I hope you are right, but I don't think members that weren't brave enough to vote against Strauss are going to be brave enough to call him out on it, especially if it is more subtle than just booting them off of committees. Thinks like their bills never moving past a certain stage, funds going to opponents in primaries, etc.The Annoyed Man wrote:I hope that, it being a record vote, they'll actually be less dead than otherwise. It will be painfully obvious even to non-members if Strauss punishes them, and he'll likely be called to account and get exactly the same reaction as Boehner got when he tried to punish House republicans who voted against his speakership. He had to walk back some of his initial responses, in no small part because there was so much publicity surrounding his opposition.mojo84 wrote:Joe will remember it. I feel sorry for the 19 walking dead members now. I respect them no less though.
Scott Turner did not mount his campaign from a position of obscurity, and so Strauss cannot retaliate against him or his supporters from the safe haven of obscurity. He'll have to do it out in the open, and if he tries, he'll get called out on it. Not only will he get called out on it by other members, but he might well not be reelected Speaker in 2016 if he runs.
I suspect there were more than 19 people opposed to Strauss, but not yet enough that the undercurrent of opposition had developed enough buzz for them to be fairly certain of winning if they voted against him. If Strauss ever gets voted down, it will be a cascade effect; one moment he will look strong, on paper at least, and then suddenly the vote will seemingly massively turn. That point comes when enough people in the opposition become aware of enough other people in the opposition that are willing to act.