The Reluctant Speaker
Killian, Linda
LINDAKILLIANTHEJA sk anyone about Denny Hastert and the first thingsyou hear are always the same —he's a nice guy, hardworking, dependable, a man of his word. Everyonesays that—Republicans and...
...He doesn't call for the longball or the spectacular play, he goes three yards at a time," sayssenior GOP House member Porter Goss...
...In198o when he first ran for the Illinois House, he finished thirdin the GOP primary...
...Business is not done by speaker-appointed task forces and power is more decentralized...
...As for the Senate, many House members believe coordinationbetween the two bodies is only slightly better than during Gingrich's rule...
...These are not the leadership skills that will get him on the cover of Time magazineriding a white horse...
...The word beloved is not too strong," asserts Goss...
...Several members saidHastert often waits too long to make a decision, allowing allmembers to weigh in, and then is carried along by events...
...The previous leadership dictated to membersand then the place blew up," says Paxon...
...The spending hemorrhaged at the end of the year...
...Wewould go out of our way not to embarrass him," says ChristopherShays in a sentiment expressed by a number of members...
...The American people want to vote Republican for Congress and what turns them off is if they think we can't make thegovernment work," asserts King...
...Hastert has exactly the strengths of discipline, integrity, andputting party before self that Gingrich lacked...
...This fact transcendseverything else onecan possibly say aboutthe House...
...He knows he may have tocut a deal," says Mark Souder...
...He is not the guy you putout front," says Graham...
...But that's not to say he lacks ambition...
...He gets up every day and does what needs to bedone...
...since the famous "handshake" con-200 miles—these Katyushah rockets firm such skepticism...
...I no longer feel like I have to watch everyone like ahawk," says Rep...
...Some House Republicans suggest Hastert is in over hishead, completely lacking in vision...
...How do you handle itwhen the president vetoes spending bills...
...Consistency of message has been lost as well as resolve...
...I think he's grown in his ability to say no," offers Ewing...
...We have virtually no overhead...
...He brings memberswith him because they don't want to disappoint him...
...Barely...
...But when the nominee became ill, Hastertwas chosen as the stand-in and won the seat...
...It vent them from flooding Palestine...
...Ewing is in a position to know about Hastert'sbed-making habits since he lived with Hastert after being electedto Congress...
...Arab nations would not allow it, even if the Palestinians Other Arab states are still in a themselves so desired...
...Almost everyone seems to agree that this fall's budget processis Hastert's big test...
...He seems to be without ego, he's secure with himself," observes King...
...If so, a measure of how he's doing may be that he and his staff did notreturn repeated phone calls for this article...
...Stokke says his boss doesn't particularly like doing TV orbeing out front and is more comfortable dealing with membersand putting votes together behind the scenes...
...The part we're missing is someone looking at the big picture," says Souder...
...He is burning the midnight oil to listen to people...
...In Denny Hastert's world, everyone is entitledto his own opinion...
...The 1978 and has also concluded a peace treaty with Jordan...
...As for the rest of the leadership team, Dick Armey has largely faded from the scene and was described by one GOP member as "the subway conductor...
...H]e has a right tospeak out...
...We haven't gone out of our way to sabotage him," saysFrost...
...He's as decent a guy as you're ever going to findin Washington...
...Newt was always putting himself before the party...
...Denny's agenda is honestly to serve the House ofRepresentatives," says Goss...
...Shouldn't a speaker want people to be a little afraid of him...
...A Demilitarized Palestinian State Should Israel, should the world, rely on it...
...He doesn't need to be this super charismatic44 November 1999 • The American Spectator person...
...More than one member used "calming influence" todescribe Hastert's relationship with his fellow Republicans...
...Ronald Reaganalso grew up here...
...Stokke was working for the Illinois legislature when he metHastert...
...But despite their interest in seeing Hastert fail, Frost insists itis sometimes Hastert's closest friends who cause him the mosttrouble...
...It was obscene...
...They would the PLO has still not complied with Israel's main require-cover in their entirety Israel's narrow waist that holds ment, namely that it forswear the clauses in its 70% of the Jewish population of the country, 80% of "covenant" that call for the destruction of Israel...
...In 1986, the yearhe was elected to the House, the GOP congressman from Illinois's 14th district was forced to retire when he developed terminal cancer and Hastert was chosen to run in his place...
...The American Spectator • November 1999The Republican Conference also has its social conservatives(who are often fiscal conservatives as well), old-style moderates, and traditional pro-business Republicans...
