WASHINGTON — Apparently posting a Craigslist ad isn’t the worst option to find the next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Begging and pleading hasn’t worked so well so far.
A week after Rep. Mark Takano jokingly drafted, but never posted, an ad to solicit applications for the leadership post, someone has taken the extra step to actually publish an ad on the help wanted section of the site.
The ad was posted anonymously Wednesday to the government section and notes that the job would pay $223,500 and is a full-time position at the U.S. Capitol.
The writer takes a straightforward approach to describe the job.
“Aside from duties relating to heading the House and the majority political party, the Speaker also performs administrative and procedural functions, and, if an elected member of the House of Representatives, represents his or her (sic) Congressional district. ”
Takano, a California Democrat, took a more gleeful approach to his ad, which was shared on his Twitter account. The Hill reported that the ad was never actually published on Craigslist.
“Do you have experience negotiating hostage situations? Are you ready for the challenge of a lifetime? Then this is the job for you!”
Responsibilities include keeping the government open and explaining concepts of “compromise and democratic governance.”
Required skills include baby-sitting experience and “proficiency in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.”
Takano tweeted that 28 applications were sent to the tongue-and-cheek gmail account TheNextFrankUnderWood.
Republican lawmakers have struggled to find a successor to outgoing Speaker John Boehner, who announced he would step down from the post a day after he welcomed Pope Francis to the U.S. Capitol. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has withdrawn his candidacy and lawmakers haven’t yet convinced budget Chair Paul Ryan that he should run for the speakership.
It seems like we’re having a hard time finding the next Speaker, so I created a Craigslist ad to boost our search. pic.twitter.com/JrYX5w9OVA
— Mark Takano (@RepMarkTakano) October 8, 2015
We received 28 applications for Speaker. We’ll be reviewing over the weekend. Keep them coming. thenextfrankunderwood [at] gmail [dot] com
— Mark Takano (@RepMarkTakano) October 9, 2015
