TW: The curmudgeonly Dana Milbank frames a real issue for the Republicans especially in the Senate. Despite some of their tired, old lions retiring or gettting pushed out (e.g. Stevens, Warner, Domenieci etc.), their leadership remains stale and backward oriented.
From Milbank at WaPo:
"House Republicans are holding leadership elections at this hour in a grand Ways and Means Committee room in the Longworth House Office Building. But at the rate they've been going, the GOP will be able to hold their caucus meetings in a phone booth.
...as...Republicans filed into the Senate Republicans' lunch meeting yesterday afternoon, it looked like a Team of Losers: George Allen. Elizabeth Dole. Larry Craig. Ted Stevens. John McCain. Dick Cheney. Even Bob Dole..."I'm going to tell 'em how to win," said the '96 Republican presidential nominee. And his advice? "Everybody says they need some candidates," Dole said. "I'm here to throw my hat in the ring." That was a joke. We think.
Actually, congressional Republicans seem inclined to reward the leaders who led them to this month's electoral debacles. Yesterday, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, whip Jon Kyl and caucus chairman Lamar Alexander were reelected to their leadership positions by acclamation. It's much the same on the House side today, where minority leader John Boehner is expected to defeat with ease a challenge by California's Dan Lundgren. Virginia's Eric Cantor, who had been chief deputy whip, will be promoted tominority whip because Roy Blunt vacated that position.
Cantor this week delivered a strong rebuke of his own party. "Where we have really fallen down is we have lacked the ability to be relevant to people's lives," he told the Washington Times.
How to increase House Republicans' relevancy after their 20-seat loss?
Simple: Reelect and promote their leaders."
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