Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

DeLay defined the job of successor

The House majority leader will be expected to raise millions and ride herd on the Republican team while looking squeaky clean.

By WES ALLISON
Published February 2, 2006

WASHINGTON - When Republicans in the House of Representatives pick a replacement today for Tom DeLay, the ousted majority leader, they will choose from three men who promise reform, and who vow to restore the party's tarnished image.

But missing from the spirited debate on Capitol Hill over redemption and change is the reality that DeLay delivered. From raising money to reaching out to interest groups to driving conservative legislation, his replacement will be expected to deliver, too.

"You've got a lot of people condemning a lot of the things DeLay did, to get some distance from things they never said a peep about before," said Norm Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think-tank in Washington.

"But anybody who is elected is going to be expected to have exactly the same results as DeLay."

In a closed-door meeting Wednesday, House Republicans heard from the three 56-year-old veterans who are running for his job:

Majority Whip Roy Blunt, the third-ranking House Republican, a DeLay disciple and former college president from Kentucky. He is favored.

John Boehner of Ohio, chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, who rose to leadership under former Speaker Newt Gingrich, then fell when Gingrich resigned over his own ethics troubles. John Shadegg of Arizona, a leader in the Republican Study Committee, a group of House conservatives with growing influence. (Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, is vying to replace him as Republican policy chairman.)

According to the job description, the majority leader is chief deputy to the speaker of the House, responsible for setting the legislative agenda, scheduling bills and passing Republican initiatives.

Under DeLay, it became far more. From corporations and lobbyists, DeLay raised millions of dollars for Republican candidates that helped secure the party's majority status. He openly solicited donations in return for access to House leadership.

His K Street Project, in which once-Democratic lobbying firms were expected to hire Republicans, also ensured a steady source of funds for the Republican cause.

"Traditionally, the majority leader in the House . . . is a floor leader, an inside player. DeLay Inc., if you will, really brought a different dimension to that position," said Dan Palazzolo, a political science professor at the University of Richmond who has studied team-building among the House leadership.

"What he has done in terms of setting expectations for the future is that the new majority leader probably will be party-building."

In September, DeLay temporarily left his post after he was indicted in Texas on a campaign-related money laundering charge. Last month, he stepped aside for good after lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a DeLay confidant, pleaded guilty in a federal corruption probe.

DeLay has maintained his innocence. Many colleagues say they believe he is a victim of political hatchet work, thanks to his effectiveness.

"He was a very good majority leader," said Rep. Jeff Miller, a Panhandle Republican who wore a sticker saying, "Shadegg = Reform."

Raising money is part of "what a leader does," he said. "Both sides have to . . . raise money for their candidates."

DeLay had been under an ethics cloud since last spring, but loyalty among House Republicans remained high until the very end. Ask why, and the answer is almost always the same: He earned it.

In 2004 alone, his political action committee, Americans for a Republican Majority, raised $3.7-million and gave away nearly $1-million to GOP candidates.

Last year, DeLay started his Retain Our Majority Program, which encouraged Republican members to give $1,000 each toward the campaigns of their 10 most vulnerable colleagues.

"It's all about the team, and being part of the team is raising money for the team, and giving it to members," Palazzolo said.

Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, who chaired the House Appropriations Committee for the past six years, said DeLay and the Republican leadership put too much pressure on fundraising.

"I raised very little money for my party. What little money I raised was because the leadership forced me to," he said. Under DeLay, the party's goal had become "chasing money. I really dislike that."

Young, who supports Blunt, said he told Blunt of his concerns, and was satisfied with his response.

Amy Walter, senior editor of the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan political newsletter, said Republicans were extremely successful in elections and in steering the president's agenda through Congress, but DeLay's travails became a liability, and the leadership may change its ways.

"They were successful; however, we're in a different political climate," Walter said. "The perception of abuse supersedes the benefits."

Two of the candidates to replace DeLay already have proved adept at chasing money and delivering it to members.

In the 2006 election cycle, Blunt's PAC has raised $1-million and given more than $420,000 to Republican candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign finance. Boehner's PAC has raised $2-million and given $314,000 to Republican candidates. Blunt also has close ties to K Street, and Boehner came under fire in 1996 for distributing $500 campaign checks from a tobacco company to members - on the House floor.

Shadegg's PAC has raised $850,000, but given just $41,000 to candidates.

Blunt offers continuity, which is why most Florida members are backing him, including Putnam and Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite of Brooksville.

Blunt claims to have the 117 votes need to win today without a runoff, but the ballots will be secret. In a Capitol where political capital often depends on trading favors, a vote promised is not the same as a vote delivered.

Times staff writer Anita Kumar contributed to this report.

[Last modified February 2, 2006, 02:15:36]