# 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:** 83
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1641 "2023-01-06T18:51:06Z")
Sure, but do they want to be the ones who handed the keys to the crazies when they had a chance to hang on to them? That’s why I’m saying this is part of a bigger schism- clearly the mainline Republicans don’t want any part of this howler-monkey nonsense anymore, but they don’t have a clear way to actually sideline them and go on, as proven by the ridiculous number of speaker votes. What the howler monkey faction is doing is basically legislative extortion. Do what we say, or we’ll block you. Which gives the mainline GOP types a choice- give in and effectively show that they can be forced by the far right of their own party, or start dealing with someone else, i.e. Democrats. They can’t get enough INTERNAL party votes to outmuscle the howler monkeys, so they have a choice to make. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1642 "2023-01-06T18:52:55Z")
Maybe McCarthy can go to Elon and work a deal to cut the attention-seekers off twitter unless they support him. That might get him the votes. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1643 "2023-01-06T18:55:46Z")
The howler monkeys understand America better than most: get on tv, get famous, get rich. Competency has little to do with anything; grilling Hunter Biden about his sexual activities keeps the money coming in for decades. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1644 "2023-01-06T18:59:26Z")
Surprise, surprise. Inflation, fentanyl, and border crisis, coming right out of the gate. If the drinking game participants aren’t under the table by now, I guess they will be by the end of this speech. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1645 "2023-01-06T19:00:15Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Sure, but do they want to be the ones who handed the keys to the crazies when they had a chance to hang on to them? This seems to be the crux of it - a lot of people still think the Republicans are interested in effective governance and/or only the next few months. Any cooperation with the Democrats is the end to their careers in politics come the next election and any potential post-Congressional career on TV or the speaking circuit. That’s a shame, but that’s where things stand right now. So, they can continue trying to play the game or they can commit political suicide by either working with the Dems or by capitulating. So, they play the game, thereby kicking the can down the road and hoping they don’t have to make an unpalatable choice. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1646 "2023-01-06T19:01:25Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Surprise, surprise. Inflation, fentanyl, and border crisis, coming right out of the gate. Is fentanyl something that’s being pushed on Fox? I’m only vaguely aware of it being an issue anyone is up in arms about, yet it’s getting a lot of play in Congress this week. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1647 "2023-01-06T19:02:53Z")
Well, this damn suspense is killing me, so I’m going to go shopping and spend my xmas gift cards. At least that might lift my spirits. Man, I despise Kevin McCarthy. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1648 "2023-01-06T19:03:27Z")
I believe fentanyl is one of the bestest Republican tropes these days, and that the illegals Biden is welcoming into the country are bringing loads of it with them, to distribute to American teenagers. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1649 "2023-01-06T19:05:05Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Is fentanyl something that’s being pushed on Fox? I’m only vaguely aware of it being an issue anyone is up in arms about, yet it’s getting a lot of play in Congress this week. I can’t speak about Fox, but I do look in on a right-wing message board from time to time. They are absolutely convinced that “open borders” means that those swarming into the US illegally are bringing all the Chinese-made fentanyl, which has given us the fentanyl and opioid crises. Close the borders, and you shut off the supply of fentanyl, solving the problem. That’s how they see it. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1650 "2023-01-06T19:05:42Z")
Who was the Republican who missed the last vote? There were 431 votes out of 434 electees. Buck has a medical excuse, Trone was the Democrat, so there’s one Rep who was out. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1651 "2023-01-06T19:10:41Z")
I missed part of the nominations. No 3rd candidate? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1652 "2023-01-06T19:12:25Z")
Not this time, I guess. This may be it, but I guessing that there may be more than one Present this time, which could change things. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1653 "2023-01-06T19:14:09Z")
Boebert voted for Jordan. There are now two Others. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1654 "2023-01-06T19:14:27Z")
Five bucks says McCarthy, (if) after winning the Speakership, starts crowing about his mandate from the party, and how this is how Democracy works, blah, blah, blah… ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1655 "2023-01-06T19:14:36Z")
What about Biggs? Gaetz and Good are almost certainly “no” votes, so with Boebert, I think that means he can only lose one more. Is that right? ---
**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:** [January 6, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1656 "2023-01-06T19:15:30Z")
Also nothing prevents the nuts from just randomly voting for, oh, like, Scott Baio ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1657 "2023-01-06T19:16:05Z")
Something that gets lost in how much of a circus the entire party (really the entire government and system of governance) is: given what their goals are, these lunatics are several standard deviations above the norm in terms of being effective at their jobs as representatives. This is a tour de force of leveraging power. It’s just being done by maniacs, for the absolute worst reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1658 "2023-01-06T19:16:44Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Close the borders, and you shut off the supply of fentanyl, solving the problem. That’s how they see it. According to [Adam Ruins Everything](https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&rlz=1C1GCEB_enUS1014US1014&q=Adam+Ruins+Everything+episode+(season+1,+episode+18)&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLVT9c3NEw2LDTLKDI03cXEkV-WWlSWmVq-iNXEMSUxVyGoNDOvWMEVKFpZkpGZl66QWpBZnJ-SqqBRnJpYnJ-nYKgDFzK00AQAiixsclMAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivm8ne07P8AhUHD0QIHaW5BJYQm8wBKAB6BAhNEAE), that is what caused the border crisis in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1659 "2023-01-06T19:17:48Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1660 "2023-01-06T19:17:58Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Who was the Republican who missed the last vote? There were 431 votes out of 434 electees. Buck has a medical excuse, Trone was the Democrat, so there’s one Rep who was out. Ben Cline missed this one, I think. ETA: Yup, Cline (R) missed this vote. ~Max [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770.md?page=82) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770.md?page=84)