Obama interested in Kanye for Speaker

Amid the Republican scramble to replace outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), President Obama has a suggestion: Kanye West.

{mosads}Speaking Saturday at a Democratic fundraising event in San Francisco where West was performing, Obama veered away from his prepared remarks to float the idea that the hip-hop star — who recently expressed presidential aspirations — might be interested in the gavel.

“You may have heard that Kanye is thinking about running [for] Speaker of the House,” Obama quipped. “It couldn’t get any stranger.”

Democratic leaders have so far been publicly muted in their response to the turmoil surrounding the race to replace Boehner, who stunned Capitol Hill last month in announcing his resignation from Congress after 25 years. That contest was thrown into further disarray Friday when Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the odds-on favorite to assume the Speaker’s mantle, abruptly stepped out of contention citing an inability to unite a fractious conference.

“Hopefully the Republicans will come to terms as to who their recommendation will be for Speaker,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday. “But that’s really up to them.”

Obama’s remarks Saturday hinted at how Democrats behind the scenes are relishing the chaos plaguing Republicans.

“In case Kanye is serious about this whole POTUS thing — or as Kanye calls it, ‘Peezy’ — I do have advice for him,” Obama said. “You got to deal with strange characters who behave as if they are on a reality TV show.

“Saying you have a beautiful dark, twisted fantasy — that’s what’s known as off message in politics,” Obama added, referring to the title of West’s 2010 album.

The jokes kept coming.

“Do you really think this country is going to elect a black guy form the south side of Chicago with a funny name to be president of the U.S.?” Obama asked.

“We’ll see what Kanye has to say when he gets out here.”