In short, Dave caved. Again.
Few things are more satisfying in politics than watching a guy change his position with little more than a blog post. After Bearing Drift took Flip Flop Dave to task for flipping (again) on his position opposing Paul Ryan in favor of Dan Webster — Brat stayed on his knees… and just turned in the other direction.
Of course, it might be a tad too much to claim that Bearing Drift alone forced Brat to stand by his rhetoric. Former campaign manager and architect of the upset, Zach Werrell, was the one who beat the drums accordingly:
The Freedom Caucus is the last line of defense in the fight for liberty and justice for all Americans. The Freedom Caucus owes its very existence, in no small part, to the voters of the 7th District of Virginia and to our representative, Dave Brat. The Freedom Caucus will set the stage for its eventual dissolution and become just another bump in the road toward the oligarchy we are becoming if you vote for Paul Ryan.The betrayal will be irreversible.An alternative path to pursue, should the inevitable crowning of Paul Ryan occur, it is imperative, for the protection of your incumbency, that each and every member of the Freedom Caucus perform your due diligence and personally hold Mr. Ryan accountable for any and all actions he may take as Speaker of the House.
Short version? Vote wrong, and get Cantor’d.
…so of course Dave Brat cracked. Of course Dave Brat flipped. Of course there were a handful of us snickering that this is precisely what Dave Brat would do, even after he had assured perhaps two dozen legislators that he would not. Such is Dave Brat’s character in the face of criticism, you know precisely how he will behave — nothing short of masterful.
Frankly, it was the wrong vote. Ryan is an outstanding conservative handed the Augean Stables as a reward for public service. As of right now, the populist fringe saw 2/3 of the House Freedom Caucus walk on what was by all accounts a critical vote to show strength — meaning there are only nine “true believers” in the U.S. House.
Here’s the awesome part. If Brat truly voted “no” on the floor just to spite Bearing Drift? Well… we all knew he would vote “no” against Ryan for the show vote. Brat didn’t have to make the mistake of opposing Speaker Ryan.
…but he did, and Brat broke his word when he did it.
In any event, I now owe and am owed steak dinners: one by someone who said Brat would crack, the other by someone who said Brat would keep his word.
Win. Win.
UPDATE – FROM BRIAN SCHOENEMAN
Brat continues to pretend that Daniel Webster supports his ten principles, with no proof.
Not only did Brat vote for Daniel Webster – when Webster refused to allow his name to be placed into nomination and did not vote for himself – he put out a press release afterwards repeating his claim that “[b]efore Congressman Ryan announced his consideration for the position, I made a promise to my constituents to only vote for a Speaker candidate who was willing to commit, on paper, to the ten Republican consensus principles I laid out. Unfortunately, I never received that confirmation from Congressman Ryan, preventing me from being able to support him.”
Where’s the commitment on paper from Daniel Webster that he would agree to Brat’s ten principles? If he can’t produce that – and he hasn’t yet, despite being asked for it by me prior to this morning’s vote – this is more evidence that Brat cares more about the thirty or so loud-mouthed activists he talks to than the other 600,000+ constituents in the 7th District.
Given that Webster is already on record as supporting a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, something Brat and the other nativists have called “amnesty,” it’s hard for anyone to take Brat’s claim that Webster agreed with his ten commitments (no amnesty is #3) and earned his vote the way Brat promised his constituents.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see how Brat justifies voting for a Speaker candidate who supports amnesty against one who doesn’t.
