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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Freshman House Republicans Need Some Good Discernment

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  November 17th, 2010 at 06:22 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

This morning’s Politico has an article on the number of leadership posts that the incoming class of 2010 is demanding be set aside for freshmen. Two slots on the Elected Leadership Committee (ELC), which basically means they will sit at the leadership table and participate in the discussion, one class president (largely irrelevant), and importantly, two coveted slots on the Steering Committee which makes committee assignments and decides chairmanship races.

These two steering slots need to be filled with hard core conservatives who can be trusted to not just go along with whatever decision Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor make. And currently, the Appropriations Committee controls too much of the committee (Jerry Lewis, Hal Rogers, Ken Calvert, Steve LaTourette, Tom Cole, etc.), and this cannot be expanded.

Specifically, Politico mentions that Alan Nunnelee of Mississippi is interested in serving on the steering committee. This cannot happen. Nunnelee chaired the Appropriations Committee in the Mississippi State Senate, and looks to be the second coming of Thad Cochran. Once an old school appropriator, always an appropriator, and the burden is on Nunnelee to prove that he will be different at the federal level.

Politico does not mention Jeff Denham of California as being interested, but I could see this being the very type of position he would be interested in. Denham would be terrible on the committee, blending in as a conservative publicly and taking the leadership line privately. He was a real problem in the State Senate.

Others of concern for any of these positions: Bob Dold, Charlie Bass (heaven help us!), Steve Womack, and bank lobbying tax hiker Steve Stivers.

Who can be trusted on this most insider-of-insider committees? Tom Graves (he should be considered a freshman), Jeff Duncan, Justin Amash, Renee Ellmers, Tim Huelskamp, and Allen West for starters.

The class of 2010 are right to be operating as a block, but they need to be discerning within their ranks as to who is the real deal and not to vote for them just because they’re nice or articulate or good looking or funny or whatever other ridiculous consideration these popularity contests come down to.

Reform of the Steering Committee is Fundamental; each member should get one vote. But it also matters who the members are. The class of 2010 need to make their votes count.

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COMMENTS

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  • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

    Good fiscal conservative and was House Minority Whip here in Colorado.

  • http://www.buckforcolorado.com bjwilson83

    I supported him. I campaigned for him. I’m glad he’s in the House and being promoted into leadership. But as far as him being a rock ribbed conservative there are a few questions. He voted for the Excel energy tax increase, which Republicans rationalized as being ok because cap and trade would have forced them to do it sooner or later. (And now cap and trade is dead.) He used to be a Democrat, in fact I believe he was president of the CSU Democrats or something. Of course, he later became the legislative director for Wayne Allard, so no problem there. He won his primary because the conservative vote was split between a green tea party candidate and a rather timid CU regent. That said, I wish Cory all the best. But let’s not labor under any illusions here. So far he’s talked the conservative talk. Let’s hope he walks the conservative walk in House leadership.

  • rodney_robbins

    I wonder, when you guys come home after a days work, do your wives and children roll their eyes and mutter “aw crap, he’s home”, knowing your going to carp about how none of the republican politicians are far enough to the right? How far does the government need to go to the right to make you guys happy?

    Just an observation….

    Rod

  • philhoganjr

    history has sort of shown that the further the republican party (and the country) move to the right, the more prosperous we are as a nation (see reagan, ronald). or we can settle for middle of the road republicans like nixon, ford, bush 41 and bush 43. it’s just that simple.

  • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister
  • graciegirl

    DOING something instead of just yelling and throwing things at the TV is so healthy and so much more satisfying that our families are happier for it!

    Oh and we are trying to save America.

  • E Pluribus Unum

    At least a hair to the right of center.

    That would at least be an improvement.

  • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

    “From today’s conference – the Speaker’s gavel doesn’t belong to Nancy Pelosi or John Boehner. It belongs to the American people.”

    Yeah….I like this guy.

  • E Pluribus Unum

    I don’t know how many of the freshmen are absolutely new to elected office, but I think it’s quite a few. I don’t think being that new makes one automatically suitable here, but for those whose lives and personal track record verify them as people of strength, character, AND baseline conservatives, then they are suitable, even desirable for leadership things such as this. They don’t know any better than to do what their heart, character, and knowledge lead them to.

    Dan Menishek, (R,MI) is such a person.

