Despite an Ominous New Poll, Speaker Boehner Isn’t Going Anywhere

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CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Obama insisted on giving away the store to the Castros. Nylons for Nothing.

JOHN FUND: Why Mario Cuomo was the Elizabeth Warren of the 80s. R.I.P. Mario Cuomo.

MONA CHAREN: Jonathan Gruber's thesis that abortion had led to a crime drop is cold and almost certainly false. The Abortion Distortion.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Obama once ridiculed cheap energy, which is now saving him from himself. The Ironies of Oil.

SLIDESHOW: Movie Preview: American Sniper.

Morning Jolt
. . . with Jim Geraghty

January 02, 2015

Despite an Ominous New Poll, Speaker Boehner Isn't Going Anywhere

House Speaker John Boehner is not particularly popular with Republican voters.

We now know just how unenthusiastic Republicans feel from a new poll conducted by Pat Caddell and EMC Research, commissioned by the People's Poll, in an exclusive to the Morning Jolt/Campaign Spot.

Nine percent of self-identified Republicans and self-described independents who say they lean closer to Republicans say they feel "strongly favorable" about Boehner, and another 34 percent say "somewhat favorable." Another 23 percent say they're "somewhat unfavorable," and another 11 percent say "strongly unfavorable." An entire 11 percent say they've never heard of John Boehner.

Asked, "If it were up to you, would you elect John Boehner to continue as Speaker of the House or would you elect someone new?", 11 percent of respondents said "definitely" Boehner, 15 percent said "probably," 26 percent said "probably" someone new, and 34 percent said someone new, "definitely."

When asked whether they agree with the statement, "I trust House Speaker John Boehner to fight for the issues that are important to most Republicans," 52 percent agreed, 37 percent disagreed. Only 13 percent strongly agreed, 18 percent strongly disagreed.

When asked whether they agree with the statement, "Speaker Boehner has been ineffective in opposing President Obama's agenda," 64 percent agreed, 24 percent disagreed. An entire 29 percent strongly agreed, only 9 percent strongly disagreed.

When asked whether they agree with the statement, "House Speaker John Boehner has the best interests of the American public at heart, rather than special interests," 44 percent agreed, 43 percent disagreed. Only 9 percent strongly agreed, and 20 percent strongly disagreed.

Those aren't awful numbers, but they're not exactly warm, either.

Particularly after the Steve Scalese headache -- is it conceivable the congressman apologized for attending a meeting he didn't actually attend? -- some folks on the Right are saying this recent brouhaha is the straw that breaks the camel's back, and that Boehner has to go. For example, Sean Hannity is calling for Boehner to be replaced with Trey Gowdy.

First, basic question: Does Trey Gowdy want to be speaker? The official word is "no."

But the conservative South Carolina Republican says he has no interest in becoming Speaker when lawmakers cast their vote on the House floor next month.

"Rep. Gowdy has said his time and attention will continue to be devoted to the work assigned to him," said Gowdy's spokeswoman, Amanda Duvall. "He is not interested in any leadership positions and believes one can have influence without the title."

This past spring, Boehner (R-Ohio) appointed Gowdy as chairman of the special House committee investigating the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya. And Boehner recently said Gowdy would remain in that high-profile post in the 114th Congress as well.

This hasn't stopped the "Elect Trey Gowdy Speaker of the House" Facebook page from getting 21,000 likes and widespread use of the #SpeakerGowdy hashtag.

You can't beat something with nothing. Replacing Boehner requires a rival that a majority of House Republicans will support -- and while it's understandable that other Republicans might want to hide their ambitions, eventually you need a figure to make this more than a theory or a dream. At this point the "rebellion" against Boehner consists of 16 to 18 guys out of 247 House Republicans.

So it's cute when Representative Thomas Massie, Kentucky Republican, tweets out this . . .

. . . but it doesn't mean much until there's an alternative named something besides "Not Boehner."

An odd little revelation about John Boehner from a New York Times profile of actor Tony Danza:

Then there was that earlier meal at Patsy's when he and Mr. Farah ran into House Speaker John A. Boehner and his family.

