As much as I appreciate Joe Conason’s plug the other day, there is one person I disagree strongly with him over and that is Jim Leach. In 1998 Leach brought down Gingrich by refusing to vote for him as Speaker. This would mean that Leach and some of his allies would abstain or vote for Bob Michels. In doing so, they would have thrown the plurality to Dick Gephardt.
Is there a Jim Leach amongst the Senate Republicans? You’d think Chafee would refuse to vote for Lott or Nickles. Does he have a backbone? Probably not, he is a bit of a flake. What about Susan Collins? Hagel? Lugar? Warner? Snowe?
I guess I still think Lott has a shot unless someone pulls a Leach. As I have mentioned before the Senate is a chummy place and taking out a leader is pretty tough.