MANUEL BALCE CENETA Associated Press House minority whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., right, who quit the post Thursday, speaks with Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., last month.

Capitol and California - National Political News
Comments (0) | | Print

House GOP's No. 2 steps down

Published: Friday, Nov. 7, 2008 - 12:00 am | Page 12A

WASHINGTON – Rep. Roy Blunt, the House of Representatives' second-ranking Republican, stepped down from his leadership post Thursday as the House GOP moved quickly to reposition itself as more conservative, unified and eager to fight Democrats.

The Missouri congressman's resignation came a day after Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., the House's third-ranking Republican, quit his leadership job. Likely to replace them are two combative favorites of die-hard conservatives: Virginia's Rep. Eric Cantor, expected to replace Blunt, and Indiana's Rep. Mike Pence, who would take Putnam's place.

Ohio Rep. John Boehner is expected to remain as the House minority leader, in charge of a Republican caucus that could lose as many as 26 seats – eight races remain undecided – in the 111th Congress.

House minorities usually have two roles. Their legislative task is difficult, because House rules make it difficult for them to offer alternatives without the majority's cooperation. The other is political, to provide a unified, consistent message in opposition to the majority.

"The leadership changes won't mean a lot in getting legislation passed," said Michael Tanner, senior fellow at Washington's Cato Institute, a libertarian research center, "but if they have a single, coherent message it could hurt (Barack) Obama's efforts to build consensus."

On the Senate side, Democrats added another seat Thursday when they squeaked out a victory in Oregon, leaving only three contests undecided: in Alaska, where votes remain to be counted; Minnesota, where there will be a recount; and Georgia, where there probably will be a runoff.

Sen. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican who's been in Congress since the 1960s, was leading in his bid for an eighth term, but with felony convictions for corruption hanging over his head. He's ahead of Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by more than 3,000 votes, but 55,000 remain to be counted.

Out of nearly 3 million votes cast for the Senate in Minnesota, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman has a 438-vote lead over Democrat Al Franken, a former "Saturday Night Live" cast member.

Three percentage points separate the candidates in the Georgia race, where votes are still being counted. Neither Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss nor Democrat Jim Martin has received enough to meet the state-required minimum of 50 percent plus one to be declared the winner.

The state is expected to hold the runoff Dec. 2.

Meanwhile, Sen. Joe Lieberman's affiliation with Democrats was in question after a meeting Thursday with Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is angry over the Connecticut independent's high-profile campaigning for John McCain.

Although Reid said no decision had been made about Lieberman's future, he said Lieberman's "comments and actions have raised serious concerns among many in our caucus." Several Democrats have suggested stripping Lieberman of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, as well as two smaller Senate panels.


Call David Lightman, McClatchy Washington Bureau, (202) 383-6101. David Goldstein of the Bee Washington Bureau and the New York Times contributed to this report.


About Comments

Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.

• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.

• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.

• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.

• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.

• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.

• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.

• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.


Sacramento Bee Job listing powered by Careerbuilder.com

Quick Job Search
Buy
Used Cars
Dealer and private-party ads
Make:

Model:

Price Range:
to
Search within:
miles of ZIP

Advanced Search | 1982 & Older