NEWS AND OPINION:
GOP voters prefer outsider candidates in the White House race: The penchant for a presidential hopeful with “new ideas and a different approach has surged — with virtually all of the increase coming among Republican and Republican-leaning voters,” notes a Pew Research Center poll. “Today, by more than two to one (65 percent to 29 percent), Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters say it is more important that a candidate have new ideas than experience and a proven record. Just five months ago, GOP voters valued experience and a proven record over new ideas, 57 percent to 36 percent.”
They’re pretty content for the moment, too.
“Nearly six in ten Republican and Republican-leaning voters say they have an excellent or good impression of their party’s presidential candidates,” the research notes. Meanwhile, the old “hope and change” formula appears to have worn thin with Democrats: “Fifty percent say it is more important for a candidate to have experience and a proven record, while 42 percent view new ideas and a different approach as more important,” Pew says. More numbers in the Poll du Jour at column’s end.
MOORE-ISM
“To say that you have the right to regulate a woman’s uterus but not guns? I think the only safe place for guns would be in a woman’s uterus. I hope that came out right.”
— Filmmaker Michael Moore, describing the activities of Republicans in Congress to journalists assembled at the New York Film Festival screening “Where to Invade Next,” his latest documentary
KEVIN MCCARTHY: TOO NEW FOR THE JOB?
Republicans are knee-deep in drama as the identity of a new House speaker remains a mystery, with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy still the most likely choice in Thursday’s vote. But there’s some historic baggage — he’s not exactly the kind of senior lawmaker who usually gets the job.
“The 19 speakers elected since the turn of the 20th century averaged nearly 24 years of service in the chamber before their first day as speaker — nearly three times that of McCarthy,” says Eric Ostermeier, a political professor with the University of Minnesota who tracks trends of yore.
“When McCarthy was elected majority leader after Eric Cantor’s primary loss last June, he was the least tenured floor leader in the history of the House of Representatives by more than a year, at seven years, six months, and 29 days. And now McCarthy is the favorite to become the least tenured speaker since Georgia Democrat Charles Crisp in 1891,” Mr. Ostermeier reports.
When House Speaker John A. Boehner exits, Mr. McCarthy will have served eight years, nine months and 27 days in the chamber — 21 more days than Crisp when he took over for Maine Republican Thomas Reed after the GOP lost nearly 100 seats in the 1890 midterms. Things were different in the earlier era, however. The role of House speaker was not a weighty, larger-than-life identity that is has come to be.
“The 34 speakers elected in the 18th and 19th centuries had served an average of only seven years and two months prior to their first day as speaker,” Mr. Ostermeier points out. More recent counterparts sometimes waited decades.
“The speaker who had the longest wait before ascending to the chamber’s top leadership position was Massachusetts Democrat John McCormack. McCormack had served 33 years, two months and four days when he became speaker in January 1962 nearly two months after the death of Speaker Sam Rayburn of Texas during the 87th Congress,” the professor says.
NEWT GINGRICH RETURNS TO FOX
Just a quiet move, but not unnoticed: Newt Gingrich — who’s been suggested as an interim House speaker as the aforementioned wrangle continues — is back on Fox News as a contributor.
He ended his cordial relationship with the network four years ago while campaigning as a 2012 presidential candidate, then emerged on CNN the following year as a voice on the network’s revamped “Crossfire” talk show. The program was canceled about a year ago.
Mr. Gingrich’s first return gig over the weekend: “On the Record” with Greta Van Susteren. “Welcome back, Mr. Speaker!” she noted at her blog. But there are other noteworthy cameo roles afoot. The erudite Ms. Van Susteren made an appearance herself on ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos — as did fellow prime-time kingpin Bill O’Reilly.
WHAT THE MAYORS WANT
The nation’s mayors have their own wish list for presidential hopefuls on both sides of the aisle. During a national leadership meeting in Baltimore over the weekend, the U.S. Conference of Mayors debuted a “Compact for a Better America: A 2016 Call to Action,” focusing on issues such as infrastructure, workforce training, innovation, clean energy, public safety and health care. Metropolitan areas also drive the U.S. economy, the mayors say.
The group’s president, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, will be at the National Press Club on Wednesday to make the case clear.
“Mayors are uniquely positioned to influence the national dialogue, and we intend to hold Washington — and those who aspire to the White House — accountable to put the issues of urban America front and center,” she says.
PRO-LIFE AND STILL VIGILANT
Though the mainstream news media would like the investigations and undercover videos centered on Planned Parenthood to simply go away, some student activists think otherwise. On Monday, Students for Life of America, the nation’s largest pro-life youth organization, and FRC Action, the legislative affiliate of the Family Research Council, launch an outreach geared to the young, restless and influential. The weeklong Don’t Fund Planned Parenthood Bus Tour visits five major universities — home to “Planned Parenthood’s largest clientele,” the organizers say, who will bring along some visceral displays.
On the route: Clemson University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the University of Virginia, the University of Pittsburgh and Ohio State University.
“There is no better time to launch a bus tour that educates college students on Planned Parenthood and their horrific business practices of not only selling abortions but of harvesting the body parts of aborted babies and selling them for profit,” says Kristan Hawkins, president of the student group. “College-aged women make up a majority of all abortions, and we have found that when these students are made aware of the true nature of Planned Parenthood, they are rightly shocked and turn against Planned Parenthood.”
POLL DU JOUR
• 69 percent of all Republican voters are more likely to support a candidate who will end the nuclear agreement with Iran; 74 percent of conservative Republicans agree.
• 59 percent are more likely to support a candidate who will end federal funding for Planned Parenthood; 69 percent of conservative Republicans agree.
• 53 percent are more likely to support a candidate who will send ground troops to fight the Islamic State; 55 percent of conservative Republicans agree.
• 43 percent are more likely to support a candidate who will deport all immigrants in the U.S. illegally; 45 percent of conservative Republicans agree.
• 41 percent are more likely to support a candidate who will compromise with Democrats; 36 percent of conservative Republicans agree.
• 31 percent are more likely to support a candidate who will raise taxes on the wealthy; 27 percent of conservative Republicans agree.
Source: A Pew Research survey of 500 likely Republican voters who say they will vote in the primaries.
• Nervous chittering, mumbles to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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