Paul Ryan hasn’t been Whitewater’s congressman since the last gerrymandering. We’ve faraway septuagenarian multi-millionaire James Sensenbrenner now.
Ryan, however, has been more powerful than Sensenbrenner ever could be. Janesville’s Ryan has held greater political power than anyone in our town, to be sure, ever has or ever will.
And yet, and yet, Ryan’s done.
If Trumpism’s stain has finished Ryan – and it has – a similar political fate awaits those many other officials, near or far, allied with Trumpism.
People choose freely: sometimes well, sometimes poorly. Ryan chose poorly, and brought this on himself.
Ryan’s not the first, and he won’t be the last, to wither before one’s eyes. Neither power, nor entitlement, nor pride sustained Ryan. They won’t sustain anyone else, either.
So, what happens now in the 1st?
The “mentionings” are starting, with Robin Vos and Reince Priebus getting early attention. Semi-some-dudes Tyler August and Dave Craig, as well as dudettes Samantha Kerkman and Amy Loudenbeck are also being “talked about”.
Priebus is a heavyweight, but irretrievably tied to Trump, which isn’t a happy place, these days. The “Popcorn King”, Vos, has a high profile, but seems to be loathed by anyone who gets near him. He has an organization, though, which is more than the others have. The rest are field-fillers. The field could well dilute the republican vote enough for Nehlen to sneak in thru the back-door. In any account, should it happen, it will be fun to watch Nehlen and Vos duke it out. Both have “assertive” personalities. I’m not sure that Reince could go toe-to-toe with either of them.
Nationally, it will get ugly soon, too. McCarthy and Scalise are jockeying for the speaker position. Scalise has street cred, having joined Ronald Reagan in the exclusive Some-crazy-asshole-with-a-pistol-damn-near-killed-me, but-I-still-think-everyone-should-have-as-many-as-they-can-afford club. McCarthy is more likely than Scalise, but maybe Meadows will make a run up the inside rail.
It could well be that they invite Newt back, as nobody wants a job that involves refereeing an oil-wrestling match between Trump and the Tea Baggers. I think to odds are that nobody from the R-team will be speaker next session, so it is all likely moot.
The filing deadline is June 1, so we should know the field in the 1st soon enough. It would not surprise me to see the Wisco-Kid deposed as speaker before the election. The Republican party is completely feral at this point, so anything could happen.
It’s all very interesting. What does Robin Vos want? He wants to be governor, but does he have a good shot after Walker? Whether Walker wins or loses this November, there will be other WISGOP candidates lining up for that role. Vos might be better off running for Congress. Walker does have fans, so to speak, but it’s hard to imagine anyone dying for a Gov. Vos. A federal salary might be a good option for him.
Everyone who is an option on the GOP side, every last one – is damaged goods or a second-rater. Here’s a story (“Who is in and who is out for Wisconsin’s first district race”) from the right-leaning Gazette that floats Bryan Steil of the UW System Board of Regents as an option.
We’ve now reached the everybody-and-his-brother level of WISGOP presumption of who’s a good candidate.
If Vos runs, I’d say he gets the nomination, although he’s no one to write hime about.
Yes on McCarthy for Speaker of the House, and that’s good for Democrats: he’s not that sharp.
Key point for WI-01 – the WISGOP has no farm team at all.