I have no idea how the Kevin McCarthy drama will play out, but apparently even his team doesn’t expect him to get there on the first ballot. Then, they hope to grind down the opposition over the course of repeated votes. Maybe this will work, but the usual dynamic of leadership races is that if the frontrunner falls short, he or she gets weaker — or collapses entirely — in subsequent votes. Also, it’s not clear why the opposition, if it is willing to block him on the first ballot, wouldn’t be just as willing to do so on the second, third, and so on.