the right-wing Republicans. 100% this. I understand the desire to imagine scenarios where McCarthy or an even nuttier nutjob is not Speaker for the next two years, but it’s a fantasy. There is zero chance of that happening in this political climate. McCarthy is the best we’re going to get, as depressingly dismal as that is. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/54 "2022-11-15T15:27:15Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > I suspect Democrats are the only ones taking it at face value. I don’t think anyone is taking it at face value. It is, however, a warning shot across McCarthy’s bow. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/55 "2022-11-15T15:30:12Z")
I think it’s a shot across the bow of the anti-McCarthy right-wingers: If they don’t get behind McCarthy, they might end up getting someone they like even less. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/56 "2022-11-15T15:41:22Z")
I think something like the Bacon plan could work. Whether a particular GOP Rep might go for it depends largely on how purple their district is. Remember, if a handful of moderate Reps make a deal to get the Speakership and some plum committee chairs, their districts are going to be in line to get a lot of, um, bacon. Voters may not want to give that up in favor of electing some Trumpy backbencher, partisanship be damned. As a progressive Democrat I can’t imagine anyone objecting to this plan. Our entire caucus voted for a spending bill that was much less than we wanted, we’d stick together on this, too. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/57 "2022-11-15T15:43:19Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > As a progressive Democrat I can’t imagine anyone objecting to this plan. Our entire caucus voted for a spending bill that was much less than we wanted, we’d stick together on this, too. I think the ones who would object would be the long time Democratic representatives who would lose out on those plum committee chairs. I doubt they would be happy at losing those positions to a carpetbagger. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/58 "2022-11-15T15:48:40Z")
But…they’ve _already_ lost their committee chairs, because their party doesn’t have the majority. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/59 "2022-11-15T16:10:58Z")
Only temporarily. There’s hope that they can get them back as soon as 2024. If they give them up to a Republican who changes party, they’re never getting them back. I agree that it would still be a good idea for the country as a whole, but I’m not sure if those long serving Democrats will go for it. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/60 "2022-11-15T16:47:42Z")
doing some musing here. a rep. is vested in retirement at 5 years (80% of salary at age 62). being voted out is considered retired. given that, find a republican has been in for 5 years, nearly 62, moderate, and voted out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770.md?page=4)