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Thad McCotter of 11th Michigan explained last eve his candidacy for Republican House Policy Committee chair, the GOP leadership position given up voluntarily by John Shadegg in his run for leader.

The Republican House Policy Committee was the shadow government place back in the Dem majority days, pre-1994. Gingrich, Armey and crew used it to hammer out positions to use to hammer the flaccid Dems. Of recent times, the HRC has fallen into disrepair, trying to maintain too many positions that are just supportive of the majority offices.

Thad McCotter wants to transform the Policy Committee back into a think tank for the ideas needed in future to guide the GOP in House He says he wants a transformational entity, not a transactional. Thad talks like this. He's 40, from a purple district with lots of union legacies, and is smart, very smart, and very very conservative, though he does not line up with the Pence crew in the Republican Study Committee that Shadegg once ran.

I support McCotter for Policy Committee chair. He says he has 35 votes already, in second place to three rivals, and is working the phones. He laughed and said that people aren't calling back quickly, because they know what you want, and worry that any commitment at this point might complicate their maneuvers for the other candidates who are calling.

Also, McCotter was one of the first to sign the letter circulating among the GOP House that calls for all candidates to give up their present posts to run for new posts. This means Blunt runs not as whip but as a back bencher like everyone else.

Also, McCotter is a Boehner guy, and I smiled and told him I am supporting Shadegg.

McCotter and I did agree that the Blunt guys are playing what reminds of a Rose Garden strategy: Blunt is ducking all challenges to debate on the Sunday shows with Shadegg and Boehner (as of Friday night late). The best that can said for Team Blunt, with 85 votes committed on public record, is that a stumble over the finish line looks like a big win for the Rose Garden.