That Washington Post piece I linked to earlier was great for Blunt. Many members think of him as the safe choice, and it would probably take some big shift in the dynamic to make members change their minds. So no news is good news for Blunt, and news about there being no news (in this case, no grass-roots ferment) is even better…The public vote counts of the two top candidates haven’t seen much movement this week, although Boehner’s has continued to tick up, even after Shadegg’s entry….Here’s Duncan Currie take over at the Weekly Standard (“Shadegg’s gaining steam, but it’s still Blunt’s race to lose”)…Ryan Lizza’s at The New Republic…and mine on the homepage.

UPDATE: John Fund in OpinionJournal’s Political Diary (sub required) says he thinks Blunt’s at 105 “solid or near-solid votes. Rep. John Boehner, chairman of the Education Committee, has about 90 votes, and Rep. John Shadegg, a prominent member of the House Republican Study Committee, has about 25 votes. Perhaps a dozen members remain truly undecided.” He argues “the most likely scenario is that the Shadegg candidacy will prevent either of the leading contenders from winning a majority on the first ballot. That would necessitate a Blunt-Boehner run-off. Given that Shadegg supporters are those members most upset with the current ideological direction of the House leadership, that should make Mr. Boehner the favorite in any one-on-one matchup.” For what it’s worth…