Will Paul Ryan come to the rescue of the GOP?

By:

LeRoy Goldman, GUEST COLUMNIST

Asheville Citicen-Times

1-25-2016

When the President comes to Capitol Hill to deliver the State of the Union message to Congress and the American people, his arrival in the House chamber is announced by the House Sergeant at Arms who cries out for all to hear, “Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States”.

When that next occurs after the election this coming November, where will Paul Ryan be? Will he be seated in the Speaker’s chair on the rostrum, or will he be standing immediately behind Sergeant at Arms, Paul Irving? The answer to that question may not be as apparent as it seems.

Last Sept. 25, House Speaker John Boehner stunned Washington by announcing his resignation. By Oct. 8, the House Republican Caucus was set to vote on Boehner’s successor. It was widely assumed that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy had the inside track. But that day McCarthy abruptly dropped out. The vote was postponed. Chaos ensued.

Paul Ryan, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, had intended to give the nominating speech for McCarthy. When McCarthy threw in the towel, Ryan immediately issued a statement saying he was not interested in the job. He said, “I will not be a candidate.”

But on Sept. 20, only 12 days later, the mounting drumbeat for Ryan had grown to a crescendo, and Ryan said he would consider seeking the post if the Republican Caucus would unite behind him and accede to his conditions.

On Sept.29, the GOP Caucus elected Ryan Speaker of the House by a vote of 236-9. In his address to the House that day he said, “Let’s be frank: The House is broken. We are not solving problems. I am not interested in laying blame. We are wiping the slate clean. How reassuring it would be if we finally got our act together...if we actually fixed the tax code, put patients in charge of their health care, grew our economy, strengthened our military, lifted people out of poverty, and paid down the debt.”

Five weeks later Ryan in a speech at the Library of Congress laid out his detailed vision for a confident America at home and abroad. But before he plunged into the substance of his remarks he said, “This country has big problems. If we do not have a President who will work with us, we will not solve those problems.”

To chart a different course Ryan argues the GOP must not only win the White House in 2016, he believes that it must also win a mandate. And he argues that winning a mandate requires the GOP to offer ideas. And that requires them to actually have ideas. In other words, he rejects fully the notion that all the GOP need do is to oppose the Democrats. That won’t work.

Even more striking is the yawning chasm between Ryan’s concept of an inspirational and policy driven Republican agenda and the absence of such an agenda to restore America’s greatness offered by the GOP frontrunner, Donald Trump. Ryan has challenged his party to put up or shut up. Trump has told friend and foe alike to buzz off. They are operating in parallel universes. How much better would it be if they were in direct competition with one another.

However, a year ago Ryan took himself out of the 2016 presidential sweepstakes. He told NBC News, “I have decided that I am not going to run for President in 2016.”

Earlier this month, however, Ryan moderated a policy seminar in Columbia, South Carolina on poverty in America and how to better deal with it. It was sponsored by the Jack Kemp Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. Some of the Republicans running for President attended. Trump and Ted Cruz did not.

Sometimes events overwhelm intentions. And that is what may be happening now behind the scenes. It is increasingly clear that none of Trump’s opponents is able to lay a glove on him, let alone offer a forward-looking agenda that would result in the election of a Republican president next November.

Ryan surely knows that the agenda he is proposing cannot be implemented by or from the House of Representatives. Only a President with an electoral mandate can do that. Last fall a reluctant Ryan, when asked, rescued the House GOP. At the Republican Convention next summer, Paul Ryan may be asked to ride to a far bigger rescue. He’ll be there. He’s the convention chairman.

The Shadow Welcomes Comments

Please Contact Me at:  EmailMe