House.

If this continues, it is possible for the second President Kennedy to be elected next year.

Democrats are supporting a president who, at least in the opinion of about three-quarters of those polled, is too old to run for a second term.

Republicans are united behind a man who may have to vote absentee from prison next year.

As if that weren't enough, the Republican Party can't even agree to elect a Republican as Speaker of the House.

The main contender on Wednesday's ballot was Ohio's Jim Jordan. But he lost by a much larger margin than on Tuesday.

There are no surprises. Jordan's claim to fame is that he never compromises. So why should his fellow Republicans compromise with him?

Jordan first rose to prominence in 2013 when he proposed a government shutdown to repeal Obamacare. As exits always do, they failed miserably.

Then, on January 6th, a riot broke out at the Capitol. Jordan helped develop a strategy to remove voters from enough states to get Donald Trump re-elected. But these electoral votes have already been certified by the states, many of which are controlled by Republicans. The only thing this plan would accomplish was to cause a riot.

The mob nearly broke into then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's office. This prompted McCarthy to call Trump and ask him to stop the rioters.

According to CNN, Trump responded, "Kevin, I think these people are more upset about the election than you are," and McCarthy responded, "Who the hell do you think you're talking to?"

This should go down in history as one of the greatest quotes of modern politics. But unlike Jordan, McCarthy is willing to compromise. After Republicans led the House of Representatives in the 2022 elections, he compromised sufficiently with Trump supporters to be elected speaker.

But that was a small advantage. And after McCarthy compromised with Democrats to keep the government running, Trump supporters wanted revenge. Matt Gaetz of Florida, perhaps the most ardent Trump supporter in Washington, led the effort to avenge the Donald by ousting McCarthy as speaker.

But like Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, it was a plan without any plan. Republicans needed just five votes to remove McCarthy. However, 218 people will be needed to fill his replacement.

In the meantime, voters must endure the spectacle of the Republican Party failing to hold its own party convention, let alone the national anthem.

The problem with this and other leadership battles is illustrated by Jordan's example. He really wants to run the country, not Congress. But in this case, he should run for president.

As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shows, it's not that difficult. RFK Jr. was a political unknown just a year ago. But as Trump proved, in today's political climate, having a bunch of crazy ideas can get you millions of votes. Kennedy has a very good chance of becoming president. But he is likely to be a spoiler.

On Tuesday, the NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll reported that if the election were held now, Kennedy would receive 16% of the vote. Most of that money would come from Trump, whose approval rating would fall to 37%. Biden will win with 44%.

So the Republicans can ill afford the sort of media coverage they’re getting in this speakership fight.

There’s now talk of naming an interim speaker to the post. That advice comes from none other than the man who more or less invented the idea of the government shutdown.

“If the House Republicans cannot resolve the speakership in the next few days, they may be better off to empower Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry with the job of running the House through at least the end of the year,” Newt Gingrich said in a post on his personal page. “America does not have the luxury to stand by and allow a handful of destructive Republicans — or even the legitimate ambitions of good people — to keep the system from working.”

He should know. He shut the government twice beginning in 1995. That didn’t stop Bill Clinton from getting re-elected as president in 1996.

In 2012 Gingrich ran in the Republican presidential primaries. He lost to Mitt Romney, but at least he gave it a shot.

Perhaps Jordan should do the same. He may be the last person standing between us and another Kennedy President.

Read more: Paul Mulshine's latest column.

To contact Paul Mulshine, please contact [email protected].

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