Conservative: Ryan would have to make ‘hard sell’ for Speaker

Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) says Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) will “have a real hard sell” to conservatives in the House if he seeks to replace outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

“Unless Paul comes out and says, ‘Look, I want to be Speaker, here’s why I want to be Speaker, and here’s why I think I’ll be different and better than John,’ it’s a real hard sell,” Mulvaney said in a radio interview on Thursday, as first reported by Buzzfeed News.

{mosads}Mulvaney also said Ryan will not coast to the House’s top job on his reputation alone.

“You don’t just win because you’re Paul Ryan,” Mulvaney said. “Everybody will look to you, and give you a long look, because you’re Paul Ryan, but you don’t win just because that’s your name.”

Mulvaney is a founding member of the 40-to-50-member House Freedom Caucus, which plans to vote in the Speaker election as a bloc. He said Ryan would have to restore “regular order” to the legislative process if he wants to convince the group to vote for him.

The South Carolina congressman acknowledged that Ryan has “the potential to be a unifying factor” in a splintering party, but said he was doubtful that Ryan will even enter the race.

“I texted very briefly with Paul over the weekend, and everything that I got from him was that he was still a ‘no,’ ” Mulvaney said.

Ryan denied any interest in the House’s top job after Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) abruptly dropped out of the race, but Republican leadership in the lower chamber has been trying to change his mind.