Paul Ryan seems to find power and stature without truly seeking it. In 2012, Mitt Romney chose Ryan as his presidential running-mate to help energize the Republican Party’s base who were drawn to Ryan’s fiscal conservative ideas. In 2015, House of Representatives Republicans turned to Ryan as a compromise candidate for Speaker after the Tea Party wing revolted against the establishment leadership. Ryan’s name is once again being floated, this time as a to bail out a Republican Party faced with the possibility of Donald Trump as its standard-bearer. Ryan has publicly said he is not interested in being drafted by a contested convention as a presidential nominee. But can the highest-elected Republican resist taking a shot at being the highest elected American?
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Paul Ryan: Quietly Aiming for the Presidency?
GOP Chaos: The New Normal?
Turmoil in the Republican Party erupted again this week with the sudden withdrawal of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to replace outgoing House Speaker John Boehner, who has barely concealed his exhaustion over the dramas of governing the unruly caucus. House Republicans quickly regrouped to try to fill the gap, but it appears few are willing to step up to the plate. The optics look bad – but not to Tea Party conservatives, who may feel emboldened in their mission to shake up business as usual in Washington.
The Blackmail Caucus, a.k.a. the Republican Party
The Boehner era has been one in which Republicans have accepted no responsibility for helping to govern the country, in which they have opposed anything and everything the president proposes.