I am going on the record to say that I believe that Kevin McCarthy will be elected Speaker of the House by Friday night. I am not saying this because I am in agreement with Kevin McCarthy becoming Speaker, but because I can see the realities of the situation. First of all, this discussion within the Republican party should have been done in caucus, behind closed doors. Nothing was gained (and much was lost) by airing their dirty laundry in public. There are two main reasons I believe the stalemate will be resolved today–first of all, the role the lobbyists are playing in this has been made public, and second, until the members of the House of Representatives are sworn in, neither the Representatives or their staff will be paid. (The lobbyist participation story can be found here, and the pay story can be found here.)

It’s been a long time since Congress actually listened to the voters, and the role of the lobbyists in this debate is a reminder of that. I suspect that the lobbyists (and the Representatives) want to get this story off of the front page before the American public figures out that they have little or no voice in Washington.

We will know by tonight if I am reading this right!