Paul Ryan Is In For Speaker of the House?

Tonight Madison.com is saying: Ryan to seek speakership if House GOP unites behind him. It seems like nearly everyone who has been an ally of Rep. Ryan has suggested he stay out of this fight…but sometimes ambitions and egos get in the way of common sense. OTOH: I don’t really care if the GOP pulls itself together under the circumstances since I don’t see a Speaker Ryan being anymore willing to work with the Dems or the White House than Speaker Boehner or the Freedom Caucus.

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan told GOP lawmakers late Tuesday that he will run for speaker, but only if they embrace him by week’s end as their consensus candidate — an ambitious bid to impose unity on a disordered and divided House.

Dragged reluctantly into seeking a job he never wanted, Ryan spoke to the House GOP behind closed doors and said he will run only with the endorsement of the major caucuses in the House, including the hardline Freedom Caucus that chased out the current speaker and his No. 2.

“We as a conference should unify now,” Ryan told reporters later. “What I told members is if you can agree to these requests and if I can truly be a unifying figure, then I will gladly serve, and if I am not unifying, that is fine as well — I will be happy to stay where I am.”

The 45-year-old Ryan gave his colleagues until Friday to express their support. The question will be whether he can win over the Freedom Caucus, which drove Speaker John Boehner to announce his resignation by threatening a floor vote on his speakership, and scared Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy into abruptly withdrawing from the race to replace him.

That left Ryan, the GOP’s 2012 vice presidential nominee, as the only figure in the House with the national profile, stature and broad popularity to unite a caucus divided against itself, at a moment of deep turmoil. He had consistently said he does not want to be speaker and would prefer to stay on as chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, which he’s described as his dream job.

It would take a whole lot of convincing for me to give up my dream job for anything resembling the viper pit that is the GOP caucus in the house right now…I still think he’s not going to actually accept the position.

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4 thoughts on “Paul Ryan Is In For Speaker of the House?

  1. I’m guessing he wants the Freedom caucus to drop their opposition to the elite’s TPP. Might be the only issue they’re right on.

  2. The old pro,Boehner, couldn’t cope with the “Fanatic” Caucus so how will the younger Ryan do any better?

  3. I was always under the impression that he took the VP nomination in 2012 expecting to lose and using the experience as a trial run for an eventual presidential bid. Now, from a strategic standpoint, is the path to the white house an easier one if it runs through the Speaker of the House position or the WI governorship? Or something else?

    Assuming that he does in fact want to be president someday, I think it goes one of three ways:

    1. He becomes speaker and hangs out until a presidential opportunity that looks good to him presents itself. A lot of that will depend on how the 2016 election goes. Presidential run likely in 2024.

    2. He hangs tight for now and runs against Baldwin in 2018. Assuming he wins, runs for president in 2024. Riskier because now he is the junior senator and likely less powerful than he was in the house.

    3. He runs for governor. Seems the least likely to me since he will have to wait for Walker to lose or retire.

    Obviously I am just brainstorming/wildly speculating here, but based on what I just said I think he will take the job as speaker. I think all the grandstanding right now is just a method of conslidating power in the house.

  4. I was always under the impression that he took the VP nomination in 2012 expecting to lose and using the experience as a trial run for an eventual presidential bid. Now, from a strategic standpoint, is the path to the white house an easier one if it runs through the Speaker of the House position or the WI governorship? Or something else?

    Assuming that he does in fact want to be president someday, I think it goes one of three ways:

    1. He becomes speaker and hangs out until a presidential opportunity that looks good to him presents itself. A lot of that will depend on how the 2016 election goes. Presidential run likely in 2024.

    2. He hangs tight for now and runs against Baldwin in 2018. Assuming he wins, runs for president in 2024. Riskier because now he is the junior senator and likely less powerful than he was in the house.

    3. He runs for governor. Seems the least likely to me since he will have to wait for Walker to lose or retire.

    Obviously I am just brainstorming/wildly speculating here, but based on what I just said I think he will take the job as speaker. I think all the grandstanding right now is just a method of conslidating power in the house.

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