Hillary Clinton and her fellow Democrats must be feeling that way as they cherish the spectacle of Speaker John Boehner’s abrupt resignation, the latest course in a long feast of Republican cannibalism.
If – and it is an “if” – there is a bloody battle between the GOP right and far-right to succeed Boehner, the circus Donald Trump brought to the Republican presidential primaries will have another wild ring in Congress. Even if Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California wins the speaker’s gavel without great bloodshed and infection, the Republicans will have a greater challenge convincing voters next November that they are not a party in disarray.
The hard truth, right now, is that in Congress, the Republicans are a party in disarray.
The Speaker has been fighting off a tea party type insurrection all year. And his is not the first scalp. Eric Cantor, Boehner’s top lieutenant and likely successor, lost his seat to an unknown archconservative last year. It is unlikely that anyone who would appease the party’s far right can actually get the votes of the rest of the caucus. Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012, has already said he doesn’t want the job.
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