Dan Lungren got the forum he requested on the Republican future,
but little else. John Boehner was easily re-elected House
Minority Leader by a shrinking Republican caucus. I haven't seen
or heard any numbers to compare to Mike Pence's unsuccessful
challenge in 2006, but Lungren's was little more than a protest
candidacy. There were some leadership changes -- Eric Cantor was
elected minority whip and, in the biggest concession to
conservatives, Pence was elected conference chairman -- but those
were basically preordained, as Roy Blunt and Adam Putnam stepped
down and Boehner endorsed their replacements. Among them, only
Pence opposed the Wall Street bailout.
Two things factored into this result: One is that Republicans
don't blame Boehner for their losses. To some extent, that is
understandable. President Bush's unpopularity, the Iraq war, and
the economic contraction aren't really to be laid at Boehner's
doorstep (other than his votes for the war and unpopular Bush
policies). Boehner has worked to address some conservative
concerns over the past two years, while keeping a fractious
caucus more or less together.
Yet there is very little in Boenher's recent record that suggests
he is someone who can lead Republicans out of the wilderness.
(Congressman Doc Hastings, a Washington Republican who made the
case for the incumbent minority leader, reminded younger
congressmen that Boehner had been part of the "Gang of Seven"
that exposed the House banking scandal back in the day.) His
legacy includes Medicare Part D, No Child Left Behind, the
bailout, and the election defeats of 2006 and 2008. David
Freddoso is right when he
says, "House Republicans look a lot like the football team
that fires all of its assistant coaches and keeps the head coach
after two consecutive losing seasons."
Unfortunately, Lungren offered very little in the way of a
contrast with Boehner on policy substance or in what he'd do
differently as leader. All he could say is that he wasn't
Boenhner and he was in Congress the last time Republicans got
tired of being in the minority and decided to do something about
it. Boehner supporters like Hastings were able to counter that
argument by pointing out that their man could say that too. And
while Boehner's conservative credentials don't match Lungren's
from the 1980s, they are pretty close right now.
The only rebuke to the current team in the leadership races so
far is that Tom Cole dropped out of the race for another term as
National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee chairman and
the GOP instead elected his challenger, Pete Sessions. But after
this election, that was a no-brainer. Massive retirements, bad
recruitment, and abysmal fundraising turned what could have been
manageable losses into another 2006-style debacle.
UPDATE/CORRECTION: Boehner backed Sessions' challenge. The
orginal version of this post misstated Boehner's preference in
this race. I regret the error.
UPDATE II: I've also heard from a few people objecting that
Boehner wasn't the leader when Medicare Part D passed. That's
true. But as I said in my column on the main site before the
leadership election, he did vote for it. And he has
defended it subsequently. So I do consider it part of his
legacy.
