McCarthy Moves Quickly

“As the race to replace House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) began Wednesday afternoon, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and his allies adopted a motto: Speed kills,” the Washington Post reports.

“Using his deep network of supporters, deputy whips and a paper-based scoring system that dates back to the House leadership races of the 1990s, McCarthy and his team were asserting momentum Wednesday night in the race to become the second-ranking House Republican, hoping to swiftly seal the deal as other contenders were still mulling whether to join the fray.”

First Read: “How soon does this get wrapped up and how public do the machinations become? The quicker, the better for McCarthy and Boehner allies who want a resolution with minimal disruption before the midterms. But a long, public debate would empower House conservatives who want to use Cantor’s ouster as a chance to send a real message to leadership NOW instead of waiting until after the election.”