Mark Z. Barabak: Kevin McCarthy 'won' the House speakership. Now the country will pay the price
For years, Kevin McCarthy wanted to be speaker of the House in the worst possible way, and that's precisely what he accomplished by winning the leadership post after 15 humiliating rounds of voting and days of give-away-the-store negotiations.
McCarthy may have once dreamed of striding boldly forth to claim the mantle of a robust Republican majority.
Instead, with the GOP barely in control and the chamber in chaos, McCarthy crawled into the speakership early Saturday on his hands and knees.
He ceded so much to foes — effective
