Maybe Ann Wagner’s the problem. Rep. Ann Wagner (HA-64) is the House Majority Whip. Her job is to know how every GOP member will vote on bills and to cut deals until House leadership gets the numbers it wants. It’s unfathomable that a majority whip would not have seen the Kevin McCarthy meltdown coming long before the House Republican caucus met to nominate a candidate for speaker. But many accounts suggest that the Republican House leadership thought McCarthy had the votes up to the moment he withdrew.

Just as in 2001, some Republicans are falling for Democrat mind games. In 2001, it was the shared leadership arrangement in the Senate, even thought the GOP had the majority because of the VP tie-break. This year, it’s beginning with “bi-partisan” seating at the State of the Union address. I have one message for Republicans: Knock it the hell off. When a Democrat offers to reach across the aisle, with very few exceptions, it’s to poison a Republican.