Louie Gohmert’s insurgent bid to take the speaker’s gavel from John Boehner fizzled on Tuesday. Although 25 House Republican dissenters chose not to support Boehner, Gohmert only picked up three votes. Florida Congressman Ted Yoho managed just two votes. Florida Republican Daniel Webster pulled in a dozen votes from disgruntled Republicans.
Gohmert’s feeble challenge fell flat on its face, even with prominent Tea Party personalities like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin firmly in his corner. On Monday’s Hannity show Palin exclaimed, “I love Louie Gohmert…I love those Texas politicians who call it like they see it and are true conservatives. So I’d be rootin’ for Louie.”
The problem for Gohmert is that while his Tea Party base in East Texas, and the talking heads on FOX News, may find his antics appealing, members of Congress are not as amused. Not even the members within his own party.
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Boehner survived the largest intra-party revolt against a House speaker, during a leadership vote, in over 100 years. But Gohmert was not the chief beneficiary of the poorly cobbled together rebellion. Daniel Webster was. Gohmert mustered just three votes, and one of them was his own. Traditionally, Members of Congress do not cast a vote for themselves on leadership votes.
But Gohmert, true to form, always puts himself first. The Palin endorsement is probably what swung his opinion. Or maybe it was Glenn Beck’s endorsement that convinced Gohmert to cast a vote for himself. In either case, Louie Gohmert may be one of the few members of congress who still takes Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin seriously. He also may be just one of three members of Congress who takes Louie Gohmert seriously. In addition to himself, the only other votes for Gohmert came from fellow Texan Randy Weber, and Oklahoma Congressman Jim Bridenstine.
Despite a significant wave of anti-Boehner sentiment, most House Republicans backed the establishment candidate. For all his bombast, Gohmert couldn’t rally more than two people, besides himself, to cast a vote for him on the House floor. As for Sarah Palin, she once again backed a sure loser.
Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick’s successful re-election bid in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.
