WASHINGTON — In the race to be chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Ed Royce, R-Ca., has received an unexpected boost from a fight between his challenger Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., and former Alaska Governor and Tea Party movement icon Sarah Palin.
The ruckus started after the elections when Bachus, the committee's ranking Republican and heir apparent to the chairmanship, was widely quoted blaming Palin for why the Republicans were unable to win control of the Senate. Bachus noted her backing of Tea Party movement candidates who failed, like Christine O'Donnell in Delaware and Sharron Angle in Nevada.
"Sarah Palin cost us control of the Senate," he was quoted as saying.
Bachus' spokespeople said the comment was overblown and was not meant as anti-Palin, but the self-proclaimed "Mama Grizzly" did not take the critique lightly. Although Palin supported the Troubled Asset Relief Program herself as part of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, the former vice presidential candidate slammed Bachus for backing Tarp and the Obama administration's "Cash for Clunkers" program.
In an e-mail to the Daily Caller, a news site founded by TV commentator Tucker Carlson, Palin described both programs as part of "the Bachus bigger government agenda."
"No wonder he's not thrilled with people like me, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and all the others who also endorsed commonsense conservative candidates," she said.
Palin said nothing about Royce specifically, but The Daily Caller went on to note his opposition to Tarp and said freshman Republicans could be swayed to support him.
"Palin's involvement in the race, even while tangential, could be crucial given that many of the 80-some conservative freshman lawmakers coming to Washington are Tea Party-backed or otherwise aggressive conservatives," the Daily Caller said.
Bloggers, too, have suggested that Palin's anger at Bachus equaled support for Royce, with a headline in an
The blog went on to say, "Regardless of the history here, the obvious beneficiary of the Palin-Bachus spat is Royce, whose rise will give Orange County its most powerful DC figure since Christopher Cox helped lead the nation into economic disaster as the bumbling chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission."
While it's still unclear how much of a benefit Royce will receive given all the hoopla, the National Journal also wrote Friday that his chances of winning the leadership battle are increasing.
"It's trash-talking time in the fight for the House Financial Services chairmanship," the paper wrote. "The Wall Street Journal editorial page has accused ranking member Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., of being a spokesman for ‘crony capitalism' because he didn't come down hard enough on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That's a big boost for underdog Ed Royce, R-Calif. At least one prominent lobbyist has upgraded his rating on Royce from no-chance to even-money."
Spokespeople for Bachus and Royce did not comment Friday.
