House Ways and Means Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI), the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, is said to be mulling becoming a candidate for speaker of the house — despite his repeated assurances that he does not want the job. While some are calling him a “consensus choice” who could bring unity to a party in disarray, he is being met with little enthusiasm from a powerful force within the Republican Party: the same conservatives who torpedoed the candidacy of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).