OPINION:
So far this month, Reps. Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise — three well-known Republicans — have all been rejected to fill the role of House speaker.
To avoid a long political battle that will drain these individuals of their credibility and ability to govern, it’s time that the GOP look outside the box for the perfect compromise candidate. As the saying goes, “Sometimes when you lose a battle, you find a new way to win the war.”
With this in mind, I’d like to submit former four-term Congressman Lee Zeldin of eastern New York as the next House speaker.
Mr. Zeldin showed immense guts in vacating his sure-thing House seat and taking on the Democratic machine of New York for governor in one of the bluest of blue states.
He put up a terrific fight, losing within the margin of error, but far more significantly, his coattails are credited with flipping three upstate districts from blue to red. That proved to be the winning margin for the GOP to retake the House.
Doesn’t that alone make him the rightful heir to the speakership?
Moreover, I hate to bring identity politics into this, but this might be a rare exception where it’s warranted. Mr. Zeldin, a war-on-terror veteran, happens to be Jewish and a fierce supporter of Israel.
Can anyone think of a more potent way for the U.S. to convey its alliance with Israel than nominating the first Jewish speaker of the House while Israel is under siege?
Lee Zeldin checks all the boxes as the perfect compromise candidate who would eliminate an embarrassing, protracted battle for the speakership.
It’s a position that, had Mr. Zeldin not campaigned for so vigorously in the 2022 New York gubernatorial race, the GOP wouldn’t now have.
LUANA DUNN
Medford, New York
Please read our comment policy before commenting.