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Politics

Colin Powell? Allen West? See Who Else Got Votes During House Speaker Election

Jan. 3, 2013 2:12pm Mytheos Holt

As we predicted earlier today, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) has won reelection to the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives. With only about 15 defectors from both parties, Boehner cruised to victory even as some members of Congress failed to vote, throwing a serious monkey wrench into earlier speculation that Boehner was on his way out. In fact, a previous lowball estimation of “at least 20″ members voting against Boehner itself proved to wildly over-optimistic about chances of unseating the Speaker.

That’s not to say that the few Republican defectors who did vote against Boehner didn’t make enlightening choices about who they’d like to see replace the leader. Below are the top five alternate Republican choices for Speaker, ranked by vote total and/or notability.

#5. Former Comptroller General David Walker – 1 vote

Speaker Boehners Critics Voted for Cantor, Jordan, West

David Walker (Photo Credit: AP)

#4. Colin Powell – 1 vote

Colin Powell (Photo Credit: AP)

#3. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Chairman of the Republican Study Committee

Jim Jordan (Photo Credit: AP)

#2. Former Rep. Allen West (R-FL) – 2 Votes

Allen West (Photo Credit: AP)

#1. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) – 3 Votes

Eric Cantor (Photo Credit: AP)

An interesting post-script should be noted: The only two voting members of the House of Representatives on this list (Cantor and Jordan) both voted for Boehner.

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Comments (66)

lylejk
Posted on January 4, 2013 at 1:46pm
There’s nothing in the Constitution or the rules that state that only a member of the House can be Speaker of the House. I wish, for once, Congress would elect a non House of Representatives as the Speaker. :)

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katzkiner
Posted on January 4, 2013 at 8:48am
“And now that the theatrics are over” says Boehner, “Let’s get back to.work dividing up the booty by tens, twenty, thirty millions$$$$$$$.. Aliobama and the 545 thieves.

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samsmama
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 6:27pm
I Adore Alan West. Wouldn’t give Powell a even a dirty look.

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- G-WHIZ
  Posted on January 4, 2013 at 11:32am
  And the Demmarats just LOVEIT when the Repubs divvide their own vote with a whole bunch of candidiates(few-votes-each) so they(D) ALWAYS WINN!! They LOVE-DAT BONHER(d?)R!! He shure helps the PROGS everytime he “wimps-out” 100% ofa the time!!
  
  Report this comment
AUsername
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 6:23pm
Justin Amash or Walter Jones would have been best for the people. Cantor would have been a slight improvement but Boehner is a complete Obamalite.

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Anadara
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 6:14pm
Allen West would have made a great speaker. He has nads enought to tell BHO to FO. Sucks that he didn’t retain his seat. Otherwise, we have John Boehner, who would be ok if he were more like Churchill and less like Chamberlain.

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mackadoo57
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 5:21pm
Boehner is a RHINO. He is in Obamas back pocket. Paul Ryan or Michelle Bachman would have been my pick of choices. Boehner will destroy this country the Congress holds the purse strings I would not have given into Obama one bit and why shoud he when the Congress holds the purse strings. I would have said no compromise just like the libs did for four years.

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- bay horse 1
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 5:38pm
  And you think Powell an West are any better? They are just another pair of Affirmative Action Hires…..
  
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soybomb315_II
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 4:37pm
Give me one good reason why this guy should remain as speaker…..

I cannot forgive a republican party who voted for Boehner again. Remember the convention – “The ayes have it”. This guy drove the nail in the coffin at the convention and now our fate as a nation is sealed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFjczLKM4JY

http://caffeinatedthoughts.com/2012/08/update-on-the-rnc-rules-battle-the-romney-camp-settles/

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- riseandshine
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 7:02pm
  Peace.
  
  Report this comment
GlennaBeckski
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:44pm
Kindly watch this video or at least copy it for later before it gets scrubbed or the author get’s rubbed

This is a warning sent to us from the BRAVEST Governor we have in Washington

Pray for his safety http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL63OFIdIIM&feature=youtu.be

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bigbear_awake
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:27pm
GOOD OL BOYS not at all for the PEOPLE only FOR THEM SELF

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- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:39pm
  more proof the GOP refuses to correct their mistakes. There is no hope while the cowards rule the roost.
  
  Report this comment
Zorro1
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:24pm
About wimps:
They chose the “Don’t rock the boat”strategy.
If Newt had been the Republican nominee, they still may have lost, but at least their arguments would have been made logically and forcefully! And, their voices would be the basis of a continuing rallying against the biased media..
Today, there is no such Republican voice.

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- soybomb315_II
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:45pm
  If republican party has a choice between the moderate or the small government route – they will always go moderate. That is why we need more than 2 viable parties.
  
  2 parties will never be able to represent the diverse views of americans
  
  Report this comment
rochrealtor
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:11pm
With all the commotion going on in the house, and Michelle Bachman holding pressure points on Boehner, I believe Boehner’s hearing will be improving when the conservative caucus speaks.That (darn) (irrelevant) Tea party sure is making some noise! Bet the lame stream media won’t be covering that story.