When Mr. Boehner learned that it was Mr. Danza's birthday, Mr. Farah recalled, "He turns to his family and he goes, 'Family, what do we do on someone's birthday?'

"Mid-meal, they put their things down and sang their own birthday song. It's like a fight song.

What's In and What's Out in 2015

Some of my better predictions from a year ago:

OUT: Chris Christie buzz.
IN: Scott Walker buzz.

OUT: Everybody fighting everybody through proxies in Syria.
IN: Everybody fighting everybody through proxies throughout the Middle East.

OUT: "Florida Governor Rick Scott has no chance at reelection."
IN: "Florida Governor Rick Scott's giant pile of money has a solid chance at reelection."

OUT: Liberals' hopes of gun-control passage being stymied by the voters of Colorado.
IN: Liberals' hopes of electing Wendy Davis being stymied by the voters of Texas.

OUT: Fighting about the nomination of Chuck Hagel.
IN: Going months without noticing or remembering that Chuck Hagel is currently the Secretary of Defense.

OUT: Everyone getting their 15 minutes of fame.
IN: Everyone getting their 15 minutes of infamy.

Strangely, all of my bad predictions were mysteriously deleted after Lois Lerner walked by and emitted an electromagnetic pulse.

The 2015 Morning Jolt In and Out List:

OUT: Furious accusations of racism in Staten Island's policing.
IN: Furious accusations of racism in Staten Island's Congressional race.

OUT: Turning your back to Mayor de Blasio.
IN: Avoiding eye contact with Mayor de Blasio from across a room, hoping he doesn't come over to talk to you.

OUT: Central American children walking across the U.S.-Mexican border.
IN: Central American infants crawling across the U.S.-Mexican border.

OUT: Mentioning obscure GOP Lawmakers as potential presidential candidates.
IN: Forgetting the second-tier-and-below candidates "exploring a presidential campaign."

OUT: Lena Dunham's autobiography on the nonfiction bestseller list.
IN: Lena Dunham's autobiography restocked in the fiction section.

OUT: Conservatives fuming that John Roberts betrayed them in his big Obamacare decision.
IN: Liberals fuming that John Roberts betrayed them in his big Obamacare decision.

OUT: Barack Obama insisting that he's making the right decisions, but that he and his team just aren't communicating them effectively.
IN: Hillary Clinton insisting that she's making the right decisions, but that she and her team just aren't communicating them effectively.

OUT: The Weed Agency.
IN: [Coming Soon]

An Atlas that's Generating More than Shrugs

Oh, come on, Harper Collins.

Since January, publishing giant HarperCollins has been selling an atlas it says was "developed specifically for schools in the Middle East." It trumpets the work as providing students an "in-depth coverage of the region and its issues." Its stated goals include helping kids understand the "relationship between the social and physical environment, the region's challenges [and] its socio-economic development."

Nice goals. But there's one problem: Israel is missing.

There's Syria. There's Jordan. There's Gaza. But no mention of Israel. The story was first reported by a Catholic publication, the Tablet.

On Wednesday, HarperCollins was backtracking fast. "HarperCollins regrets the omission of the name Israel from their Collins Middle East Atlas," HarperCollins UK said on its Facebook page. "This product has now been removed from sale in all territories and all remaining stock will be pulped. HarperCollins sincerely apologizes for this omission and for any offense it caused."

Makes one wonder kind of maps they're selling in Russia, China, or any other corner of the globe with territorial disputes.

ADDENDA: By the time you read this, I will probably have already appeared on Fox & Friends, talking about the craziest and most outlandish new laws going into effect in 2014. Among them: New York's ban on taking pictures of lions, tigers, and other big cats (the "Tiger Selfie" ban); New York's ban on throwing out electronic equipment in the regular trash; Seattle's ban on throwing "food waste" into the trash; California's and Tennessee's new law permitting felons with records of good behavior to get "certificates of employability" signed by a judge. I'll believe that's a good idea when the judges start hiring those felons themselves.

Check out who owns the URL www.SeanHannity.com. This is a hard lesson -- always purchase the URL of your own name if it's available!

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