That was quick.
Last night’s leadership-fabricated Ryanmentum just hit the same immovable roadblock that John Boehner and Kevin McCarthy have been bumping against. Yesterday, they gambled that “recency bias” — the public’s tendency to judge only a person’s most recent performance based on the prevailing news cycle — could sweep Ryan into 218 votes and the speakership, and thus a retention of power for the insular, donor-class bubble of GOP leadership that is the choice of absolutely no one beyond themselves.
They — the same class of members, advisors, and donors that brought you Eric Cantor, John Boehner, Kevin McCarthy, and that directed legitimate conservative favorites Scott Walker and Rick Perry towards immediate failure — furiously worked the phones last night in an effort to develop a narrative that Paul Ryan, who had nothing but the recency bias of his not having been prominently involved with leadership lately, would get them to 218.
The press got this fed to them, they published it.
Like they didn’t remember they had unquestioningly been fooled with the same tactic regarding Kevin McCarthy not even since they ate breakfast.
Here’s Rep. John Fleming (R-LA), with the subtext that he knows what went on last night:
“I think that’s more media-driven. I think that’s you guys who keep talking about Paul Ryan,” he said. “Paul has made it clear he’s not interested.”
Today, Luis Gutierrez endorsed Paul Ryan for speaker on MSNBC because he believes Ryan is the perfect person with whom he has a chance to push his advocacy for amnesty and open borders. Why? Because Paul Ryan has previously been the perfect person with whom he can work with on amnesty and open borders.
Here’s Gutierrez on Ryan from 2012:
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said Wednesday that Paul Ryan had reached across the aisle to work with him on immigration reform and added that the Wisconsin Republican told him, “I want to do it because it’s the right thing.”
“I saw my good friend just coming off running for vice president of the United States, Congressman Ryan, we’re going to see each other next week. We’re talking. He says to me, ‘Luis, I want to do it because it’s the right thing. I don’t want to deal with it from a political point of view.’ I think that’s very, very encouraging,” Gutierrez said on MSNBC.
There is plenty more to this — I specifically mentioned Eric Cantor above. This is because House GOP leadership has employed Gutierrez in the past in whatever way appeared most conducive to their goals.
They used him as an across-the-aisle comrade on “comprehensive immigration reform” when speaking to an audience that wanted amnesty.
They used him as a prop to declare Eric Cantor to be “the number one enemy to comprehensive immigration reform” when speaking to an audience that wants a wall built.
Stung by the McCarthy failure, and knowing of the ease with which they could create a narrative that Paul Ryan was “gaining steam,” this same advisor class just tried to pull the same stunt.
Today, Paul Ryan is a man who can bridge the gap with the Freedom Caucus and get to 218. Yesterday, Paul Ryan was the guy who can lead the establishment donor class and the Chamber of Commerce towards their goal of amnesty and cheap labor.
He’s not getting to 218. And you aren’t remotely as naive as they still — still! — think you are.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member