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Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:03pm
Republicans need to keep it simple. They were elected to shut down the obama spending spree. It;s the honest to God’s truth. They RAN on it. They were Nominated on it.
Obama got elected to SHUT DOWN HIS SPENDING SPREE. Seriously- He ran on it (among other thing). Time to account.!

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- Chet Hempstead
  Posted on January 4, 2013 at 12:55am
  That’s not how you spell Gandhi.
  
  Report this comment
TIMEBOMB
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:55pm
Ole John is just a figurehead and I can get him to cry on cue and I look forward to walking all over him and the stooges in congress for the duration of my lifetime dictatorship. The brain dead public will keep me in power as long as I keep giving them free O phones and cash and food and health care,it won’t be long fools and you’ll be scraping garbage cans for food and me and my beard will be living in the lap of luxury,FREE SS protection for life for me and my beard and two illegitimate kids,thanks suckers.

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- Zorro1
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:10pm
  The Republican Party is dead; killed by suicidal sucker wimps that never learn from experience, or remember what they learned in school about the Constititiion. Their leaders, such as they are, can’t argue a decent case or tell the difference between a circular firing squad and a real debate.
  
  Report this comment
shorelineliz
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:50pm
Boehner may have won speaker of the House of Rep’s but he still has to keep his seat in Congress through being re elected back home in Ohio. The Tea Party will try to unseat him there. Americans need to understand local elections. They could unseat every person they don’t like if they lost their seats back home in their respective states. Stop looking at Washington, D.C. The fight is state to state. Get busy!

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marybethelizabeth
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:50pm
As mentioned below Mr M. Mouse as well as Mr. D. Duck consistently receive votes in about every election imaginable.

Mr. Holt is wasting reader’s time.

This is silliness.
The reactionaries always fall such silliness.

Theblaze is not a serious source of information.

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- FISH_BONE
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:03pm
  Thank you SCARYMARY for shedding the light on TheBlaze. Without your informed and intelligent opinion I would have wasted away here ever searching for information but only finding a “[non]serious source of information”. Bless you SCARYMARY, bless your enlightened heart! You have saved all of us from our ignorance.
  
  Report this comment
- marybethelizabeth
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:09pm
  Mr. Fish_bone
  
  np
  
  Report this comment
- rochrealtor
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:13pm
  Amen fishbone!
  
  Report this comment
- Jarhead 88
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:15pm
  You are both already dead and don’t even know it, pathetic f’n cowards.
  
  Report this comment
- booger71
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:24pm
  I want more Jarheads elected to Congress.
  
  Report this comment
- FISH_BONE
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 6:02pm
  I suggest you clarify your comment JARHEAD.
  
  Report this comment
The-Monk
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:43pm
I watched the vote as boring as it was. I heard them call for a vote “from” “Allen West of Florida”.

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- mrunner
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:52pm
  My favorite moment!
  
  Report this comment
- Free_Thought
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:58pm
  My favorite moment was when my buddy spit his drink out his nose when they mentioned old allen west. Seriously. Allen west. Classic
  
  Report this comment
- FISH_BONE
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:06pm
  Good Morning FLAWED-THOUGHT. Did your mommy make pop tarts for you today?
  
  Report this comment
- Jarhead 88
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:14pm
  Hey Freethought coward, I feel good about one thing and that’s that cowards like yourself will suffer greatly in the coming days, my only regret, it will not likely be me to cause that suffering, but who knows, maybe I’ll be lucky and run into you. Punk coward.
  
  Report this comment
- NHwinter
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:19pm
  Free_Thought – Allen West is a classic, classy, true American. He would have elevated the House in an instant. One of the few who speaks the truth.
  
  Report this comment
- Free_Thought
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:25pm
  So whu did allen west lose his seat? Oh yes that is right. He was too extreme even by florida conservative standards. The only man in the election cycle that would not concede defeat even when the numbers came in. Yes you are right. Very classy.
  
  Jarhead. Scary stuff there. Im pretty sure i will be fine. Thanks for your concern though. Means a lot coming from a wannabe soldier.
  
  Report this comment
- NHwinter
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:26pm
  Colin Powell isn’t a true Republican. His name should not even have been considered.
  
  Report this comment
- NHwinter
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:28pm
  Free_Thought – West lost by corruption of the voting. Think we all understood that.
  
  Report this comment
- Free_Thought
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:41pm
  I forgot. And so did romney and akin and mourdock and brown. Not everything is a conspiracy my schizophrenic friend. Sometimes people just lose because they are idiots.
  
  Report this comment
- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:56pm
  Allen West deserved to lose his seat. He says great things, but his voting record doesn’t match his rhetoric. He voted for every constitution trampling initiative put in front of him, he was all talk.
  
  Report this comment
RJJinGadsden
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:36pm
Just heard Boehner say that he calls this “Or, as I like to call it, doing the right thing.” two people must have applauded for his lifting of an 0bama saying. Now, he is even more scary.

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SamIamTwo
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:34pm
Meh, protest votes. Better spent on Mickey Mouse!! YEH!

