The American Spectator

br> — Steve Smith br> Chattanooga, Tennessee /p> p> If there is one act of Bush and the Republicans that has utterly demoralized their conservative political base, it is the concerted effort to give citizenship to illegal aliens. If there is one item that Pence is infamous for, it is his illegal immigrant plan that is in fact an amnesty: cross the border, queue up at a jobs center, and return with a guaranteed path to citizenship. For all Hastert’s failings, at least he led the battle to kill amnesty. Assuming Republicans are ever in a position to appoint a Speaker, Pence will be the man to permanently cripple the Party. br> — David Sisk /p>

Mr. Klein is undoubtedly right about the GOP in the House of Representatives needing new leadership. I think that it is a certainty that the leadership ought to come from the members of the Republican Study Committee.

As for Mr. Pence, has he learned his lesson about the immigration issue? Since that is one of my top three issues, I would want to know that he has given up on that silly amnesty plan that he was putting forward. Yes, it was an amnesty plan, no matter what you misnamed it. I would want to know that he fully understands that complete border control (or as complete as humanly possible) was in place, implemented, and actually working, before ANY program of any kind that granted citizenship to someone that was here already was passed into law. We should NOT start out by granting “a path to citizenship” to people that are criminals by virtue of breaking any of our laws, including being here illegally. I would trust Cong. Pence on any other issue.

I do think that it makes a difference whether you are talking about electing a Speaker of the House, or a Majority/Minority Leader of the Republicans. The two jobs, and therefore the requirements, are quite different. In my mind, that is why Newt was a fine Minority Leader, but not a good Speaker of the House. The Speaker must be absolutely iron willed and iron fisted, while seeming non-partisan and completely reasonable, a creature of the House that knows the rules and workings inside and out and unafraid to apply them against anyone on either side of the aisle equally and consistently, and yet someone the appears to be constantly seeking negotiated consensus between all parties, in both Houses and at the White House. Note, I only say that he or she must “appear” or “seem” to be so nice and reasonable. The Speaker must always be ready and able to visit the wrath of God upon a Congressperson that strays beyond the bounds, but it must only be done face to face, behind closed doors, with no witnesses and no paper trail.

Majority/Minority Leader, on the other hand, is a partisan post, and would be ideal, it would seem, for someone of Cong. Pence’s credentials.

p>At any rate, I think that Mr. Klein is on the right track in prescribing new leadership in the House for the GOP. The current team has shown that they leave something to be desired in both partisan activities and in governing. br> — Ken Shreve