Bright: "I cannot support either candidate for speaker"

Freshman U.S. Rep. Bobby Bright said he cannot vote for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or House Minority Leader John Boehner for speaker in January because they are both too divisive.
Bright has come under increasing criticism for his vote for Pelosi in 2008 and questions about whether he would vote for her next year if reelected.
"Washington is broken," the Democrat said. "The leadership of both parties is too divisive, and our country is paying the price. Neither the speaker nor the Republican leader has displayed the type of bipartisan cooperation required to build consensus and move our country forward. As a result, we must look elsewhere for leadership. I cannot support either candidate for speaker and would like to vote for a conservative centrist who has a track record of bridging divides. Putting an end to partisan politics shouldn't have to wait any longer."
His opponent, Montgomery City Councilwoman Martha Roby, quickly responded and reiterated that Bright's first vote in Congress was for Pelosi.
"Democrat Bobby Bright's latest suggestion that he might vote for someone else for speaker is just the latest contortion on this issue, coming only weeks after he said he had no regrets about his vote for Nancy Pelosi, and a month after he joked that she might 'get sick and die' to avoid answering this very question. This latest statement is just empty rhetoric from a flailing campaign, aimed at avoiding the larger issue: Democrat Bobby Bright's very presence as a Democrat in Congress keeps Pelosi in power. The simple truth is that Pelosi will remain as speaker so long as Democrats have a majority in the House. A vote for Bright is a vote for Pelosi."
Roby said she planned to vote for a speaker who understood the values of the people in Southeast Alabama.

-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen