It looks to me as though the Republican Study Committee is so far sticking to its strategy of keeping its powder dry to act as a power broker at the very end of the race (Kathryn has written about this too). From the outside–I’m not privy to Mike Pence’s thinking–this looks like a colossal strategic blunder. If a big bloc of RSC members endorse Shadegg now and he doesn’t make it to the second ballot (assuming there is one), they will still be able to act as power brokers between Blunt and Boehner. Also, to the extent that Shadegg is a strong candidate, it is more likely that the other candidates will feel compelled to pick up his, and the RSC’s, agenda. So the current strategy appears to make no sense.