Hear me out on this one, Save Jerseyans…
It’s clear that the Republican House caucus is adrift and nowhere close to settling on a speaker. Kevin McCarthy is out. Steve Scalise just dropped out, and Jim Jordan (who was edged out by his Louisiana colleague in caucus) doesn’t appear to have the votes either. There’s no clear favorite, and members appear miles away from adopting a new favorite. And by the way: who the hell would want the gavel at this point?
“We should just have a lottery. If you lose, you have to be speaker,” Georgia Congressman Mike Collins quipped on X.
PunchBowl News writer Jake Sherman struck a less humorous tone.
“The House Republican Conference is a mess. Complete and utter mess,” Sherman explained. “They are no closer to picking a speaker. They are a month away from a shutdown. Israel is asking for aid, which needs to pass in the next few weeks. They are completely lost. And have no idea how they will get out.”
In times like this, whether it’s a speakership election in D.C. or a papal conclave in Rome, the voting participants begin to get desperate – and creative – as they consider less immediately obvious choices for the top spot. One of those potential outside-the-box options is South Jersey’s Jeff Van Drew (R, NJ-02) who is reportedly very much playing an active part in discussions on Capitol Hill.
I’m serious. Van Drew recently expressed interest in a U.S. Senate run against Bob Menendez (or more likely his replacement on the 2024 ballot), but times make the man and not the other way around. His party might need him in the people’s chamber. Let’s briefly run through some good reasons why you shouldn’t be shocked if JVD’s name begins cropping up if this thing drags on for another week:
- He’s a strong Trump supporter, but he’s not a troll and far from mean-spirited. Van Drew is always willing to work with anyone who’s interested in engaging in good faith. The consummate “happy warrior.” It’s a reputation which makes him palatable to a relatively wide audience inside the party.
- He’s generally well-liked in the caucus. There isn’t a faction that hates him or instinctively distrusts him, a problem faced by most other more prominent candidates for the job who are having trouble competing for the requisite vote threshold.
- Van Drew has a good story to tell. A recent convert from the Democrat Party who’s won a majority-Democrat working class district (NJ-02) as both a Dem and now twice as a Republican. America looks a lot like his home district, and Van Drew wins there. Consistently. And he’s been doing it for a long time. That’s the sort of guy who might be well-suited to lead his party into a general election.
Both Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan like him and have fundraised for him inside the district. Van Drew ultimately endorsed Jordan for speaker but, when Scaliese prevailed, pragmatically declared for the caucus’s choice.- Van Drew is ideologically situated where the party happens to be at the moment. He’s a populist conservative, and he’s carved out a position for himself as a leader on major newsworthy issues including illegal immigration and offshore wind development.
- New Jersey is neutral territory. Some members may be cautious about giving too much authority to a red or battleground state representative. As the most conservative member of a state delegation where Republicans haven’t won electoral votes since the 1980s? Few would seem him as a threat to their personal agenda. He’s also 70 years old (12 years the senior of Kevin McCarthy). The party wouldn’t feel like it was electing a “king for life.”
- The GOP’s future is likely tied, at least in part, to the realignment of private sector trades unions to the larger Republican coalition. Van Drew is ahead of the game on this front.
- He’s a solid fundraiser and regular Fox News guest who would be able to carry the party’s messaging responsibilities (and find resources for his caucus candidates).
- Van Drew is a disciplined, detail-oriented hard worker. He’d have little trouble adjusting the rigorous demands of speakership.
- Most important of all? Van Drew is already an effective critic of the Biden Administration and wouldn’t flinch to take the fight to the White House over issues ranging from the border and national security to inflation and corruption. He’s already doing it on the Judiciary Committee.
