NY Dem Owens May Back Boehner
Politico reports:
An upstate New York Democrat that survived this month’s Republican wave is leaving the door open to voting for John Boehner as speaker.
Rep. Bill Owens told the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in Monday’s edition that it was “quite possible” he could vote for the Ohio Republican over Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.
During a secret balloting process inside the Democratic Caucus, Owens voted for Pelosi over North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler because Pelosi “assured” him that she would “govern from the center,” he told the newspaper.
But when Congress reconvenes, lawmakers will officially elect the speaker in a public vote on the House floor.
Owens, who was first elected in a special election in November 2009, could illustrate in miniature how conservative Democrats distance themselves from Pelosi: by casting the relatively meaningless public vote against her. But whether Democrats perceive it as meaningless is to be seen.
Boehner is assured the speaker’s chair by virtue of winning an unchallenged endorsement from the House Republican Conference, which will enjoy a large majority over Democrats in the 112th Congress. Forty-three Democrats, on the other hand, voted against Pelosi behind closed doors and are likely to do the same publicly.
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