The Next Speaker of the House is….Wait, Who???

     With the news that John Boehner will be resigning as Speaker of the House at the end of October, it will be a race to see who takes the gavel from him. While many are confident the next Speaker will be a  man, I am sure the Republican Party will voice their support for a woman to take the Speaker's gavel. Given the highly-charged issues of women's rights, attack on family values, and other rhetoric of the Republican Party, it will fall to someone that can go toe-to-toe with the candidate Republicans all hope will be the Democratic Nominee. Out of the twenty-two women within the Republican Party who serve in the House, I have narrowed my predictions to three women. They are all qualified based on their merit and tenure. Each candidate brings a unique perspective to the position and if elected by their peers, would able to take command once the gavel is in her hands. I will present them not only on longevity, but also on who is best qualified. The three women that are ready to take the Speaker's gavel are:

1)     Llena Ros-Lehtinen (Representative of Florida's 27th Congressional District)

        She has been in Congress since 1989 representing Florida as the first Cuban American elected, the first Latina elected. She has had prominent "rising stars" on her staff including the current Republican Presidential candidate Marco Rubio. She is already in a position of leadership within the House as the Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a vocal member within the following caucuses - Pro-Life Women's, International Conversation, Hispanic, and Taiwan. She is just enough of a proponent of LGBT individuals that wouldn't register with Republicans during a primary and would be able to carry women and hispanics during a general election. Her stances on pro-life women's issues and Planned Parenthood would guide the next Congress into ways to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood (even though no tax dollars fund abortions). She would be the resolute leader the Republicans are clearly lacking after the ongoing departure of Speaker Boehner - who couldn't control members of his own party including those aligned with the Tea Party Caucus.

2)     Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Representative of Washington's 5th Congressional District)

        She has been in Congress since 2005 and she hails from the state of Washington - a great state to retire to by the way…it's the New Hampshire of the West Coast.  She has given the State of the Union Response back in 2014 and many political pundits stated she did an amazing job and great response. She is the highest ranking woman serving as the House Republican Conference Chairwoman - which makes sense for her to be the next Speaker if the former mentioned Congresswoman declines the position. She is a member of  the Energy and Commerce committee which will play a big role regarding domestic issues in the 2016 election. She receives high praise from the Family Research Council, Gun Owners of America (as of 2014) and other Conservative groups throughout the nation. She is also a member of the Tea Party express of 2010 election cycle.

3)     Marsha Blackburn (Representative of Tennessee's 7th Congressional District)

        She is a well-known member of Congress within the Tea Party Caucus and those that identify as Tea Party members within the Republican Party. She is an avid opponent of Planned Parenthood, a staunch supporter of traditional marriage and doesn't support any politics that favor LGBT Americans. She has a favorable rating with all of the known conservative groups. If the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party does indeed want to overtake the party - Congressman Marsha Blackburn would be at the head of the line with the flag "Don't tread on me" waving and proclaiming strong conservative values that make Reagan look liberal. For the record, Marsha Blackburn is only one of a few female members of Congress that use the term "Congressman" to identify herself.

     Out of all of these members, the most logical choice would be Congresswoman Llena Ros-Lehtinen.  For the Tea Party Caucus to proclaim "victory" - without a naval warship - then Marsha Blackburn is the choice. For a new voice while bridging the gap between the establishment republicans and new age republicans, the choice would be Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

If the Republicans want to attempt to challenge Hillary Clinton (who is their only person running in a democratic primary apparently) in next year's election and have Republicans take the House, the Senate, and the White House, then the logical choice would be Congresswoman  Llena Ros-Lehtinen.


I guess time will tell. How interesting would a Latina Speaker of the House be if it came from the Republican Party. It would cover two political demographic bases and maybe secure the White House…unless those groups actually do research on the current Republican Party and then a Democrat will win since they have nothing to justify their stances on such issues.

2016 GOP Debate: Round 2 goes to Fiorina

 Everything about last night’s debate was interesting.  We finally saw the cracks beginning to form from inside the Trump egg since his fall off of the polls (thanks to the surge of Dr. Ben Carson). I just hope all the tea partiers and all the anti-government people can’t put Trump back together after last night’s dismal performance.

            On the other hand, how about Carly Fiorina’s performance? She did an amazing job and came to the debate well prepared - which I image is the same way she handled a meeting at HP. She not only went toe-to-toe with Trump, she also took on Christie for a few minutes. Fiorina is the new front-runner by the end of two weeks. While her message of getting right to work on the first day is ideal for a Republican (making calls to Israel & Iran and telling Iran where the United States stands), her business experience is not the best for her to cling to regarding qualifications. The main reason she ran Hewlett-Packard into the ground is because it was dealing with the powerhouses of Apple and Microsoft (at times). She will know what to do on day one, unlike Trump who will learn on the job, but it won’t be for the right reasons. I have much more to discuss about the debate from last night and I think the best way to discuss it is to focus on each candidate on the stage. Overall, I think by the end of  two weeks the polls will read as follow:

1) Fiorina 29%
2) Trump 23%

3) Carson 21%

4) Rubio 12%

5) Bush 5%

6) Kasich 4%

7) Paul 2%

8) Christie 1%

9) Cruz 1%

10) Huckabee 1%

11) Lindsey 1%

The next to drop out will probably be Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana – by Halloween.

Update: My first percentages equaled 196% - I have revised them (What can I say, I'm not a math major haha)