THE POLITICAL WORLD WOKE UP TO A BIT OF A SURPRISE,
JOHN BOEHNER, THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, ANNOUNCED THAT HE WOULD BE
RESIGNING HIS LEADERSHIP AND HIS SEAT IN CONGRESS IN JUST A FEW
SHORT WEEKS.
IT IS SURPRISING IN THAT WE WERE NOT GIVEN MUCH A
WARNING, AND THE TIME BETWEEN HIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND STEPPING
DOWN IS RELATIVELY SHORT,
HISTORICALLY.
AND YET, I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE COULD HAVE
PREDICTED THIS A LONG TIME AGO.
HE IS A MAN WHO HAS HAD A ROUGH
TIME, BOTH IN HIS DEALING WITH
THE LEFT, AND IT SEEMS LIKE HE IS BETTER AT DEALING WITH THEM
THAN THE RIGHT.
SO MANY CRITICISMS COMING FROM THE TEA
PARTY PORTION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
HE IS CONTINUALLY BEING PRESSURED
TO PUSH FOR MORE EXTREME LEGISLATION.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE SOME REACTION LATER FROM BOTH
THE LEFT AND THE RIGHT.
BUT WHAT ARE YOUR REACTIONS?
>> HIS BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THAT HE IS MERELY WRONG ON
EVERYTHING.
BUT HE IS NOT CRAZY.
THAT WILL NOT STAND.
HE COULD NOT CORRAL THE RIGHT WING OF HIS PARTY, AND THE RIGHT
WING CONTROLS HIS PARTY.
IT IS ONLY IN THE CONTEXT OF A
PARTY THAT HAS CEDED SO MUCH POWER TO THE TEA PARTY, THAT YOU
COULD EVEN SAY SOMETHING LIKE JOHN BOEHNER IS INTERESTED IN
GOVERNING.
HE IS NOT.
BUT SINCE HE RECOGNIZES THAT WE
SHOULDNíT SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT,
THE PRESIDENT IS A DEMOCRAT, SO WE MIGHT
HAVE TO MAKE A DEAL.
THEY ARE DESPERATE IN THEIR WANTS AND DESIRES, BUT
THEIR HATRED OF THE LEFT AND COMPLETE DISTRUST OF
MAINSTREAM REPUBLICANS UNITES THEM.
>> IT BREEDS THIS SPECIFIC DYSFUNCTIONALITY THAT WE SEE
TIME AND TIME AGAIN.
IN TERMS OF TIMING, IT WAS
INTERESTING BECAUSE IT WAS SPECULATED THAT HE WAS GOING TO
LEAVE AT THE END OF LAST YEAR.
BUT WITH ERIC CANTOR, AND THE
PROBLEMS HE HAD, HE HAD TO STAY.
THAT PUT HIM IN A LIMBO
POSITION.
DARE I SAY IT THAT HIS CROWNING MOMENT WAS MEETING
THE POPE YESTERDAY, NOW HE FEELS LIKE HE HAS DONE AS MUCH AS
HE POSSIBLY CAN.
>> WHICH IS ALMOST NOTHING.
>> THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN DOZENS OF BILLS PASSED OVER THE LAST YEAR.
>> HE'S A SUPER EMOTIONAL GUY.
I THINK ELLIOTT IS RIGHT, WE
DON'T KNOW, WE CAN NEVER SEE INTO HIS SOUL.
I IMAGINE, SINCE HE
WAS SO MOVED YESTERDAY, HE IS DEEPLY CATHOLIC.
HE WAS SO
MOVED BY MEETING THE POPE, HE MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT, CLEARLY I AM
FINISHED.
I WAS THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WHEN THE POPE CAME AND SPOKE, NOW EVERYTHING IN MY WORK LIFE
IS ABOUT TO BE HIDEOUS.
I'M DONE.
>> YES, AND BENJAMIN NETANYAHU A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO.
>> IN THE IDEA THAT IN A WEEK,
ANOTHER BIG BATTLE OVER POTENTIALLY SHUTTING DOWN
THE GOVERNMENT,
WHO WANTS TO DEAL WITH THAT?
