MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images
These are trying times for the Republican Party. The storm has arrived, the thunder is rolling while lightning crashes down. The GOP has reached the gates of perdition and they are staring their party's mortality in the face, and from the abyss stares back the ghosts of Lincoln and Reagan.
How far have they walked away from the Great Emancipator, and Great Communicator? As the party of legend is cracking at its hilt, they have reached the moment of clarity. One way or another, a reckoning is coming while the rain hails down and the party wears away.
Who are they going to become?
Evolution in one sense or another is necessary if the party is to survive nationally.
I previously wrote an article on the resignation of Speaker Boehner and the fight the GOP was about to have. When I wrote the article, it was right after Boehner announced his resignation and had endorsed House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
As I said then: "Boehner has endorsed Representative Kevin McCarthy of California. There is quite a fight ahead. While McCarthy is viewed more favorably by the House's more radical members equally for his inclination to bow to their resolve and for his sunny disposition, this is the Tea Party's time to shine. They effectively just booted John Boehner out the front door, it would be surprising if they elected the man he endorsed on his way out."
Well, now we have our answer. An influential group of conservatives in the Republican House have slammed that door shut on McCarthy as they endorsed dark horse candidate Rep. Daniel Webster, on Wednesday. This placed McCarthy's chances to win the House floor vote later this month in jeopardy.
McCarthy also got himself into a bad situation last week when he stated that the House's committee on Benghazi was politically motivated to damage Hillary Clinton's election chances.
Obviously, certain factions of the House did not like his remark, and this hurt his fight to become speaker tremendously.
McCarthy folded his hand rather than stay at the table. Considering what he was up against, it's hard not to rationalize with him.
In an interview with Rich Lowry of National Review just after he announced he was dropping from the race, McCarthy said the words that everyone is feeling.
Asked if the House could be governed, McCarthy said: "I don't know. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom."
Lets be clear, the Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives just conceded that the GOP-led House cannot be governed.
The race for speaker is now wide open.
The most viable option from the GOP is Rep. Paul Ryan. The former Vice-Presidential candidate immediately shot down any thought of his name being tossed into that hornet's nest.
"While I am grateful for the encouragement I've received, I will not be a candidate. I continue to believe I can best serve the country and this conference as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee," Ryan said in a statement.
It is telling that the power play position of speaker is being dodged by the more experienced members of the House. Number three in the Presidential line of succession has been passed on. To be speaker right now, you have to either be willing to take on the Tea Party and conservatives in open combat, or you have to bend to their will completely.
The next Speaker of the House will either be a gladiator or an appeaser, but he won't be both.
What we are seeing now from the sidelines is the fight for the very soul of the GOP. This is not your average speaker race, these are not average times, and this will not end without major verbal warfare.
This battle will be for the generational direction of the GOP. Will they continue to radically go right of the nation and stop all government function in the process, or will more moderate minds prevail and save the party?
There is no grey area. Neither can live while the other survives. What is happening is the fight for the very party message, the leadership. Moderate conservatives have been hijacked by the Tea Party and are being broken down and overwhelmed. This fight for speaker may only last for a few weeks, but the battle for the party will last for much longer. This will drag into the presidential elections in 2016. The earthquake that is breaking the party apart is massive and an open GOP civil war is here now.
Get ready, because this is just beginning.
What will happen next?
Be sure to comment below.