Blunt Steps Down Graciously

Amanda Carpenter | November 06, 2008 1:59 PM

Rep. Roy Blunt made a promise to himself that if he could not help Republicans recapture a majority in the House in 2008, he would relinquish his position as House Minority Leader.

And, he did today.

"In January 2007, I wrote myself a letter and mailed it to my office," a memo Blunt wrote to his colleagues today said. "The letter, unopened, sat on my desk until Wednesday. Almost two years ago, I wrote that our ideas didn’t lose the mid-term election, we did. I wrote that it was my intention to spend the next two years holding the Democrats accountable and defining the differences between our parties. I also wrote that, were we not successful in recapturing the majority in 2008, it was my intention to serve only two years as Minority Whip."

Blunt cited some things he was able to help the GOP accomplish since 2006.

The memo went on:

"Against the pundits' best predictions, we stood against a flawed expansion of government run health care in the SCHIP bill. When many were saying it was political suicide, we gave the surge a chance to work and today we are rapidly handing over control of Iraq to a stable government capable of securing the peace. We stopped billions of dollars in frivolous spending. We won an unprecedented number of motions to recommit, defining the differences between our parties and on a few occasions forcing the Democrats to pull their own bills from the floor. And when an energy crisis threatened our families and our whole economy, we advanced common sense solutions that resonated with the American people."