Not that these are new complaints, but the rumblings against Eric Cantor from within the GOP caucus — or at least from Dana Rohrabacher — are getting some notice:
Mr. Cantor, who just a few years ago was seen as a champion for conservatives in the House and a possible candidate to replace House Speaker John A. Boehner, now is viewed with suspicion, said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican.
“I think that Boehner can survive the discontent that the tea party and the more conservative element of the Republican Party has, but I don’t think that is true of Cantor,” Mr. Rohrabacher told The Washington Times. “Boehner is not considered someone who is an active adversary. Cantor can be seen — on immigration and a lot of other things — as someone who is very resentful of what would be the patriot Republican right.”
Mr. Rohrabacher took it a step further by saying that members of the caucus could move to knock Mr. Cantor from his leadership post in the next Congress, even if Mr. Boehner has the votes to stay.
Plenty of hedging, but there is no question that portions of the GOP caucus just don’t like or trust Mr. Cantor. It comes with the job.
So, too, does palace intrigue. For those interested in a GOP blood-letting from days gone by, here’s a recounting of the effort to send then-Speaker Newt Gingrich packing.
Gingrich was eventually tossed to the curb — owing in part to the public revelation of his extra marital affair, which until then had been an open secret on the Hill. We should recall that Newt’s would-be replacement, Bob Livingston, was also chased from the temple when news of his affair went public.
Ah, the times they had…
Update: The Plot Thickens
From the National Journal:
“It’s an issue of trust. If you want to have a majority that is governing, and a majority that is following the leader, the rest of us need to be in a position where we trust our leadership,” Labrador said this week, adding, “When you have politicians actually playing tricks on their own party, and their own members of Congress, I think that erodes the trust the American people have in the rest of us.”
“I can’t think of a time where I felt my trust had been more violated since I’ve been here—and that’s pretty stiff competition,” Mulvaney added.
Cantor’s allies say the whole episode has been overblown. But there’s no question that it has stirred fresh disillusionment within the rank and file. And it’s not just the tea-party members up in arms. One House Republican who is friendly with Cantor, and hardly viewed as a troublemaker, predicted, “If there’s another vote like [that], Eric won’t be speaker. Ever.”
This backlash has emboldened some of leadership’s conservative critics. Now, they say, they might try to force Boehner out and also demand that Cantor bring on a conservative deputy before agreeing to vote for him as speaker.
“Eric would make that deal in a heartbeat,” said a Republican lawmaker who supports Cantor but opposes Boehner.
Something to keep an eye on…
