King Weasel

...U.S...

...We have no record of Senator Armstrong ever contributing a dime to this campaign in 1994 or any subsequent year...

...And not just any pledge, but the one that defined him...

...Bennett campaigned for Nethercutt in 1994...

...I would not have gotten involved except for the fact that he made term limits file central issue of his campaign...

...The three-term pledge was the centerpiece of his candidacy, its only real issue: Vote for me, I'm not Tom Foley, and I won't become Tom Foley...

...Those 60,000 petitions...

...OF BENNETT'S AXIO3IS~ ~ SAYS BILL BENNETT : "THou SH_ALT NOT ACT IN SUCH A ~'~rAY AS TO 5IAKE THE VOTP2RS 3IOI~E CYNICAL ABOUT POLITICS...

...Nethercutt turned the advantages of power and influence around on Foley...

...Can you imagine what it's got to be like to walk into a room and everybody thinks you're a jerk...

...This issue is not a term-limits one," says Armstrong...

...The primary results indicate which incumbents face the most trouble...

...I felt betrayed...

...Winning re-election in 1996 and 1998 proved fairly easy...

...ETHEI~CUTT S.a*YS HE~S ENTITLED TO CHANGE HIS MI~NVD A~NFD IT ~rOULD BE SILLY FOR HIM TO DEPRIVE THE PEOPLE OF HIS DISTRICT THE OPPORTUNYfWlY TO VOTE FOR HIM...

...Of those, seven lost in November...

...7 - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MAX SCHULZ is a writer IMng in Washington, D.C...

...Washington state has an unusual blanket primary in which the top two vote-getters square off in the general election...

...Never produced...

...Peter Blake, a columnist for the Rocky Mountain News, got wind of Armstrong's disappointment and wrote about it...

...Republicans inside the Beltway think so...

...Nethercutt vowed to never sue the voters to block their will...

...That note to the clerk of the House...

...He worked overtime this year to get Congress to loosen the embargo on agricultural exports to rogue nations like Cuba and Iraq...

...And whenever he jets from the Washington of the East back home to eastern Washington, he goes from being the jewel in the crown of the Revolution to being, as Lowell Weicker might put it, the turd in the punchbowl of local GOP politics...

...It recently downgraded his chances to 8-7, saying he's just slightly favored to be re-elected...

...They just don't seem willing to send him back to Washington, D.C...

...He broke one of Bennett's axioms: Thou shalt not act in such a way as to make the voters more cynical about politics...

...lot of people will do or say anything to get elected," Armstrong says...

...Campaigns ~ Elections magazine, which is something like Vegas for politics with a tote board calculating candidates' odds, had been listing Nethercutt as a 3-1 favorite to keep his seat...

...But he also said that three terms are "probably not enough" time to accomplish the important work he'd set out to do, given the complexi~ of the issues...

...I would rather be known as the congressman who admitted a mistake and changed his mind, rather than the congressman who couldn't and didn't...

...House approval of the measure this summer stands as the lone major legislative accomplishment Nethercutt can call his own...

...This year, however, there are three who have not-- House merebets Scott Mclnnis (R-Colorado), Mart), Meehan (D-Mass...

...The American Spectator _9 O c t o b e r ~ o o o 47...

...If it weren't for Yates, the just-arrested serial killer who kept Spokane on edge by systematically offing prostitutes and junkies for kicks, George Nethercutt would be the most notorious person in eastern Washington...

...David had slain Goliath, and was on his way to Congress...

...But it framed the issue so completely in that election...

...House of Representatives following the io4th Congress, by this letter I hereby resign and direct you to remove my name permanently from the roll of the members...

...Dornan's e-mail and Armstrong's canceled check were fodder for follow-up columns, which made news back in Washington's 5th district and crystallized what the election is about...

...In FebruaD, 1999 he said, "I meant it when I said six years is enough...

...So Nethercult's hoping to squeak in, iust as he did in 1994...

...The National Republican Campaign Committee has poured money into Nethercutt's race, and Speaker Dennis Hastert recently headed a fundraiser for Nethercutt in Spokane...

...He then adds: "I don't see how he looks himself in the mirror each morning...

...They didn't work...

...Also, after talking with 46 O c t o b e r 2 o o o _9 The American Spectator Congressman Nethercutt, he has no recollection of any involvement by the senator in the 1994 campaign...

...Foley's defeat stung Democrats even more than the twin downfalls of Governors Mario Cuomo and Ann Richards...

...How it shakes out has ramifications for one of the more interesting hot-button issues of recent vintage--term limits...

...He's definitely feeling the heat...

...An August 14-15 survey showed his negatives exceeding his positives, but had him leading Clear 31 to 17 percent among likely primary voters...

...I'm going to get clobbered in November.'" Which wouldn't make that many people in Spokane and the surrounding areas too sad, even as the district tends Republican...

