Meet Kevin McCarthy, political hollow man

It wasn’t easy, but McCarthy has managed to fill Buchanan’s teensy, tiny shoes. In a normal political time, it would make perfect sense for a minority leader to keep his caucus happy by throwing a controversial member of the House leadership off the lifeboat. It would make sense to avoid internal GOP debates, wait patiently for likely midterm victories and slip into the speakership with little fuss. It would make sense to take the easiest path to power — which runs, McCarthy believes, through Mar-a-Lago.