The consensus among Capitol Hill reporters these days is that Rep. Tom Cole is a member worth chasing down a hall. There’s no telling what he might say. Just this year, he said certain factions in the House GOP were acting like drunk “Uncle Joe” ruining the family Christmas party, called the coup to unseat Speaker John A. Boehner “amateur night at the Bijou,” and said shutting down the government was the “political equivalent of throwing a temper tantrum.” But what makes Cole the must-have voice in any story about House Republicans is this: He brings the plainspoken, down-home Oklahoma truth. “I’m a little bit old to not say what I think,” he told CQ Roll Call over the phone after the House adjourned for the year. “You only got so many years left — and I intend to make them count.” (more…)