...George Nethercutt is doing just that...

...Ever mindful of the pledge to which he owed his victory, Nethercur endlessly repeated his vow to serve no more than three terms...

...But six years later he ridicules his positions on the things he attacked Foley for...

...We need a listener, not a speaker," he would tell audiences, deriding Foley as a man the times had passed by...

...I'm mortal...

...In 1998 and 1999 he actually voted to spend far more than he voted to cut...

...Only one sitting House speaker had ever lost a bid for re-election, and that had been well over a century before...

...That should be taken with a grain of salt, since the survey was commissioned by the Clear campaign...

...No matter that as speaker Tom Foley could direct federal largesse to Washington in ways that a newly minted congressman never would be able...

...He's betraying the very issue which was the essence of why he got elected...

...Adds another: "He's like O.J...

...Six years later Nethercutt can no longer coast as the whiz-kid conquering hero...

...Usually the incumbent wins...

...Poll numbers augured poorly for Nethercutt...

...Armstrong felt strongly enough to send a campaign donation to Nethereutt's Republican open primary opponent, Richard Clear, a talk-radio host who threw his hat into the ring because of Nethercutt's broken promise...

...In Washington, D.C., he is something of a big shot, enjoying the perks and trappings of office and basking in the fading glow of being the guy who toppled a speaker...

...Nethercutt announced in June of last year that he had made a mistake, an honest one, and that he shouldn't be punished for it...

...But it's not far off the mark to say that Nethercutt is breathing down Yates's neck for that dubious honor...

...N e t h e r c u t t ' s upset over the most powerful man on Capitol Hill, a veteran of three decades in the House, encapsulated the nationwide repudiation of 4 o years of unchecked Democratic rule in Congress...

...But if accurate, that 31 percent figure suggested real trouble for Nethercutt, and analysts were treating the race as a coin toss...

...And anytime a guy like Nethercutt can get away with a stunt like this, it's just bad...

...His frantic bid for re-election is shaping up as one of the most important races in the country this fall...

...He invoked all the ctichds about the need for citizen legislators...

...In the last decade, eight Washington incumbents have received less than 5o percent in the blanket primary...

...When N e t h e r c u t t broke his three- ~I~E BROKE ONE term pledge, Garry Trudeau pilloried the congressman in Doonesbury as the "Weasel King...

...In Washington state, however, he is something of a pariah...

...Washington's 5th district is heavy with farmers who'd love to ship more goods overseas...

...More broadly, it will play a part in history's judgment about whether the Republican Revolution of 1994 was a real movement, or if it was perpetrated by a bunch as phony and dissembling as the gang it replaced...

...So Spokane is a dry town, though not in the way that term is used in the Baptist South...

...And you don't just beat the speaker of the House...

...Nethercutt is the congressman representing sleepy Spokane and the rest of eastern Washington's Fth district in Congress...

...For his part, Nethercutt says that he is entitled to change his mind, and that it would be silly for him to deprive the people of his district the opportunity to vote for him...

...According to the National Taxpayers Union, in his first year in Congress he voted to cut spending by nearly $84 bil]ion...

...With the votes counted, he had taken Foley in a 51-49 squeaker...

...A local group called the Eastern Washington Term Limits Action Commitfee bought ads on city buses reading, "Keep Your Word, George...

...Now he too has "grown" in office to support more government spending...

...They should have checked the FEC report, which shows Senator Armstrong's $1,ooo donation to Nethercutt in 1994...

...The pledge was the central issue of his campaign, the central issue of who he was and what his publie career was all about," says Paul Jacob, USTL's national director...

...Both Armstrong and Clear had backed Nethercutt in his bid against Foley...

...He was generally conservative, generally supported the Contract with America, and was generally well-regarded...

...It was something that energized voters in the 5th district, not to mention prominent Republicans nationwide...

...On the contrary, Spokane seems to have more than its share of taverns, which are fine places to uncover the sentiments of the locals...

...The American Spectator _9 0 c t o b e r 2 o o o 45 In the giddy first days of the Republican takeover, Nethercurt embarked on a modest House career distinguished only for its lack of anything distinguishing...

...ethercutt has found it difficult to deflect attention from the pledge...

...hat argument doesn't wash with virtue-maven Bill Bennett...

...And I still never thought he'd win...

...He rose seemingly from nowhere to defeat House Speaker Tom Foley...

...It was a change of ethos: 'We're not going to be career politicians anymore.'" Foley, generally well-liked, had aroused the ire of his constituents by going to court to challenge a term-limits resolution passed by Washington state voters...

...It's an issue of political integrity...

...People in Spokane don't want him around...

...Eastern Washington is an arid place, a far cry from the lushness generally associated with the Pacific Northwest...

