From the ongoing saga of Jim Jordan's failed Speaker dreams (honestly did anyone with a brain see this ending any other way?) to the strong performance of not-Lauren Boebert CD3 Republican candidate Jeff Hurd, and the face-palming antics of Scott "There is No" Bottoms, we've got you covered this week with a brand new episode of the Get More Smarter Podcast.
Don't Elect Jim Jordan-Week
In our last episode, we were on the edge of our seats waiting for Jim Jordan to take his speakership dreams to the House floor. Well, he did just that, and let's just say it didn't go quite as planned. The right-wing Chair of the House Judiciary Committee tried to make his case for Speaker, but it ended up being a swift and decisive defeat. Actually two of them. And then another one on a secret ballot. Anyway Jim Jordan is not and will not ever be Speaker of the US House of Representatives. This is the deep incisive political insight you can only expect from The Get More Smarter Podcast.
Not only did Jordan lose votes between the first two attempts, but he also had some of his Republican colleagues voting for other candidates. Someone even voted for the ghost of John Boehner! Remember him! Smoking! Crying! Orange!
By Thursday morning, Jordan was admitting defeat and even suggested he would support Speaker Pro Parvus Patrick McHenry as interim speaker until January. If you're curious about why Jordan's bid for Speaker failed so spectacularly, we've got all the details.
So, Now What?
With Jordan out of the running, the big question is, "Now what?" It looks like there's an effort underway to potentially give McHenry more power to allow the House to get some actual work done while the Republican caucus continues its "Three Stooges" routine (smacking each other in the face, throwing each other down the stairs, etc.).
One of the very last users of the failed website formerly known as Twitter, Adam Carlson (who is apparently also an ex staffer for poll-of-the-show Global Strategy Group) made this handy dandy chart to illustrate how some of the NOW NINE FUCKING REPUBLICANS who are running for speaker voted on some of the key issues of the day, let’s go to the tape:
And speaking of bizarre voting behavior, our very own Ken Buck had a real knee slapper of a moment on the floor where he made good on his promise to vote for Tom Emmer, a guy who until then wasn’t even running for speaker, for speaker. We all know the best jokes are the ones you need to explain, which he once again went on cable news to do. Confused? So are we.
🚨🚨🚨CD4 ‘24 Signaling Galore🚨🚨🚨
As if the Speaker drama wasn't enough, it seems like everyone and their dog is signaling their 2024 ambitions, especially when it comes to CNN Ken/KenSNBC’s fourth congressional district seat which may or may not be open and for which he may or may not face a primary. From Horse Sushi enthusiast and not-CD4-resident and utterly spectacularly failed US Senate candidate Joe O'Dea to former state House Minority Leader and dude with a pretty solid beard Pat Neville, to somehow-way-worse-than-even-Joe O’Dea-narrowpod (omg some of these episodes have like 10 views good lord) host and Mom for Litterboxes Heidi Ganahl, the elbows are flying to see who can capture one of Colorado’s two remaining safe Republican congressional seats assuming Ken nails his audition for the 11pm ET time slot on Fox News.
But first they’re going to have to beat the final boss of preposterous nonsense – Trent Leisy, who's taken on the moniker of "MAGA KING." Buckle up, folks; it's going to be an interesting ride.
💰Fun-draising with Christy Powell💰
She’s back! “It’s her!” herself, Christy Powell joins us once again with a report from the third fundraising quarter. In this segment we read you a bunch of numbers and talk about them so get ready for some juicy details on who's up, who's down, and who might be overpaying for catering at their ex-boyfriend's bar. We go through key federal races in Colorado and share our top five favorite tidbits from the Q3 reports.
We also discovered that there are like hardly any Republicans at all running for the Colorado House of Representatives, no really, as of this post there are only TWENTY REPUBLICANS who have filed to run for the Colorado House of Representatives in 2024. Don’t believe me? Look:
If that isn’t some kind of historically low number, I don’t know what could be. That’s 30% of the available seats in the chamber. That ain’t gonna do it, y’all.
Have ya Hurd? Of Jeff?
Finally, we get to meet Jeff Hurd, the guy giving our 8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado a run for her money. Actually, we met his wife in a pretty long intro video that is both quite a journey and also…not a video about Jeff Hurd. Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney, is seeking the Republican nomination for Congress in the third congressional district. But what makes him stand out? Well, to start, his very first campaign communication is not about himself. We’ll find out if this works or not, but he has raised over $400k in his first filing, and with presumptive Democratic nominee Adam Frisch sitting on $4 MILLION DOLLARS, that means our 8th favorite member of congress from Colorado...has 99 problems and a Frisch is one, a Hurd is another.
Scott "There is No" Bottoms
Last but not least, we couldn't ignore the antics of Scott "There is No" Bottoms once again. He's not just a state representative; he's also a pastor with some interesting predictions about the future of elections and pandemics. For instance, he predicts that there actually won’t be an election in 2024 (common lickspittle insanity from overbaked conspiracy whackadoos), that both the Israeli and US Governments knew the horrific terrorist attack from Hamas on 10/7 was coming (and decided on purpose not to do anything about it), and, of course, that not only was COVID a “planned-demic,” but that another one is just around the corner.
That’s a wrap for this episode's highlights! Be sure to tune in to the Get More Smarter Podcast for the full scoop on these stories and more. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review – your feedback keeps us going. Thanks for joining us, and until next time, stay informed, stay engaged, and keep getting even more smarterer!
Episode 170: Lauren Boebert Bought 180 Pounds of Candy (feat. Christy Powell)