Oops!

For those of us who have worked in and around Congress for years, last night’s final election of a speaker in the early hours of Saturday was nothing short of an extended Nascar race, particularly if you come to watch the cars crash. The evening had everything from gallows humor to a virtual wrestling match on the floor.

It finished as unpredictably as it began. Kevin McCarthy fell just one vote short of winning as tempers boiled over and the GOP sought an adjournment until Monday. The Democrats then overplayed their hand by gratuitously sought to prolong the pain by opposing the motion. Then something unexpected happened…

…the holdouts changed their votes.

At midnight on Friday, after twelve hours of grueling deliberations and votes, there was no reason to force the GOP to continue to vote except to enjoy the sport and spectacle of the moment. It was gratuitous and peevish and it produced the opposite effect on the GOP ranks.

[The Democrats broke the ersatz Sun Tzu rule: When your enemy is self-destructing, don’t interfere. — Ed]