Rob ryan
Posted on January 7th, 2009Craddick allies urging support of Straus - with Craddick’s blessing
House Judiciary Commitee Chairman Will Hartnett, R-Dallas, is urging all of the remaining Craddick allies who are not publicly supporting Joe Straus for speaker - so far he’s got nearly 40 Republicans, about half of the House GOP - to get on board.
“If for no other reason, than to circle our wagons against the imminent Democratic onslaught which will seek to elect a Democratic speaker in 2011,” he says in an email to colleagues who have been been mourning the loss of Craddick and the end of the very short-lived candidacy of John Smithee.
A lot of them have said they didn’t like the Straus candidacy because it was bouyed by Democrats - a common accusation was that they “chose” him - and there were rumblings among them that they didn’t want to work with him.
Personally, I find it amusing that they can claim to have a right to the speakership with no support from Democrats in a chamber in which they barely - barely - have the majority. Welcome to Wonderland, honorable ones. You want a united House? Try governing one in which one less than half of had no say in who the speaker was.
Oh, wait. That already happened.
There are also people Leo Berman who were blatantly calling former Craddick Republicans liars and thugs, “there is no honor among them” (way to bring people to your side, Mr. Chairman), giving the impression that they would never come around.
They were, demonstrably, upset and heartbroken. That’s understandable. They got their hats handed to them and they were not, initially, part of the decision. By all accounts - not just mine, but ALL accounts - they could have been a part of the decision had they come up with an alternative to the ABC pick before last week. They did not. Game over.
Hartnett, after meeting with Craddick and Smithee, sent an email to those House members saying that he wants them to vote with Straus and start fresh, give him a chance to succeed, a “honeymoon” period if you will. I’ll include the email below, after praying fervently that I get to see some of the responses.
Several of our colleagues received solicitations from Straus lieutenants yesterday, and asked me if I thought it was OK to join with Straus. I told them I thought that they should join. Today I visited with Smithee and Craddick about this, and they concurred. The new political reality is upon us, and we cannot ignore it.Last night I received a solicitation as well. At this point, I feel that we should support Straus, if for no other reason than to circle our wagons against the imminent Democratic onslaught which will seek to elect a Democratic speaker in 2011. The Republicans should allow Straus a “honeymoon,” because he will need it to get ready to fight off Part Two of Dunnam’s strategy. I expect to announce my support for Straus tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be happy to discuss this with you if you like. Best, Will
I appreciate Will for passing this along. I also find it mildly annoying that people are asking him if it’s ok to join with Straus. Come on, people. You’re all adults. If you don’t want to join, don’t join. If you do, go for it. What’s the big dang deal?
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It’s official. Jennifer Aniston trumped Brad Pitt at the box office over Christmas. 
