There's some chatter that Sen. Roy Blunt's recent shenanigans and his "conscience" amendment allowing your boss to control your life and decline any medical insurance coverage they may have a problem with may be to position himself so as to make a run for even higher leadership positions of the Republican Party in the Senate.
From Politico:
[T]his week the Missouri Republican is assuming a new role — the unexpected culture warrior — a move that could aid or hobble what many believe is his goal to eventually become majority leader.
Blunt is pushing legislation to undo — and then some — President Barack Obama’s mandate that employers provide coverage for contraceptives. The gambit, his most audacious in his 13 months in the Senate, is sure to bolster his standing with the social conservative wing of the party.
But there’s worry even within his own party that his proposal goes too far and could unleash a voter backlash in a year the GOP hopes to wrest control of the White House and Senate from Democrats[...]
Too bad for Blunt that the vast majority of Americans are against his amendment and it's likely to go down in flames. Blunt even admits that his amendment is so broad that it doesn't mention any specific procedure saying, "I don't think it's an overreach at all. It doesn't mention any specific procedure."
For someone clearly demonstrating naked ambition in an effort to rise through the ranks of his party's senate leadership, showing just exactly how tone deaf he is to the will of his constituents and the vast majority of Americans as well as his inability to correct course and instead pursue a disaster even members of his own party are concerned about isn't exactly something a party struggling for relevancy needs at this point in time.
Then again, Blunt may be attempting to take his party's political positions further into irrelevancy, because those who are supporting him come from the extreme fringe:
“I absolutely believe at some point he could become majority leader,” said Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, a conservative think tank that has worked closely with Blunt on health care issues.
“I think he will rise up the leadership ladder,” added Doug Johnson, a lobbyist with National Right to Life who has known Blunt since he first won election to the House.
