I just couldn't resist, sorry:
Boehner defeated fellow Republican Rep. Roy Blunt (news, bio, voting record) of Missouri, 122-109, after lagging behind his rival in a first, inconclusive vote of GOP House members. The third contender — John Shadegg of Arizona — withdrew after finishing last in the initial round.
Blunt, who had been the front-runner, remains the GOP whip. "Believe me, the world goes on," he said.
"We have a great leadership team," Blunt said. "We're going to work to make the Congress better, more importantly we're going to work to make the country better, and I look forward to working with John Boehner as majority leader to make that happen."
Boehner campaigned as a candidate of reform, and said his experience as chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee had demonstrated his ability to pass major legislation.
While the GOP will surely try to play this as an achievement for reform and new direction within the House caucus, Boehner's fellow Ohioans aren't so sure:
Boehner depicts himself as a reformer despite his recent $5,000 donation to DeLay's legal defense fund. Boehner has also worked extensively with lobbyists to marshal support for legislation and continues to raise money from them, while calling for the end of the Republican Party's "K Street Project" that boosts GOP ties with lobbyists. Blunt's wife and other family members are lobbyists. Shadegg has fewer ties with the lobbying community.
...
Yet a list of supporters that Boehner circulated conspicuously excluded the scandal-tainted [Ohio GOP Rep Bob] Ney.
Boehner spokesman Don Seymour said his boss "would be proud" to have Ney's vote, but didn't ask Ney to take a public stance because he "hasn't wanted to add any further pressure on top of what he's already going through."
Yeah, they were really prioritizing Ney's best interests on that one. :rolleyes:
Meet the new boss!
--TJ
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