  • Fla Mom
  • Scope

    I have faith that Dr. Dan won’t cave. That’s who he is, plain and simple.

  • Adjoran

    who used that line in his Senate race when asked how it felt to be running as a Republican for “Ted Kennedy’s seat” in the Senate.

    It hardly indicates anything but good taste in plagiarism. And a man who “tweets” . . . I worry he might run into Maxine Waters in the hallway and be scarred for life. Literally.

  • Adjoran

    Lifetime ACU rating of 98. NINETY-freakin’-EIGHT, and it’s not enough.

    Happy? Not until all the impure are purged, their names erased from the history books, and their undergarments burned to destroy any surviving DNA.

    Not a lot of compromising is in the wind here. Most would rather see Obama reelected than a less-than-100%-conservative nominee beat him. Just to teach the Republicans a lesson, send them a message.

  • Adjoran

    If I had a vote, I’d probably support Ellmers for the second slot.

    I’ve been hearing all sorts of conservative sounds out of Jerry Lewis lately, but it might just be a PR effort to keep the Chair of Appropriations. His record screams, “old school appropriator,” though. I don’t trust him, but there may not be the votes to stop him.

  • cam1

    back to the Constitution, back to the Republic, back to freedom, back to Capitalism, back to world leadership, back to small government, and we the people need to go back to God.

  • christinakfjeffrey

    Discernment is a good word and I agree with Erick the Red, the freshmen will have to take the word of their allies in the districts until their new colleagues have proven themselves.

    Trey is an old friend in this small town of Spartanburg and I supported him in the runoff against Bob Inglis. ButTrey’s resume is a lot like Cory’s above. He has a Democrat past, his strongest supporters in the primary were trial lawyers who went on to vote against Nikki Haley in favor of their own trial lawyer, and he just announced, “I am not Tea Party” in a newspaper interview.

    If he converts, he will make a great Southern gentleman politician – and I am hoping he converts. He comes from a conservative family.

  • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister
  • Aaron Gardner

    It’s some of the occupants you hate. And frankly, I agree. ;)

  • Oz

    It would be an obvious PR win to have an African-American on the steering committee and frankly, you can’t find a better conservative around.

  • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

    Quite frankly it makes it hard to remain motivated at times.

  • Aaron Gardner

    When that happens to me, I simply turn on my script that blocks all comments from being seen by me. ;)

  • http://www.buckforcolorado.com bjwilson83

    who did you support in the primary? Was he considered the conservative tea party guy then? I think Cory is a great representative. He really listens to the people and wants to serve them well. Right now, the people want fiscal responsibility, and he’ll definitely give it to us. That’s why I like him.

    But…

    He knows Washington. He was legislative director for Wayne Allard. He knows the ins and outs, the back halls of power. Do you think it’s a coincidence he’s being promoted in leadership so quickly? The House leadership looked at these people and said holy crap, these people are well intentioned but they don’t know the first thing about how Washington works. Cory, having also won a highly prized district back for Republicans, was the perfect choice to subtly introduce the freshman class to Washington without offending their outsider images. (BTW, I highly doubt that Cory actually won the lottery for the best choice of office today. I bet there was a wink and a nod involved.) Cory is a lot like Boehner. Conservative, yes, when the people demand it, but able to make deals when necessary. It’s why he’ll be very effective in leadership, and generally a good leader. It’s also why, if Tea Party fervor dies down in five years or so, he’ll change his agenda to reflect the desires of his constituents. In general, that’s how representative democracy is supposed to work. The onus is on us to hold him and other members accountable, and keep up the conservative movement.

  • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

    That was Dean Madere, a young businessman who decided one day he was going to run for office. He was never a factor in the race. I didn’t support anyone in the primary. The race was really between Cory and Diggs Brown. I really liked both, so ended up not taking sides. Diggs would’ve been great, but I think Cory will too.

    Cory’s legislative experience should serve him and his constituents well. I’m very happy he’s representing my district.

  • eastbaylarry

    Just as no human can be perfect, but it is up to each person to continually try to improve, we will never have a ‘perfect government’ since it must be made up of humans.

    None the less, we cannot rest on our laurals and go back to sleep. Perhaps, someday if the liberal/progressive/Marxist mindset is forever dead we can start to think ‘job well done’, but until that day we must continue to expose every flaw and work to improve our government.