House whip summary: Tweedle dum vs Tweedle dee

The contestants:

• Dennis Ross (FL)
• Markwayne Mullin (OK)
• Patrick McHenry (NC)

[mc_name name=’Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’R000593′ ] (R-Fla.) pledged to return the House to “regular order” if his GOP colleagues elect him as majority whip – a nod to a cadre of conservatives in the conference who have rebelled against the current leadership team.

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Ross is currently a senior deputy whip.

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Ross also pledged to advance a “credible alternative to Obamacare,” an immigration reform bill and a tax reform package. As majority whip, Ross would not have control of the floor schedule. That authority belongs to the majority leader.

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Ross will likely face off against [mc_name name=’Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’M001190′ ] and current Chief Deputy Whip [mc_name name=’Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’M001156′ ] for the majority whip job.

I don’t see a clear choice here. Ross seems to be promising more Failure Theater and he and McHenry are both members of Scalise’s whip team which has not been noted for being all that effective. Our best hope is that someone else materializes to run for the position because these guys seem to be pretty much more of the same.

Conference chair summary: the lesser of three weevils

The GOP conference chair presides over all meetings of the House GOP. [mc_name name=’Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’M001159′ ] is the current conference chair.

Kansas Republican [mc_name name=’Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’J000290′ ] has announced she’ll run for chair of the House Republican Conference if the current leadership scramble creates a vacancy.

In an email to members on Monday, Jenkins, the current vice chair of the conference, said the party must “unite” to advance conservative principles.

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North Carolina [mc_name name=’Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’E000291′ ] and Indiana [mc_name name=’Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’M001189′ ] are also considering a run for conference chairman.

I am not a student of the House so these are not terribly well known to me. Pro-abort groups have donated to Lynn Jenkins’s campaign. She is a close associate of Boehner. On the other hand she is a part of the House Tea Party Caucus. Make of that what you will. We all know the story of the duplicitous Renee Ellmers on the 20-week abortion ban bill back in January. All in all this group gives conservatives nothing to be hopeful about.

Overall: BOHICA

There is nothing in this list of candidates that give much hope that any significant change will happen within the GOP caucus. In a best case scenario, [mc_name name=’Rep. Tom Price (R-GA)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’P000591′ ] gets the majority leader job, [mc_name name=’Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’S001176′ ] and Cathy McMorris Rodgers are pushed aside and replaced by candidates who are pretty much like them.