House GOP protest takes on ‘Groundhog Day’ feel

No questions were asked at the conclusion of Friday’s House Republican press event.

There simply wasn't anything more to ask.

The press conference was the tenth held in front of the Will Rogers statue just off the House floor, where Republicans have gathered every day since the lower chamber adjourned and GOP members remained to protest.

{mosads}For the better part of two straight weeks, a loyal, tag-team group of House Republicans have, day after day, marched out to the microphones set up in front of Will Rogers to call for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to bring Congress back into session to let the House vote on the GOP energy plan.

At first, with President Bush in China and the Russia-Georgia conflict not yet underway, the news-starved Washington media showered House Republicans with a lot of attention. But that quickly changed as the press events took on the feel of the 1993 movie, "Groundhog Day."

Still, Republicans did their best to keep things interesting, whether intentionally or not.

Members read letters from their constituents, presented gas receipts, invited special guests — including former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and former representative-turned-energy lobbyist Robert Walker (R-Pa.) — and used props such as tire gauges and gas cans.

And when members of Congress talk for a long time on one topic, there are going to be a lot of metaphors — and even a few references to barn animals.

“We want to bring out the pro-American energy people,” Rep. Virginia Fox (R-N.C.) said. “We are going to soon, we hope, separate the sheep from the goats here. Are you pro-American energy? Are you anti-American energy?”

Republicans tirelessly hammered home the point that they were making history.

“At this point, I am here to take a stand with my colleagues. And in some sense, you might say this is now the Alamo, and we are here at the Alamo to make a last stand for the American people,” declared Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) on Friday.
Despite the fact that with each passing day the audience of staff and tourists thinned, members kept returning to Congress. A total of 112 House members took a time out from their vacations to deliver speeches on the House floor. But one of them, Rep. David Davis (R-Tenn.), may have been better off spending every day of his August break campaigning. Davis, who participated in the energy protest, narrowly lost his GOP primary and officially conceded the race on Friday.

Republicans didn’t flinch when Pelosi, clearly feeling political pressure, indicated on “Larry King Live” earlier this week that she’d be open to letting the House vote on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf.

Not good enough, Republicans said.

“If Speaker Pelosi is truly sincere about having a vote on deep-ocean oil and gas drilling to help bring down fuel costs, she should use her power as Speaker to call Congress back into session immediately and schedule a vote on the American Energy Act,” Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) responded.

Falling gas prices also did not throw the GOP off course, with one member claiming credit for the price drop at the pump.

“I think the market is responding to the fact that we are here talking,” said Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) at one of last weeks’ press conferences. “I think the market realizes this kind of pressure from Congress may, in fact, lead to a change in policy.”

There have been some unusual and politically awkward moments over the last two weeks.

Take, for example, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), who in front of a group of tourists, praised Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) for blowing the whistle on the House bank scandal in the 1990s.

“He was one of the courageous seven [members] who said, ‘You may ruin my career, but this is not right,’” Gohmert explained to the audience, who gave Doolittle a standing ovation.

In 2007, Doolittle's Virginia home was raided by the FBI, which is investigating his ties to ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Following that raid, Doolittle announced he would not run for reelection.

On the Monday after the Olympics started, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) tried to keep the House GOP public relations blitz timely.

“We’re here in the Olympic spirit,” Price said. "The athletes demand excellence of themselves. The American people deserve excellence from their government.”

And then, Price — like many of his colleagues before him — strode to the House floor.

There will be no change in the schedule next week, when House Republicans will get up, go to the House, and talk about gas prices.