It appears the media is trying to spin Michele Bachmann’s run for Republican Conference Chairman as a looming battle between Republicans and the Tea Party. I think that will hardly be the case. In the end, I do believe that Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas will prevail. I say this because he appears to be a very strong conservative and most importantly has the nod from outgoing Conference Chair Mike Pence (a Tea Party favorite too).
The Conference Chairman spot is crucial for delivering the Republican’s message. As such, the Conference Chair needs to be someone who not only lives up to the conservative message, but is an excellent communicator of that message. Over the next two years, Democrats will do everything in their power to blame Republicans for the mess Democrats created. As such, Republican messaging will be crucial. Hopefully, when Republicans begin casting their votes they will keep this in mind.
To me it doesn’t really matter if a Tea Party rep is part of the Republican House leadership, so long as the leadership fully embraces Tea Party ideals of limited government, less spending and lower taxes.