Expected fireworks fizzle, ranks close around Boehner

Anticipated fireworks did not materialize at a House Republican meeting on Tuesday, a clear sign that House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) holds a firm grip on his leadership post.

Despite recent criticism and electoral setbacks, House GOP members said there are no plans to oust the affable Ohioan.

{mosads}Policy Chairman Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) said Boehner’s ability to include members and allow them to speak their minds is what makes him a strong and able leader.

“That gives him his strength,” McCotter said. “It’s not a dictatorial strength, which is what people were used to from [former Majority Leader] Tom DeLay [R-Texas] and [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi [D-Calif.] now.”

“He’s been deposed before,” McCotter said, referring to when House GOP members dumped Boehner from his leadership post after losing five seats in the 1998 elections.

“In every organization there are going to be some grumblings when things don’t go well,” said Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio). “I have 110 percent confidence in him.”

“There is no sign, no evidence” that members want to remove Boehner, Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said.

Asked whether members still had confidence in Boehner’s leadership ability, Hensarling responded, “The short answer is yes. There are a lot of things going on in the universe that are bad for Republicans, many that are beyond the control of [National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom] Cole [Okla.] and Boehner.”

He added, “We can lament, we can finger-point, we can engage in insurrection or we can come and rally around leadership and our principles as Republicans.”

“He’s not going anywhere,” another Republican member said.

Behind closed doors on Tuesday, conference members were “harsh” toward Boehner and the House GOP agenda, but stopped short of calling for leadership changes, according to a source in the room.

Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) triggered loud applause when he said Republicans need, and have been lacking, strong leadership, according to the source. Shadegg mounted an unsuccessful bid for majority leader in early 2006 and lost his race against House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) after the 2006 elections.

Cole and Boehner have been criticized since losing three special elections over the last couple months, but both appear safe — for now. Should Democrats pick up a slew of seats in November, it is unlikely the two men will survive leadership challenges.

Members have expressed displeasure, both publicly and privately, with the GOP agenda, initially called “Change You Deserve” but changed to “Change America Deserves” after media reports surfaced that the initial slogan mirrored that of an antidepressant.

After Tuesday’s meeting, McCotter spoke frankly to The Hill about the policy agenda that GOP leaders began to roll out last week as well as the eight-point action plan proposed by the RSC.

The eccentric lawmaker also sent out a two-page memo from his political committee to members’ personal e-mails, detailing a set of principles to remind Republicans of the election atmosphere they are entering and how they can win.

“We’ve a tiger by the tail and he’s dumping on us. … House Republicans are a legislative minority tied to an unpopular, departing president during a ‘change’ election,” the memo stated. “Thus, we must stop feeding the kitty by waging a public ‘referendum’ on ourselves as Republicans; instead, we must wage and win a ‘choice’ election against Democrats.”

McCotter made the case that House Republicans need to have a bigger tent and not impose litmus tests.

“Remember,” McCotter wrote, “a self-obsessed quest for an illusory ideological purity will put our conservative purity philosophy into a permanent minority.”

He also called for more out-of-the-box strategies, such as proposing a theme of “Nancy Pelosi, the San Francisco Threat,” sung to the tune of the Rice-a-Roni jingle.

RSC members in particular have been critical that the House Republican agenda is not bold enough.

But while the policies are being touted as “change,” many are simple modifications to GOP materials handed out to members nearly a year ago.

In their August 2007 “Recess Resource Kit,” House Republicans were instructed to emphasize that “every American should have the freedom to secure quality, affordable healthcare coverage for themselves and their loved ones with Washington bureaucrats choosing their doctors for them.”

According to a May 12 memo from Republican leadership, the GOP healthcare plan will aim to provide “affordable, high-quality healthcare for every American by giving families greater choice and control, not through a massive expansion of government healthcare controlled by bureaucrats.”

On the economy, the memo says the core Republican message will be to foster “a strong economy by stopping the largest tax increase in American history, cutting wasteful Washington spending, balancing the budget by 2012, passing serious entitlement reform and strengthening our housing sector.”

The 2007 recess packet recommends making the GOP tax cuts permanent: “If Congress does not act in the next few years the result will be the largest increase in American history.”

A sample speech from the packet regarding entitlement reform includes the sentence, “No, these ideas are not new — tightening our belt, keeping our taxes low, reforming entitlements — but the time to act is now. “

One area that was drastically different was the issue of homeland security. While the 2008 plan declares that securing the borders, domestic crime and terrorists plotting new attacks are the largest threats facing the country — the 2007 packet is much more specific.

“Republicans learned the lessons of 9/11: We must prevent critical regions from destabilizing and becoming safe havens for radical jihadists as Afghanistan was left to the Taliban and al Qaeda,” the 2007 document stated.