...In the meantime, mortars and Katyushas located on the Judean ridges—Israel's proposed new borders—would suffice to paralyze life and industrial and military activity in Israel...
...Hastert is not flamboyant...
...This is not because we don't have an idea where we're headed...
...It's like herding eels," says Mark Sanford, and he ought toknow because when it comes to toeing the party line, he's oneof the slipperiest eels around...
...He's a steady hand...
...Please send me your videotape on three important aspects of P.O...
...Whatis closer to the truth is that Hastert makes his own decisions, butif DeLay doesn't like them he simply works against them anddoes what he wants to do...
...Hastert has always managed to advance his political careerwithout showing too much ambition —to be at the right placeat the right time...
...According to a recent Republican poll, only 25 percent of people questioned could identify him...
...Denny believes eventually the House will work its will," explains aide Stokke...
...People cancross him without fear," admits Stokke...
...But he doesn'thave Gingrich's talents for long-term strategizing, vision, andserving as a national figure...
...Afterward DeLaynamed Hastert chief deputy whip, sharing an office and staffwith him...
...seems almost incomprehensible ST A look at the map makes clear that that a group as supposedly level-these rockets, short-range though headed as a previous government they may be, would dominate the of Israel would have entered into a heartland of Israel...
...The real tests are yet to come...
...He's been insidethe Beltway too long," according to one GOP House member...
...I defy you to name anyone else in our conference whocould hold it together," says Souder...
...Even those most sanguine about the Oslo Accord, the understanding between Israel and the Palestinians, are agreed that the Palestinian entity to be formed will have to be demilitarized...
...Box s901s9 San . ranricrn rA 041 co Committee chairmen have a lot more autonomy than theydid under Gingrich...
...This is the Heartland...
...He is not going to be the guy whoissues the pithy quotes," says Paxon...
...but he's more than just a calming influence, he knows where the pressure points are and how to diffuse that...
...Hehad become the issue...
...Hastert was ahigh school historyteacher and wrestlingcoach before entering politics and hebrings the skills of agood coach to his jobas speaker— motivating his players andholding them together...
...Watts, who ousted JohnBoehner as the head of the Republican Conference on thestrength of his speechmaking and media abilities, has disappointed some members...
...WhenBush recently criticized them for trying to defer tax-credit payments for low-income people, saying "I don't think theyought to balance their budget on the backs of the poor," it rankled some Republicans...
...Israel is a very small tinian state to foment an allied all-out assault against country...
...I think he's doing the best job he can," King says aboutHastert...
...The Republicans have only a fivevote margin, thesmallest margin of control in the House inalmost 5o years...
...Hastert is a nice fellow who hadnever been chairman of a committee or in elected leadership...
...He got the Republicans their majority in 1994and under Gingrich's leadership they steadily lost seats in eachof the next two elections...
...With Newt Gingrich gone, DeLay is the closest thing to a villain the Democrats have, and it serves their purpose to assert thatDeLay is pulling the strings and is the de facto speaker...
...Graham describes Hastertas "a fair broker, a calming influence, he can pull people together....The general trust level is higher...
...We ebb back and forth between thinking this is hopelessto saying, let's throw a bomb and light the match," says Sanford of his fellow Class of '94 revolutionaries, who feel spending is going in the wrong direction and that deficits couldreappear if the economy goes south...
...We did have an idea of moving up, but not this far this fast...
...When he met withHastert before the vote, Hastert didn't pressure him, just reminded Ganske it would be close...
...Arafat its industrial base, its only international airport, and and his lieutenants continue to make blood-curdling its most important military installations...
...He's just grinding out the business of government...
...Mail to : FLAME_ P.O...
...In addition to the suggestion that he is not tough enough toride herd over a fractious conference, another perceived weakness is Hastert's lack of talent at public communication...
...Cox agrees that there doesn't seem to be a clear plan...
...TheRepublicans controlthat chamber...
...Labs are an easy-to-get-along-with, eager-to-pleasebreed, a reflection of the man who likes to raise them...
...The fact that the House has not run out of control is the resultof his management of the situation," asserts Cox, who flirted withthe idea of running for speaker himself last fall...
...You deserve a factual look at...
...J.C...
...Iran, Moslem though sands of trained soldiers, camounot Arab, is the most determined flaged as police...
...I don't think he'sever told someone 'You have no business voting any way but theway I told you,'" says Stokke...
...The fact that he's able to keep us together is impressive...
...He's playing it cautious...
...Cox points to the vote on gun control when Hastert toldDeLay to get the votes for passage, but DeLay was actuallyworking against the legislation...
