“This is where warped political delusions flare up in a big way.
If McCarthy isn’t the House Speaker, then who is? The Republican who challenged him and got all of 30 votes among his fellow Republicans?”
If McCarthy stepped aside or loses the first and second vote on the 3rd, he’ll be forced to step aside. If he becomes Speaker with Democrat votes or by convincing Democrats to vote presents to lower the vote threshold, then he won’t be Speaker for long (not that he cares. He WANTS the power).
If McCarthy steps aside, Republicans would be forced to coalesce around somebody else. When Gingrich resigned and then Livingston stepped aside and resigned, all of a sudden the House coalesced around Dennis Hastert. That’s generally how it works. The House could coalesce around Scalise, for example.
But we need to stop just going along. And at least five Republicans aren’t just going along.
And the Gingrich-Livingston-Hastert example you cite is a terrible one. You’ve explained how this country ended up with a child molester as House Speaker.