is that what happens here? is he really the only viable option? joining us now is john stanton, d.c. bureau chief for buzzfeed news and somebody i can confidently say is not going to be the 21st person on the list for the speaker s job. john, great to see you. god, i hope i m never on that list. you never know who s going to get tap pd at this point. do you think we actually need a bigger chart? we ve got 20 names so far. do we need room for more? there s 240 members of the conference, right? take out the three that don t want it, ryan and boehner and mccarthy and probably all of them will be there. probably master blaster from thunderdome will come out of retirement to try to get in at some point, too. there is reporting tonight that mitt romney has joined the effort to try to press gang paul ryan into taking the job even though he doesn t want it for obvious reasons. all this effort around paul ryan, is it folly, not just because he ll keep saying no, is it folly, because he
and no one does, at the same time. these are the 20 republicans whose names have been floated publicly thus far as the possible next republican speaker of the house. 20! if you read all the beltway press, listen to the pundits and a lot of republican members of congress, you already know that only one of these people is being talked about as a potentially viable choice. only one of these people is being discussed as somebody who could actually get the votes to get the job if they expressed interest in the job. that person, of course, is paul ryan. the beltway all day today and many members of congress keep saying today, he s the only one. congressman jason chaffetz told reporters today, even though he s in the running himself, he would get out of the race if paul ryan got in. congressman darryl issa has also said the same thing, he would be in the running himself, but if paul ryan runs, he won t run against paul ryan. darryl issa called paul ryan the consensus candidate, he s the guy f
good to be here. god, i hope i m never on that list. you never know who s going to get tapped at this point. do you think we actually need a bigger chart? we ve got 20 names so far. do we need room for more? there s 240 members of the conference, right? take out the three that don t want it, ryan and boehner and mccarthy and probably all of them will be there. probably master blaster from thunderdome will come out of retirement to try to get in at some point, too. there is reporting tonight that mitt romney has joined the effort to try to press gang paul ryan into taking the job even though he doesn t want it for all the obvious reasons. all this effort around paul ryan, is it folly, not just because he ll keep saying no, is it folly, because he could just be hardlined in the same way that john boehner and kevin mccarthy were. his stance on immigration, his stance on taxes, cutting a budget deal with patty murray who is a very progressive democrat, these are things that have
on that. paul ryan himself doesn t agree that he should not be speaker. he s said he does not want the job. and honestly, the same republican hardline forces that took down john boehner as speaker and apparently blocked kevin mccarthy from trying to become speaker. those same elements in the modern insurrectionist republican party, well, elements of that part of the party said that darrell issa is wrong. there is no consensus around paul ryan. they d block him, too. the former editor in chief of red state erick erickson today called paul ryan a dangerous pick for conservatives. a conservative website called breitbart says, paul ryan is the absolute worst choice for speaker. hardliner congressman thomas massey told cnn today that he would not support paul ryan for speaker. hardliner and occasionally hilarious texas governor louis
congressman darryl issa has also said the same thing, he would be in the running himself, but if paul ryan runs, he won t run against paul ryan. darryl issa called paul ryan the consensus candidate, he s the guy for the job. he says everyone agrees on that, except everyone doesn t agree on that. paul ryan himself doesn t agree that he should with speaker. he s said he does not want the job. and honestly, the same republican hardline forces that took down john boehner as speaker and apparently blocked kevin mccarthy from trying to become speaker. those same elements in the modern insurrectionist republican party, those parts are coming out and saying they don t like paul ryan either! they d block him, too. the former editor in chief of red state erick erickson today called paul ryan a dangerous pick for conservatives. a conservative website called breitbart says, paul ryan is the absolute worst pick for speaker.