...After the GOP's poor showing in 1998, Hastert wasurged by Ewing and several other senior members to run againstDick Armey for majority leader...
...Our goal is to hand the baton to the presidential nominee," says Graham...
...He understands he has to get to 218...
...He is a studious, plodding workhorse —but the workhorsepulls the plow...
...Sanford is a budget hawk whobelieves the Republicans are spending too much...
...Denny has raised the esteem of the institution by behaving theway he does...
...So sure are the Democrats of their victory nextNovember that three of them—Nancy Pelosi, Stenny Hoyer, and John Lewis—have already begun their race for the currentlynon-existent post of Democratic whip...
...One can only hope that ultimately Isreal's leaders will clearly understand this danger and that they will not make concessions that will endanger the security of their country...
...LINDA KILLIAN, a Washington journalist, is author of TheFreshmen: What Happened to the Republican Revolution...
...Hastert does not lead by intimidation, threats of withheldcommittee assignments, or campaign cash...
...The more you command, sometimes the less the members will follow...
...Easily moved "peace agreement" with such an and hidden along Israel's new eastorganization...
...Hastert allowsideas and action to percolate up rather than down...
...Gingrich had a Tyrannosaurus Rex skull in his Capitoloffice...
...41 "He is making a point of being open and accessible to members at all times...
...Everyone who knowshim even slightly calls him Denny...
...The differences between Hastert and his predecessor arenumerous and for the most part too obvious to need to spell out...
...He makes his bed every day," says Tom Ewing, Hastert's bestfriend in Congress...
...He tries to bea leader of the party in other ways, other than being a national talking head...
...Under Hastert, the House is again a more traditional place, which means the older members are happier in general thanthe younger firebrands...
...Westview...
...Also, the declared or undeclared state of war Palestinian entity would have thouwith Israel...
...Box 590359 n San Francisco, CA 94159 Israel's strategic situation, fiery speeches by Yassir Arafat, and some memorable moments with Louis Farrakhan...
...asks Graham...
...Former MinorityLeader Bob Michel was a mentor and something of a rolemodel...
...Peter King, whorecalls Hastert opening doors for members of his securitydetail...
...Greg Ganske was one of only four Republicans to voteagainst the recent GOP-sponsored tax cut...
...But Hastert gave a typically Hastertresponse, saying, "It's a free country...
...And on any givenissue you may find the Conference split three or four ways...
...He doesn't have the depth of leadership experience...
...Hastert didn't convince Gansketo vote his way, but Ganske insists, "Another speaker usingstrong-arm tactics couldn't have gotten us this far...
...When the Republicans won the majority in 1994,Hastert ranTom DeLay's successful campaign for whip...
...You need something positive to run on...
...Even if they oppose him they tendto go away liking him...
...Stokke admits DeLay "has a big role at the table," but pointsto Hastert's decisions to allow votes on campaign finance andHMO reform over DeLay's objections as examples of Hastertexerting his independence...
...Last year was an abject, total disaster...
...them within the same night...
...FLAME is a tax-exempt, non-profit educational 501(c)(3) organization...
...It'simportant for us to deliver and become the do-something Congress...
...He radiates a certain strength...
...The other day in conference I thoughthe looked like he'd aged a lot in the last six months...
...destroying Israel in "stages"—first by creating a PalesIsrael threatened by enemies...
...According to Brown, DeLaythumped his chest and said, "I made him deputy whip —Imade him...
...Unfortunately, they often want conflicting things...
...They had also shared an apartment in Springfield, when both were in the Illinois legislature...
...Thedistrict stretches from the western Chicago suburbs to Illinoisfarm country and isstrongly Republican...
...It's what we need at this time," says Rep...
...He's a leader that's in theprocess of learning the job...
...But The Palestine Liberation Organ-such mobilization of the "demilitaization (PLO), with which Isreal's rized" Palestine wouldn't be Rabin government has signed a required...
...He was born and raised in the4th district of Illinois, the one he now represents in Congress...
...Well-liked he is, but is he tough enough...
...AsChris Cox describes it, the party balance "restson an ice edge...
...The specter of the government shutdown, over which he presided, remains etched in the minds ofmost Americans when they think of the GOP Congress, and thedesire to avoid a similar debacle has affected every budget negotiation with Bill Clinton since 1995...
...Lindsey Graham, adding there's more of anease within the GOP Conference...
...Here blame is pointed at Majority Leader TrentLott...
...His family remains back in Illinois where his wife Jean isa school teacher...
...The man who has the privilege of being speaker under theseconditions is 57-year-old J. Dennis Hastert...
