Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy: 'There won't be a Republican president in 2016' unless we change course

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy: &#039;There won&#039;t be a Republican president in 2016&#039; unless we change course — (Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) says Republicans, should they win big in the midterm elections, must move beyond brinkmanship if they want any chance of winning the White House in 2016.

"If we don't capture the House stronger, and the Senate, and prove we could govern, there won't be a Republican president in 2016," he told a group of Long Island donors, according to Politico.

Among McCarthy's goals for soon after the election: Passing a government funding bill to avoid shutdown flirtation, tinkering with ObamaCare, and clearly framing what the GOP stands for, not only what it stands against. Republicans have a 68 percent chance of flipping the Senate, per The New York Times. Whether the GOP leadership can get party members to line up neatly behind a clear platform is far less certain.

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Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.