Thoughts on Ryan:
1. Ryan really took the hit for McConnell here. Ryan ticked off the base by presenting McConnell with stuff McConnell assured him could pass.
2. To attribute Ryan leaving to Trump rather than the impending blue wave is inaccurate.
1. Ryan really took the hit for McConnell here. Ryan ticked off the base by presenting McConnell with stuff McConnell assured him could pass.
2. To attribute Ryan leaving to Trump rather than the impending blue wave is inaccurate.
3. Ryan was never suited to this job. Speakership generally requires either a wily manipulator (Tip O’Neill) or a unifying legislative vision backed by the party (1994 Gingrich or 2006 Pelosi). Ryan was neither.
4. Ryan’s priorities were not supported by legislators. He was interested in solving big problems like entitlements. They weren’t.
5. Ryan sees himself as an idea guy. The speakership generally isn’t an idea position. He was pushed into it, and he never really wanted it.
5. Ryan sees himself as an idea guy. The speakership generally isn’t an idea position. He was pushed into it, and he never really wanted it.
6. Ryan does have young kids. Being a legislator in DC, and particularly speaker, sucks. He was likely to step down after the election anyway.
7. Ryan was likely to be minority leader by November, and leave with the party blaming him in order to avoid blaming Trump. Why bother?
7. Ryan was likely to be minority leader by November, and leave with the party blaming him in order to avoid blaming Trump. Why bother?
8. Republicans celebrating Ryan leaving as a win for Trump should consider that Trump only won the battle over attitude. Every major policy achievement with the exception of the Jerusalem move is largely attributable to Ryan (tax cuts) and McConnell (Gorsuch).
9. In other words, whomever replaces Ryan will likely not enact Trump’s agenda any better than Ryan did.
10. This bodes ill for November, obviously. If Dems won both houses of Congress, we’ll see if Trump continues to hew to the conservative line.
10. This bodes ill for November, obviously. If Dems won both houses of Congress, we’ll see if Trump continues to hew to the conservative line.
11. Democrats celebrating Ryan leaving should consider that he was one of the Republicans dedicated to discourse with Democrats. If political manner matters, they should be disappointed at least in that respect.