...Even when Hastert opposes legislation, like Shays-Meehancampaign finance reform or the Dingell-Norwood HMO bill, he allows it to go forward if he thinks that's what his memberswant...
...If Israel ceded the Gaza Strip—the invasion route since before biblical times—and Judea/Samaria (the "West Bank") to its sworn enemies it would make the country indefensible and Israel would have laid the groundwork for its own destruction...
...speeches to the Arab public, beyond Western TV The Arabs living in Judea/Samaria (the "West Bank") danced on the roofs of their homes when Iraqi Scud missiles fell on Tel Aviv during the Gulf War...
...What happens could very well determinewhether the Republicans hold on to control of the House...
...That was an embarrassment for Hastert," contends Frost...
...He andClass of '94 compatriots like Steve Largent, Tom Coburn, Matt Salmon, John Shadegg, Mark Souder, and Lindsey Graham (Sanford calls them the "rat pack") are all too happy tothrow a wrench in the gears if they think the train is speedingdown the wrong track...
...They could be and deadly of them all...
...While the latter objective mobile, ideal for hit-and-run raids is beyond its reach, it has been against Israel...
...The assumption that fornia...
...The animosity level is loo percent less...
...Gingrich left us in disarray, it was four years on the highwire...
...It took just a fewhours to gather more than loo votes and the clear support of amajority of the Conference...
...We were dysfunctional...
...He's been eaten up by special interests...
...He isn't just a guy who holds people's hands and singsKumbayah," says Paxon...
...When you have a small working majority you've got tohave fairly firm leadership," observes Democratic CaucusChairman Martin Frost...
...Including the Golan and the "West Bank," it is the critically vulnerable Jewish state...
...But when Hastert asked Armeyto be relieved of his commitment to vote for him, Armey refusedand Hastert declined to run...
...Will they...
...The Republicans have made so many mistakes and gotten such bad press and we're still in the majority...
...This year is no exception...
...Ewing says Hastert knows he is better behind the scenesthan at handling the public aspect of the speakership...
...Ask anyone about the House of Representatives and what'sbeen happening, or not happening, there since Hastert becamethe 51st speaker of the House in January and you will also hearone thing over and over...
...His word is good and he doesn't manipulate you to getyour vote...
...They enable us to pursue these goals and to publish these messages in national newspapers In StateZip and magazines...
...Frost points to last spring's vote on funding for Kosovo inwhich Hastert urged support of the measure and Whip TomDeLay worked against it...
...It was a depressing and conspiracy filled institution," saysPaxon of the House during the Gingrich reign...
...The door is wide open forRepublican leadership and it's going to be at the presidentiallevel," agrees Goss...
...We feel like we've wasted six years of our life...
...Will hehandle things better next year—yes...
...But the strategy all along, say many House Republicans, wassimply for Hastert to keep the Republicans out of troubleuntil the GOP had its presidential nominee, presumablyGeorge W. Bush...
...Almost all of our revenue pays for our educational work, for these clarifying messages, and for related direct mail...
...He's a speaker for the whole House, for the institution...
...The meaning was clear to Brown: Hastert wouldbe speaker in name, but he would do DeLay's bidding...
...Israel has been in a "cold peace" with Egypt since "Palestine" would be demilitarized is not tenable...
...They're playing a whole lot of defense and you can't defend yourway into a win," says budget-hawk Sanford...
...Hastert is a conservative, but he is also a pragmatist...
...he doesn't have to be pretty," says Shadegg...
...There's no real plan for dealing with the end of the yearbudget matters and that is "the reason we're going to end upspending a ton of money," asserts Souder...
...It means the Republicans spend more than they want to, oftenon programs they don't like...
...They thought DeLay might be moving up in 2000and Hastert "wanted to take a shot at whip," according to Stokke...
...Of course, after Gingrich, most Republicanswould probably say they have had enough excitement for a while...
...It's because by any objective measure we haven't beenable to get there...
...only one-half the size of San Bernardino County in Cali-The myth of demilitarization...
...When the shots are being fired, at the toughest moment, hekeeps his head screwed on and he calmly, methodically goesabout getting the votes," says Paxon...
...The American people were tired of a speaker as visible as the president...
...When he called me to come back here to work for him twoyears ago, one of the things he wanted to do was raise his profile in 2000," says Mike Stokke, Hastert's deputy chief of staff...
...Ultimately, no one challengedhim and Hastert was appointed speaker by acclamation...
...After Gingrich's resignation and Robert Livingston's abruptdeparture, the same people who had wanted Hastert to bemajority leader urged him to run for speaker...
