It’s a little tougher to get a sense of why this fight matters so much to the average conservative or Republican. It’s not like there is an intense ideological division between McCarthy and the alternative options. (Scalise’s lifetime ACU rating is 92 out of 100; McCarthy’s is 84 out of 100.) At least for now, and at least publicly, Scalise doesn’t want to be speaker, he wants to be House Majority Leader. And no, House Republicans are not going to make Elise Stefanik or Jim Jordan the next speaker, and no, they’re not going to pick a non-member to be speaker.

It’s very hard to beat something with nothing. Until a House Republican who is popular with his or her colleagues expresses a desire to be Speaker, this infighting is just going in circles, with McCarthy falling just short of 218 votes.

[There is no point. It’s performative muscle-flexing, and that’s all. — Ed]