(MORE THAN) 15 MINUTES OF FAME
Speaking of John James, often labeled a “rising star” of the Republican Party, the freshman congressman has certainly mastered wringing the maximum media exposure since entering the House at the beginning of this year, starting with the January 5 televised House speech he used to nominate now-dethroned House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) for the leadership position. James’ push on behalf of McCarthy came just prior to the seventh ballot (of 15 votes over four days). Mind you, McCarthy reportedly was among a few members of Congress who recruited James to run for his current District 10 seat, which straddles Macomb and parts of Oakland counties after two failed attempts for the U.S. Senate from Michigan. Then during the early October televised hearings to oust McCarthy, thanks to a motion by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), James positioned himself in the row and seat directly behind the podium in the GOP part of the House where party members toiled and spoke for an entire day to debate the issue of bouncing McCarthy from the leadership post – televised by many major news stations to the benefit of James. Then we learned on Wednesday, October 11, that in closed door proceedings in the House for Republicans to hammer out a vote on a new House Speaker, James was one of three Representatives to nominate Steve Scalise (R-La.) for the post, although Scalise eventually withdrew for the past after failing to get sufficient backing in the closed-door sessions. One of several reasons Scalise failed to garner enough votes was opposition by some party members who cited that 20 years ago when he was a state Representative he once compared himself to former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke, but “without the baggage,” and spoke at a white supremacist gathering.