The Post observes, “A win by McCarthy, in just his fourth term, would complete a remarkable transformation for the affable Californian, who just a year ago was dogged by criticism that he wasn’t tough enough to persuade recalcitrant GOP lawmakers to vote with the leadership on critically important issues. He also faced questions about whether his policy chops were substantive enough for the job.”

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Publications like Weekly Standard cheered Cantor’s demise, ignoring that Cantor was among the supporters of the reform conservative agenda it and other conservative voices have rallied behind. It will be hard to generate support for reform conservatives if their demise is instantly celebrated by the agenda’s purported supporters. Loyalty counts for something in politics.

Meanwhile, conservative contenders for the majority leader spot dropped out one by one, leaving McCarthy as the last man standing. Now hopes for a tough conservative policy wonk focus on the whip position. Putting a rising star in that slot is something I suppose, but whips are first and foremost vote counters and operatives. Whoever gets the job is unlikely to drive the agenda. Moreover, we’ve seen this week that putting an ambitious conservative in a leadership spot may be injurious to his political future.

Radio talk show hosts and tea party activists (whether actual grass-roots players or Beltway opportunists) aren’t very good at thinking a step ahead, as we saw in the shutdown folly. Here they dumped Cantor, a strong conservative, only to get a muddled GOP nominee for the Virginia 7th congressional district who is unable to answer some basic policy questions and a weak majority leader to replace Cantor.

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