Good points, but I don’t believe the Republicans can elect anyone unless and until they come together to bring the rabid Wacko Brigade to heel and stop treating them like equal partners with equally valid views. They’re anarchists and deserve to be sidelined. McCarthy chose to get into bed with them in return for power, but it only ended up neutering him completely. I doubt any other candidate would make that mistake (at least not one with a shot at winning the speakership). The uber crazies are badly outnumbered, and if the rest of the conference doesn’t smack them on the nose with a rolled up newspaper and make them act right then they’ll just have to deal with the pile of shit they keep leaving all over the place.
My vote is for Jeffries to tell Kevin that the Ds will vote “present” as long as he stops letting the lowest uncommon denominator run the show. Take away Gaetz’s power to threaten doom and destruction every other second. I doubt Jeffries will be able to successfully demand concessions for the Democrats, and doubt even more that Kevin would keep his word if he made any, but a simple return to a normal difference of opinion would be nice.
ETA: above quote was from @Horatius but the quote box didn’t carry over the name for some reason.