...LINDAKILLIANTHEJA sk anyone about Denny Hastert and the first thingsyou hear are always the same —he's a nice guy, hardworking, dependable, a man of his word...
...Could he have done better—yes...
...He's a man doing a job," says Goss...
...Only incurable optimists can believe that an independent Palestine would become a peaceful neighbor of Israel...
...Denny was blindsided on that," King recalls...
...Watts is supposed to be the media point man...
...There's a level of concern about what's going to happen," says Shadegg...
...Hastert breeds and raises Labrador Retrievers back homein Illinois...
...I said, 'Whoin the hell is Dennis Hastert...
...H astert comes from a legislative background and has respectfor the legislative process...
...Hastert never forces people to do things...
...0 r as Graham puts it, "He's following a very high profile, polarizing figure...
...Newt Gingrich's shadow hangs over this Congress — it cannot be avoided...
...If youjudge Republicans on the basis of results it's a mixed bag...
...The members were at each other'sthroats...
...He's not a bold leader and he's not running roughshodover his chairmen," says John Shadegg...
...cameras, in which they re-assert their old goal of What are the facts...
...I f you asked most Americans who the speaker of the Houseis they probably couldn't tell you, which seems to be fine withHastert...
...r This ad has been published and paid for by Yes, I want to help the publication of these ads and in clarifying I the situation in the Middle East...
...I include my tax-deductible contribution in the amount of /48D FLAME Facts and Logic about the Middle East q My contribution is in the amount of $100 or more...
...Only time will tell, but even Hastert's critics saythey can't think of anyone who could do the job better right now...
...He has friends of all ideological stripes on both sides of the aisle...
...That'sone of the things he expressed concern about the day he becamespeaker," Ewing recalls...
...If you're the one that's goingto take him on, you're the one who's going to be unpopular," says King...
...This isnot an exciting guy...
...He comes off as honest, down to earth, sincere," saysEwing of Hastert...
...42 November 1999• The American Spectator This is the background image for an unknown creator of an OCR page with image plus hidden text...
...He is measured, he is not as decisive or bold as you mightwant," says Shadegg...
...He'smethodical...
...There's a Waiting for Godot quality to this expectation, except that a GOP nominee is actually coming and when hedoes arrive House Republicans could be in for a shock...
...Tanks, warplanes, and missiles would only be needed for the final mopping-up process...
...But that means "thereis no central figure running the House," according to Graham...
...It lurks in helicoptered in minutes to positions the background, its foremost mili-on the border with Israel, with tary and political objective being the armored forces from Syria reaching destruction of the state of Israel...
...Five people onany given day cancause chaos," observes former GOP Congressman Bill Paxon...
...He's getting the nation's business done in a slow and unspecThe American Spectator • November 1999tacular way...
...He's the right guy at the rightmoment to be speaker...
...The weapons of prefer"peace agreement," is a terror orga-ence of Arab terrorists are the Sovinization that has only one purpose: Mediterranean et-made Katyushas, highly effective to kill Jews and to destroy the state Sea missiles, truck-mounted and of Israel...
...There is nothing spectacular or flashy about Hastert...
...A demilitarized Judea/Samaria (the "West Bank") and Gaza Strip, it is believed, would obviate any military threat to the state of Israel...
...Since the signing of the "peace agreement" they have continued to engage in terror and murder against the Jews...
...45...
...But Hastert is no Steve Spurner...
...Hastert seems to have known that all along...
...Democrat Sherrod Brown says he ran into DeLay in theairport the night after Hastert was named speaker...
...Israel could not premost successful in the former...
...Unfortunately, ern borders—to be increased from less than 40 miles in length to over though not surprisingly, events A Palestinian state—demilitarized...
...But neither do the Democrats plan to be particularlyhelpful since their singlemost goal is recapturing control ofthe House...
...He was elected to be the face andfrankly he hasn't done it," said one member...
...Now when he's inWashington, Hastert lives with his chief of staff and deputy chiefof staff...
...Despite statements to the contrary, would rain destruction over most of Israel...
...Everyonesays that—Republicans and Democrats, close friendsand mere acquaintances...
...Its purpose is the research and publication of the facts regarding developments in the Middle East My name is and exposing false propaganda that might harm the interests of the United States and I live at its allies in that area of the world.Your tax-deductible contributions are welcome...
...I think theDemocrats are overconfident and believing their own propaganda...
...He is the only personwho could have gotten the Republican Conference as far asit has gotten this year," says Ganske, who adds that the toll onHastert is visible...
Vol. 32 • November 1999 • No. 11
