One of the more amusing spectacles during this otherwise unamusing session of Congress has been the willingness of representatives Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer to launch campaigns for House majority whip. Pelosi and Hoyer are, if you hadn't noticed, Democrats, and thus their campaigns will be for naught unless the Democrats retake control of the House this November.
House Republicans have had a good chuckle over this, but don't tell that to John Boehner of Ohio. A former chairman of the House Republican conference, he's begun scheming to become the next . . . minority leader. That's right, Boehner apparently thinks a GOP loss of the House is likely enough to plan ahead, on the assumption that his colleagues, once in the minority, will want to replace their current leadership.
They may well want to do that, but Boehner won't necessarily be the beneficiary. His activities have, predictably, alienated a few of his fellow Republicans. They wonder why the master fund-raiser turned down a personal request by House speaker Denny Hastert to co-chair a campaign committee charged with helping the GOP preserve its House majority. There's also been grumbling over his failure to contribute more money from his sizable campaign treasury to the House GOP's campaign committee.
Somewhat unfairly, Boehner became the punching bag for House Republicans following the debacle in the 1998 midterm elections, and lost his slot in the leadership. If he's not careful, he won't be getting it back.