FreedomTalks

The Washington Times editorial page asked the three Republican candidates for House majority leader to submit a series of floor votes that distinguished each of the candidates from the other two. The result are interesting, informative, and here.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports increasing calls for the three candidates to appear together to present their cases for their candidacies:

WASHINGTON — As the House Republican leader’s race goes into its final week, Majority Whip Roy Blunt faces growing pressure to appear with his two rivals before the caucus and answer questions on where he wants to take the party after the spate of recent scandals.

Mr. Blunt is widely seen as the frontrunner for the post vacated by Texas Rep. Tom DeLay. But the Missourian also has seemed insecure, refusing to give up his whip’s position and avoiding any joint television appearances where he can be questioned with the two other candidates, Reps. John Boehner of Ohio and John Shadegg of Arizona.

The latest episode surrounds a closed-door party meeting Wednesday, before the Feb. 2 leadership vote. Aides to Rep. Deborah Pryce (R., Ohio), who chairs the House Republican Conference, had discussed a proposed format that allowed each candidate to speak for two minutes, after which there would be 10 minutes for questions.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Blunt said that he would “be more than willing absolutely” to agree to a question-and-answer session “if that’s what Ms. Pryce decided.” But behind the scenes, Republicans said there was resistance from the Blunt camp, which felt caught by surprise by the suggested format. And in a letter announcing the meeting, Ms. Pryce doesn’t mention questions, writing only that “Any potential candidate will be given an opportunity to speak briefly to the Conference.”

Sean Spicer, communications director for the Conference, dismissed inquiries about the matter, saying ideas were floated by staff but were of no consequence if not in Ms. Pryce’s letter. But he was among those who had promoted the 10-minute Q&A format within Ms. Pryce’s operation, and spokesmen for both Reps. Boehner and Shadegg said they hoped it would be restored.

The absence of more open debate is striking given the context of the leadership contest. Mr. DeLay agreed to vacate the leadership post after being indicted in Texas in October on alleged campaign finance violations and then watching his ally, Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, plead guilty to three felonies in federal court this month. Heading into November’s elections, the contest is particularly important, and both Reps. Boehner and Blunt have an eye to positioning themselves to become speaker after Speaker Dennis Hastert (R., Ill.) steps down in 2008.

“This race is very different” Mr. Shadegg said. “The conference is under a magnifying glass as a result of the climate we’re in and I think a lot of people are looking at what we do.”

Mr. Blunt claims he has already more than the 116 votes needed to win, but only about 92 of his supporters have been willing to make their names public. Meanwhile, Reps. Boehner and Shadegg are fighting to get past one another into a second ballot face-off with the frontrunner.

“We’re working very hard to get to the second ballot and we think our numbers are very close,” Mr. Shadegg said. Rep. Ray LaHood (R., Ill.), a Boehner backer predicts the Ohio lawmaker, who chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee, will survive and then pick up enough of the Shadegg camp to prevail over Mr. Blunt. “I think it would be decided by five votes or fewer,” he said.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 27th, 2006 at 12:38 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.