re: #154 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse

So Paul Ryan is officially in the House race for Speaker, and now that he has the apparent blessing of the Freedom Caucus, it seems likely the way is paved for his election to the third highest post in the country.

But he seems somewhat of an odd choice to me. He’s certainly had enough experience in the House and his public profile is pretty high given his place on the 2012 ticket, but my image of the Speaker role is that of someone more given to the nuts and bolts of crafting alliances, setting the legislative agenda, responding to the administration and current issues, handling the media, being the public relations man if you will for the Republican Party. That doesn’t really seem his deal. If you want to craft a budget and talk about entitlements, he’s probably your guy. But to be able to react to things, and to be out front every day, I don’t think he’ll be happy for long in that role.

No, but he’s the only Rep of stature acceptable to all the major Republican House factions, so he’s the one who gets the job.