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ResistSocialism
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:32pm
Remember with no term limits they are in the same club. That club does not include you or me.

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hi
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:22pm
Obama’s speech right after is that the rich STILL are not paying their fair share! He owns it. We need to get the word out and not let him blame the rich anymore.

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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:39pm
  The real trouble is that 0bama is claiming that the Republicans now agree with him on the tax breaks for the wealthy. The entire MSM will be in lock step regarding that with the news from now until well into the night.
  
  Report this comment
- FISH_BONE
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:42pm
  Why bother getting the word out? The Kenyan’s worshippers (the current majority) have an average IQ slightly below that of my bull dog.
  
  Report this comment
- MittensKittens
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:46pm
  What no Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, or Adolf Hitler…what the heck!
  
  Report this comment
- Free_Thought
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:00pm
  And what does it say for your iq that you still think obama is a kenyan? Puts you in the same company as donald trump. Congrats. Lol
  
  Report this comment
- FISH_BONE
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:07pm
  Home is where the heart is *******.
  
  Report this comment
- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 4:00pm
  free thought-
  Obama’s ethnicity is Kenyan, even if he was not born there, his family was.
  
  Report this comment
- FISH_BONE
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 5:49pm
  WARMUNGER: No use trying to use reality with FREE_THOUGHT. It is all lost on him.
  
  Report this comment
- Free_Thought
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 7:11pm
  Was he born in america? Yes. He is american. My parents were born in canada. That dorsnt make me canadian. I was born in dallas. That makese american.
  
  Report this comment
- mrunner
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 8:25pm
  @freethought – Being American involves more than just being born here for most of us. I guess that just highlights one more of the differences between Progressives and Conservatives. Being born here is good enough for you- Understanding our rights, heritage and obligations to keep future generations free is an importanr part of my American citizenship and what I understand it to be.
  
  Report this comment
woodyee
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:21pm
Hi Cat!
I JUST LEARNED that Democrats are allowed to vote for Speaker, even though they’re out of power in the House. Nancy the Putrid Wind Pelosi received 192 votes. Had the House Repubs split their vote, Nancy the Puke would be Speaker.

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- CatB
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:24pm
  The R’s are “in power” they should have locked out the Dems and voted .. the Dems would have!
  
  Report this comment
- Shasta
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:30pm
  For real? That is the scariest thing I have read in quite some time.
  
  Report this comment
- mrunner
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:58pm
  If I understand the rules correctly- Nancy would not have gotten in. They continue to vote until somone gets 51% of the vote. I was truly hoping that they would have called for a secret ballot and that the republican vote would have been split between say Boehner and Allen West- keeping the wicked witch of the west below 51% of the total. That would have resulted in additional voting until someone reached 51% of the total and allowed for a new conservative leader to emerge. No way that would happen without a secret ballot. The establishment will punish those that did not toe the line for Boehner… Sickening
  
  Report this comment
- mrunner
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 3:20pm
  Oh… and if they have multiple revotes, you wait for a puff of white smoke… to emerge, just like at the Vatican, but this puff of smoke comes from Obama’s bong.
  
  Report this comment
- soybomb315_II
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 4:03pm
  MRUNNER is correct
  
  i was under the working assumption like Woodyee. There was never a danger of Pelosi getting >50%…All that needed to happen was a few challengers emerge. Perhaps the biggest atrocity is that the votes are read out loud instead of secret. Isnt the republican party the ones who criticized unions for public ballots and being against secret ballots?
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives
  
  Report this comment
civilwarcometh
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:19pm
Colin Powell?

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- Cavallo
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:24pm
  Yes, the Bobo foot washing racist.
  
  Report this comment
- FISH_BONE
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:43pm
  Colin Powell – a traitor and racist if there ever was one.
  
  Report this comment
CatB
Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:16pm
They can all go to H … for re-electing Boehner the idiot! I am so SICK of wimpy R’s … sadly I think it is too late for them to grow a pair.

Remember Benghazi

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- Smokey_Bojangles
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:21pm
  A Choice between Nutzy Pelosi and John Bonehead. Not much of a winning situation at all.
  
  Report this comment
- oldguy49
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:22pm
  remember AMERICA,
  
  Report this comment
- Cavallo
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 2:24pm
  I think there were some sneaky politics going on. I think they needed a super strong anti-Boehner candidate and none stepped forward for an official challenge. Had a weak one stepped up the votes would be divided enough to get Pelosi the speakership. This doesn’t excuse them for being impotent weasels. The GOP is far more underhanded against its own than against the enemy. It is sickening. I hear my congress critter was threatened into voting for the last debt ceiling deal, which is no excuse. I want someone who can tell them to go spit on their mothers, and stand up for fiscal sense. Stop spending more than you have, you worthless marxist toads!
  
  Report this comment
- soybomb315_II
  Posted on January 3, 2013 at 4:16pm
  @Cavallo
  The election of speaker of the house is not like presidential politics….You have to get >50% of the votes in order to get the position. Pelosi would never have got it unless republicans voted for her
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives
  
  Report this comment

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