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Battle brews to wrest away U.S. House seat

By BILL ADAIR
Published April 17, 2006

The campaign for a South Florida congressional seat is shaping up as one of the most hotly contested in the country, a race that might help decide which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives.

That kind of pressure isn't new for Rep. Clay Shaw, the mild-mannered Republican who has held the Broward-Palm Beach seat for 26 years. He won by a whisker in 2000 - just 599 votes - and over the years has survived several other Democrats who were considered serious threats.

But analysts say this year's race will be especially challenging for him because polls show voters are unhappy with Republicans and Shaw is facing a well-funded and highly regarded Democratic challenger, state Sen. Ron Klein of Boca Raton.

"This will be the hardest battle Clay Shaw has ever faced," said Jim Kane, the director of the Florida Voter Poll, a nonpartisan survey. "This is the most vulnerable seat in the state and one of the most vulnerable in the country."

In an era of fierce partisanship, Shaw is a reminder of a more gentle time. He is a quiet man who does not give fiery speeches or go on Hardball shouting the party line. Yet he votes with his party more than 90 percent of the time.

As a senior Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, he has been a leader on Social Security, a key player on trade bills and the author of the historic welfare reform law that passed in 1996.

He is seeking the chairmanship of Ways and Means, an influential panel that oversees tax law, Medicare and Social Security. Although he is considered the underdog in that committee race, Shaw said he is still a contender.

Shaw, 66, has been battling lung cancer for several years but said there has been no sign of the cancer since he had surgery a few months ago. He said he feels great.

"The only side effect is that my hair has gotten curly," he said with a smile, adding that it should straighten itself when he stops taking a prescription drug.

Shaw said he isn't ready to retire.

"I think I'm too valuable," he said. "Seniority and experience puts you in a position of being able to solve problems."

As a Republican in the Democratic stronghold of Broward, he has had several serious challengers, but his friendly demeanor and moderate style have enabled him to keep his seat. He said the pundits are exaggerating his vulnerabilities.

"People look at my district based on the year 2000. It is not the same district," he said.

Republican mapmakers removed Democratic neighborhoods in Broward and Miami-Dade from his district and replaced them with Republican areas in northern Palm Beach County, Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter.

But despite the carefully drawn lines, John Kerry still won the district with 52 percent of the vote, and Shaw's support of President Bush's tax cuts and the Medicare drug program will make his race more difficult.

"It's always been hard to pin him as a partisan," said Chuck Todd, editor of Hotline, a political Web site. "But this time, he has had to do too many partisan things."

Klein, meanwhile, has been positioning himself as a middle-of-the-road candidate. He calls himself a probusiness Democrat and a fiscal conservative.

"I've learned a lot from my Republican colleagues over the years on fiscal responsibility," he said, a subtle way to emphasize bipartisanship but still zing the Republicans for being big spenders.

A state legislator for 14 years, Klein said he has worked well with both parties and that he dislikes partisanship. "My feeling is, when the president or the (Republican) leadership has a good idea, you support them," he said.

He said Shaw has been too Republican.

"Mr. Shaw's record, for whatever reason, has been pretty much as a rubber stamp" for the Republican leadership, Klein said.

Unlike Shaw's previous challengers, who were viewed as partisan Democrats with strong personalities, Klein has a more mellow approach that could make a difference.

"I think he's the most qualified, serious candidate Clay Shaw has ever faced," Kane said.

With the campaign just getting under way, the charges and countercharges are only beginning:

Klein criticizes Shaw for supporting the Medicare drug program, which Klein said is too complicated and was overly generous to drug companies. Shaw replies that the program had a bumpy start but is now helping millions of senior citizens.

Shaw portrays Klein, an attorney whose firm handles land use issues, as a lobbyist. Shaw said Klein should not have represented his firm's clients before local governments because he essentially represents those same governments as a state senator in Tallahassee.

"What he's doing is lobbying entities he is supposed to be representing. I think it's a blatant conflict of interest," Shaw said.

Klein said he has not done anything improper. "As part of my law practice, we do land use work." But he added, "I do not lobby the Legislature."

The race is drawing national attention because polls suggest voters throughout the country are so unhappy with Republicans that Democrats could pick up the 15 seats they need to win control of the House.

"It's clear that a storm is brewing," said Amy Walter, who follows House races for the Cook Political Report . "The question is just how strong."

The race will be an expensive one. Shaw has $2-million on hand. Klein has $1.6-million.

Todd, the Hotline editor, said Shaw's low-key approach may not be sufficient in a difficult political year. "The question is, does he have the stamina?"

But Walter said Shaw is resilient. "It's dangerous to underestimate Clay Shaw."

--Washington bureau chief Bill Adair can be reached at adair@sptimes.com or 202 463-0575.

[Last modified April 17, 2006, 01:22:19]