Boehner, Blunt ... Or Shadegg?

Real Clear Politics provides us with two analyses of the candidates for House Majority Leader, and they're remarkably similar. They are:

• Boener, Blunt or Shadegg? by Stepen Moore in WSJ
• K Street Candidates, by Robert Novak in the Chi. Sun-Times

Both paint Roy Blunt (MO) as a K Street guy, and he's a champion of earmarking bills to drive pork to his district. He's also helped lead the charge on some Bush budget-busters. No thank you. As Moore puts it:

Where the policy vision and voice for political reform will come from is anyone's guess. The Pelosi Democrats certainly won't complain.

Novak says that while John Boehner hates earmarking, he has "gone native," i.e., lost touch with his community, and "applies a heavy hand on lobbyists for contributions," which is not an issue the GOP should have to deal with now.

Is Shadegg a worthy opponent? Both see him as a change agent who is more likely to put a new face on the party. Here's Novak:

[Shadegg]came to Washington as part of the huge Republican class of '94 that gave the GOP a House majority, and he has not "gone native" since then .... In the leadership, Shadegg has remained a supply-side, free market conservative, unique in pressing for deep reforms. ...

John Shadegg belittles "reform" that diminishes how expensive a lunch can be bought for members of Congress. He wants to prevent future Duke Cunningham scandals by cracking down on earmarks and wants to abolish government pensions for any future Duke Cunninghams.

Sounds good to me.