>> I JUST READ ON MY PHONE BEFORE WE WENT ON AIR THAT THERE
IS A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF DUST GATHERING AT HIS FATHER'S BAR IN
CINCINNATI.
HOW MANY
STORIES HAS HE TOLD ABOUT SWEEPING UP?
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT HE
IS GOING TO GO BACK AND RUN THAT BAR.
HE IS NOT GOING BACK TO CINCINNATI, WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY?
>> WHAT EXTENT DO YOU THINK THE THE PLANNED
PARENTHOOD ñ
HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK THAT HAD A
BEARING ON THE TIMING?
AGAIN, YOU SPOKE ABOUT THE PRESSURES OF
THE RIGHT AND THE EXTREME TEA
PARTY, THIS HAS BECOME A WHIP.
>> I DON'T THINK HE WANTS TO BE THE SPEAKER AT THE POINT TO
WHICH THESE GUYS ARE WILLING TO SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT AGAIN.
HE HAS SEEN HOW THIS HAS WORKED OUT POLITICALLY, AND I THINK HE
SENSES THAT THIS IS A BAD IDEA.
I IMAGINE THAT HE DOES NOT LIKE
PLANNED PARENTHOOD, BUT ALSO HE IS CAPABLE OF READING POLLS,
WHICH SAY, THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF AMERICANS, SEVEN IN
TEN, THINK PLANNED PARENTHOOD
DOES GOOD THINGS.
NOT INTERESTED IN COMPLETELY CUTTING
OFF FUNDING, BUT ISN'T INTERESTED IN GETTING INTO A
FIGHT THAT HE KNOWS IS UNWINNABLE.
I THINK THE PLANNED
PARENTHOOD THING IS ONE OF THE LARGE ISSUES, AS WE GO FORWARD,
IN DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO SHUT
DOWN.
>> IT IS LIKE WAKING UP AS BILL MURRAY. 6/01 AGAIN.
YES, RIGHT
NOW THE SHUTDOWN IS ABOUT PLANNED PARENTHOOD, AND I AM
SURE IT IS TRULY IMPORTANT FOR SOME REPUBLICANS, BUT YOU COULD
INSERT SO MANY SUBJECTS THAT POTENTIAL SHUTDOWNS OR ACTUAL
SHUTDOWNS HAVE CONCERNED OVER
THE LAST SO MANY YEARS, I JUST DON'T THINK HE CARES ANYMORE.
I
DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WAS IN HIS HEART OR HIS MIND WHEN HE
CONSIDERED STEPPING DOWN, I
IMAGINE SOME TEARS WERE SHED, KNOWING JOHN BOEHNER.
THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE FROM HIM.
>> MY OH MY, WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY.
MORE THAN ANYTHING, MY
FIRST JOB AS A SPEAKER IS TO PROTECT THE INSTITUTION.
A LOT OF YOU NOW KNOW THAT MY PLAN WAS TO STEP DOWN AT THE END
OF LAST YEAR.
IT HAS BECOME CLEAR TO ME THAT THIS PROLONGED
LEADERSHIP TURMOIL WOULD DO IRREPARABLE HARM TO THE
INSTITUTION.
THIS MORNING I INFORMED MY COLLEAGUES THAT I
WOULD RESIGN FROM THE SPEAKERSHIP, AND RESIGN FROM
CONGRESS AT THE END OF OCTOBER.
THIS MORNING I WOKE UP, I SAID
MY PRAYERS, AS I ALWAYS DO, AND I DECIDED, TODAY IS THE DAY
I AM GOING TO DO THIS.
AS SIMPLE AS THAT.
>> THAT IS ALMOST CERTAINLY NOT TRUE.
>> YOU DON'T THINK IT OVER FOR A DAY OR TWO?
>> WHAT WE HAVE LEFT OUT IS WHETHER OR NOT THEY FINISHED
SOME SECRET COUNT, YOU KNOW, YESTERDAY, LAST NIGHT, OR
WHETHER IT IS JUST PLAINLY APPARENT TO HIM THAT HE MIGHT
LOSE.
