A prominent Washington conservative: “The House has no leadership. They need someone who has a legitimate mandate from the conference. Roy Blunt was never elected as majority leader and that has undermined his leadership. DeLay is totally weakened. He admitted that to me a month ago. They ought to have an election and let the conference work its will.”
This conservative likes Rep. John Shadegg (Ariz.), who heads the Republican policy committee. Shadegg is a conservative who also has some appeal to moderates. But he hasn’t positioned himself well. Pence has eclipsed him as a leader of conservatives, but Pence probably won’t cut it as a candidate because he has very little appeal to moderates and will be thought too inexperienced.