LF: Can Boehner keep Cantor in check?

Title: Can Boehner keep Cantor in check?
Source: POLITICO
URL Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45150.html
Published: Nov 15, 2010
Author: Jake Sherman and Richard E. Cohen
Post Date: 2010-11-15 18:57:45 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 2947
Comments: 1

Can Boehner keep Cantor in check?
By: Jake Sherman and Richard E. Cohen

November 15, 2010 04:34 PM EST

John Boehner avoided any serious bloodletting in leadership races, but it has come with a cost: He now is surrounded by Eric Cantor allies, creating a sense of tension that has troubled Republican leaders in the past.

Boehner faces the unenviable situation that his No. 2 has a very different style, interest and political network. And Cantor as majority leader will be backed up by two others just like him in the new GOP hierarchy — Kevin McCarthy of California in the whip job and Jeb Hensarling of Texas as conference chairman.

In the post-election high, Boehner has kept any simmering tensions with Cantor and his allies from bubbling up. But if you scratch beneath the surface, there are plenty of tension points that could cause problems for the new speaker.

Boehner, for example, declared openness in September to backing a middle-ground deal on the expiring tax cuts. After strong objections from Cantor and allies, Boehner quickly disavowed that approach and has since taken a harder line.

Cantor has voiced explicit interest in making a quick pivot to 2012 presidential politics. And, in contrast to Boehner’s deal-making interest, Cantor has voiced doubts about finding much middle ground with Obama.
The Virginia lawmaker’s more active networking with GOP colleagues since he became the No. 2 House GOP leader in 2008 also has reinforced a sense that he has his eye on the speaker’s gavel.

At its most basic level, the divide is summed up neatly: Cantor, McCarthy and Hensarling were all elected after 2000 and are significantly younger than Boehner, who was first elected to Congress in 1990.

Although Boehner has moved to establish his own comfortable relationships with McCarthy, Hensarling and other GOP leaders, Cantor appears to have created a team of rivals within the party’s top echelon. That is reminiscent not only of President Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet, as described in a book by Doris Kearns Goodwin, but more significantly repeats the serious problems that Newt Gingrich faced with his leadership team when he became speaker in 1995. Ultimately, those conflicts led to a bloody, but failed, coup attempt against Gingrich — with Majority Whip Tom DeLay who led the charge — and Gingrich’s demise as speaker following the GOP’s disappointing 1998 election.

An ally to Cantor, who requested anonymity to discuss frankly the inner workings of the conference, said Cantor “is not your average House leader. He wants to blaze his own trail, and not sit in a chair and wait his turn.”

That sort of ambition could have a serious impact on how Boehner leads his robust new majority while having to watch his right flank.

Tensions among House leaders have been standard fare in both parties, of course. In what her allies later conceded was a mistake, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) publicly backed the late Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha in his failed challenge to Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer for majority leader following the Democrats’ 2006 takeover of the House; that move poisoned the two leaders’ relationship, though they managed to overcome their differences as party leaders. With the current GOP tensions, by contrast, Boehner and Cantor have never had a direct showdown. And Boehner has carefully avoided a proxy leadership clash.

While no one is predicting a coup, Cantor has not been afraid to show his differences with Boehner — and other Republicans — over the past few months.

Cantor, along with McCarthy and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, penned the “Young Guns” book this year, offering fleeting mention of Boehner and bashing the GOP of old.

Cantor’s allies have signaled that over the next year, he will go to war for what he believes is right — including involving the 84-plus freshmen in more major decisions and placing them on choice committees.
As House Republicans move to the majority, Boehner and Cantor — and their respective teams — will be challenged to establish their own internal working relationships, plus their dealings with outsiders. In his “governing document” that he used to pitch his campaign for the majority leader position, Cantor aggressively defined how he viewed his prospective role: “I am results oriented, and I want to help lead [the GOP] effort and bring about these changes,” he wrote to his Republican colleagues.

Although he has been tireless in reaching out to newcomers during and since the campaign, Boehner gets the base of his power from older lawmakers who represent more of the Republican establishment. Cantor will derive much of his power from those freshmen who he campaigned for and donated money through the “Young Guns” program.

“That group has sort of provided us with the infrastructure you gotta have if you’re collaborating in any fashion,” said Mick Mulvaney, who defeated House Budget Committee chairman John Spratt (D-S.C.) in one of the most significant GOP wins of the cycle. Mulvaney said he connected with several of his classmates through the Young Guns website.

But Boehner has made efforts to co-opt Cantor allies with key assignments that have made them part of his own leadership network. In tapping McCarthy this year as head of the agenda-setting America Speaking Out, for example, Boehner gave him a wide berth in taking a high-profile position and using modern communications techniques for grass-roots outreach.

Boehner also has given Hensarling prominent assignments on budget and banking issues, including a seat on President Barack Obama’s deficit commission.

Hensarling — like McCarthy — also played a prominent role in this year’s campaign as a vice chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Hensarling was the chief fundraiser while McCarthy handled recruiting. They operated under the overall command of NRCC chairman Pete Sessions of Texas, a close Boehner ally.

Yet. Cantor has shrewdly built his own network of allies who reflect his more aggressive style. Like Cantor, McCarthy and Hensarling are comfortable with modern political messaging, and they have preempted opposition to their leadership bids. Each of them also served prominent Republican former members of Congress, including House Financial Services Committee chairman Tom Bliley of Virgnia, Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas of California and Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Phil Gramm of Texas.

Cantor allies shrug at the suggestion, but the Virginian is seen by many as ambitious. Bolstered by two close allies at the table, he’ll have chances to challenge Boehner on issues.

“He’s young and I think he’s going to stay in there,” Bliley said. “In time, he could very well be the speaker of the House.”

You want to see 'unenviable' look at the Democrats in the House. Smallest number of Dems since 1946...and stuck with an insane woman that led them to the single biggest election defeat in eight decades.

Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.