...As has happened to more than one member of Congress, however, George Nethercutt found he liked serving as an elected official...

...I'm going to lose...

...Everywhere George Nethercu~ goes, he is haunted by that pledge, not to mention a giant weasel...

...Poor memory, and poor politics...

...At Jack and Dan's Tavern, near the campus of Gonzaga University (where Nethercntt earned his law degree), the consensus is overwhelming: Nethercutt should go, just not back to Congress...

...He reiterated it everywhere--in speeches, on his taxpayer-supported Website, everywhere...

...So the issue is: Should the Republican Party be represented by a guy who betrayed the one campaign promise he made--a promise which was the core of his political essence...

...Nethercutt's turnaround burns USTL the most...

...By election day, Nethercutt was positioned as a modern-day Cincinnatus, almost itching to get those three terms finished so he could go back to the truly important things--his family, his legal practice, and his important work with the local Diabetes Foundation...

...You may want to check your facts," wrote Dornan...

...Nobody in Spokane would have found out had Nethercutt's campaign manager, Jim Dornan, not sent an absurd e-mail to Blake...

...He was exciting...

...If Nethercutt survives the September 19 primary, he will likely find himself matched against a solid Democratic candidate, lawyer Tom Keefe...

...to accomplish that...

...And as the sand started running out of the hourglass on his Capitol Hill tenure, Nethercutt dropped hints that perhaps he shouldn't be bound by his three-term pledge...

...Former Senator William Armstrong (R-Colorado) agrees, and in so doing has found himself in a bizarre spat with the Nethercutt campaign...

...The pledge was exciting," says Bill Bennett, former secretary of education and best-selling author of The Book of Virtues...

...I had no expectations that George Nethercutt would win in 1994," says Armstrong, who retired from the Senate in 1991 and returned to Colorado...

...And that's George Nethercutt's problem...

...He even told The American Spectator: "Judge me on my record, my accomplishments, my honesty in admitting I made a mistake...

...That cynicism is a cancer on the body politic...

...He shouldn't be running and he doesn't deserve to be re-elected...

...His life is a tale of two Washingtons...

...and Nethercutt...

...The reason seems obvious to everyone but Nethercutt: He broke a campaign pledge...

...He really should resign;' says one barstoo] regular...

...Before being sworn in, he sent a letter to the clerk of the House of Representatives: "Should I be elected to serve more than two additional terms in the U.S...

...They wish he would go away...

...He traded in a reputation as a straightforward, honest guy for one who is the very epitome of a career politician, which is very sad," says Jacob...

...Term Limits, a national advocacy group, sprung into action, taking out a billboard in Spokane pre-emptively "thanking" Nethercutt for sticking to his pledge...

...It's an ugly case," says Bennett, who thinks the only honorable course of action Nethercutt could take would be to walk away...

...The sobriquet stuck, and at man}, of his public appearances Nethercutt is finding himself trailed by a guy in a giant weasel suit paid for by term-limits supporters...

...Nobody wants him around...

...And he has broken it in spectacularly appalling fashion, reinforcing the idea that politicians are a bunch of dishonorable crumbs only out for themselves...

...I have learned that we should expect our legislative system to work the will of the people in its time, not mine," he said at his formal announcement for re-election...

...He's obligated to keep his promise...

...It quoted one participant in the closed-door negotiations over loosening trade embargoes as saying Nethercutt "just sat there and whined and complained the whole night, saying, Tm going to lose...

...Nethercutt's desperation was exposed recently by the Hill, a newspaper that follows Congress...

...So I sent the N e t h e r c u t t campaign a check...

...But now there is a general contentment with incumbents, so the situation is tailor-made for someone who would try to do what Nethercutt is doing," he says...

...Any appeal to a popular groundswell of support for Nethercutt has faded...

...REP, GEORGE NETHERCUTT~ THE HERO OF 1994~ I S LEARNING THE HARD WAY THAT A MAN~S WORD EVEN A POLITICIAN'S I S HIS BOND, Nethercutt pledged in 1994 that, if dected, he would serve no more than three terms in the House of Representatives, all the while clubbing Foley over the head for having spent decades inside the Beltway...

...Every year since, that number has become smaller...

...It wasn't binding...

...It was who he was...

...In 199o and '9 z most incumbents of both parties saw their percentages drop," says Michael Barone, author of the indispensable Almanac of American Politics...

...There was one reason, and one reason only...

...Spokane was ground zero for the atomic bomb dropped on the political landscape in November 1994, and George Nethercutt piloted the Enota Gay...

...Of the 18 members of Congress who have voluntarily termlimited themselves in recent years, most have kept their word...

...When he does obliquely address the pledge, he sets himself up as a selfless public servant who would not think to deprive the voters of his expertise...

...A group of supporters, meanwhile, announced plans to gather 60,000 petitions urging Nethercutt to run again...