MAYBE THAT IS NOT TRUE, I DON'T KNOW THAT, BUT I SUSPECT
THAT THERE WAS, AT THE BARE MINIMUM, IT WAS GOING TO BE A
BLOODY FIGHT TO WIN.
IT MAY BE AS SIMPLE AS, I DON'T HAVE THIS
IN ME, I'M NOT INTERESTED IN THIS.
MY HUNCH IS THAT HE MIGHT
HAVE LOST, AND NOBODY WANTS TO
GO OUT THAT WAY.
OR SOME COMBINATION.
MIGHT LOSE, THIS
IS GOING TO BE HELL, YOU DO IT.
AS IN, THAT'S NOT YOUR FIGHT.
>> WHO IS GOING TO STEP IN?
PAUL RYAN ALREADY INDICATED THAT HE HAS NO DESIRE FOR THE JOB.
WHO ELSE IS ON THE SHORT LIST?
>> I HAD TO REMEMBER THAT PAUL RYAN WAS STILL ñ HE HAS BEEN SO
NEGLIGIBLE FOR THE PAST YEAR.
HE HAS POPPED UP EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, AND THIS IS A GUY, HE
WAS A MAJOR PLAYER A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO.
>> HE WAS THE FACE OF THE YOUNG REPUBLICAN PARTY.
HE WAS INTO THE P90 X, HE WAS A SOCIAL MEDIA SAVVY GUY.
>> IT IS CRAZY THAT PAUL RYAN IS NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.
IF
YOU KNEW SEVENTEEN PEOPLE WERE RUNNING FOR THE REPUBLICAN
NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT, AND ONE OF THEM ISNíT THE YOUNG,
VIRILE, STRAPPING VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE FROM 2012,
THAT'S INSANE.
>> WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?
>> I THINK THERE ISN'T ROOM IN THE FIELD FOR TWO
HEAVYWEIGHTS FROM WISCONSIN.
>> NOW A SPOT HAS OPENED UP.
IT'S NOT EVEN IMPOSSIBLE THAT HE COULD RUN, WE ARE STILL
VERY EARLY.
>> HE IS NOT DOING ANY OF THE THINGS THAT SUGGESTS THAT
SOMEBODY IS RUNNING.
PAUL RYAN, WHO HAS THE REPUTATION AS THE
INTELLECTUAL WING, THIS TINY LITTLE WING OF THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY.
FIRST OF ALL, IT IS A PARTY THAT HATES INTELLECTUALS, THEY
HAVE MADE IT A BAD WORD.
IT JUST MEANS SMART.
>> WHICH IS SCARY.
>> BUT HE ALSO IS NOT.
>> I WOULD SAY COMPARATIVELY TO SOME.
>> I DON'T EVEN THINK COMPARATIVELY.
HE DOESN'T SAY CRAZY THINGS EVERY TIME HE GETS THROUGH A SENTENCE.
>> CAN I ASK YOU A QUESTION?
>> REAL QUICK.
KEVIN MCCARTHY IS THE MAJORITY LEADER.
THE NOTION THAT THE TEA PARTY IS
JUST GOING TO ACCEPT BOEHNER'S DEPUTY, WHO HAS RISEN
REALLY QUICKLY THROUGH THE RANKS, THAT THEY ARE GOING TO
ALLOW KEVIN MCCARTHY TO TAKE THIS POSITION WITHOUT A FIGHT IS
INSANE.
TOM PRICE OF GEORGIA.
THEN THERE ARE THE TEA PARTY MEMBERS, AND THEY ARE LED BY
ROLLO LABRADOR, AND MARK MEADOWS OF FLORIDA SAYS HE IS NOT GOING
TO RUN.
LABRADOR SEEMS LIKE THE
BEST BET OF THE TEA PARTY TO RUN.
THE TEA PARTY IS PLEDGING
THAT WHOEVER IS THE FAR RIGHT PICK, THEY WILL UNIFY
BEHIND HIM.
WHETHER THAT IS ENOUGH
TO BEAT KEVIN MCCARTHY, I DON'T KNOW.