APR?S NEWT
BARNES, FRED
APRÈS NEWT by Fred Barnes TOM DELAY, THE HOUSE REPUBLICAN WHIP, is keeping his own job and affecting everybody else's. The morning after Christopher Cox of california announced he was running for...
...Plus he has the inclination to play a policy role...
...Webber, after all, first met Watts when she solicited his vote for DeLay in the 1994 whip's race...
...Watts of Oklahoma launched his drive to oust John Boehner of Ohio as conference chairman, an old DeLay hand, Mildred Webber, became Watts's campaign manager...
...To win the whip's job in 1994, he ran against Gingrich's best friend, Bob Walker...
...Linder distributed a letter dated April 23 that complained: "Circumstances are conspiring to halt the momentum that favors our party and drag it to a standstill by November...
...The morning after Christopher Cox of california announced he was running for speaker of the House, DeLay endorsed Cox's chief opponent, Bob Livingston of Louisiana...
...At least DeLay isn't...
...He didn't...
...I remember when Newt Gingrich's wife left a press conference in tears when he blamed her," Linder said...
...Less apparent is the effort, led by DeLay, to remove any residue of Newt Gingrich's influence on House Republicans...
...In 1995, he sent Armey a letter demanding that he stop criticizing DeLay in private...
...And when J.C...
...DeLay also was never close to Boehner, who became conference chairman with Gingrich's help, or Linder, who was appointed to the campaign post by Gingrich...
...Then the split widened when Armey pulled out of the abortive anti-Gingrich coup last year and denied that he'd ever wanted to oust Gingrich...
...Under Gingrich, DeLay was merely a tactician, the guy who counted votes and mustered majorities...
...DeLay almost didn't sign the Contract With America in 1994 because it endorsed term limits, which he loathes...
...Mainly by moving into policymaking...
...He had a seat at the leadership table, but not a loud or influential voice...
...Why not...
...Despite the media's insistence that congressional Republicans should move to the center, Livingston and DeLay aren't likely to...
...Since Davis was a shoo-in, DeLay couldn't be accused of trying to be a kingmaker...
...How exactly is DeLay increasing his power...
...Moderates are leery of Armey, who once suggested in print they should be tossed aside...
...Walker's top aides were then hired by Gingrich, and, not surprisingly, they clashed with DeLay's staff...
...This didn't happen, yet Linder and his staff continued to predict solid Republican gains right up to Election Day...
...3 post during the Republican leadership shuffle, is gaining power...
...DeLay was straight with us," says Scarborough...
...He's the most unswerving right-winger in the GOp hierarchy, and he didn't attract a challenger...
...Republican colleagues said Linder's aides assured them that Republicans would win a minimum of 15 House seats and perhaps as many as 30...
...he just doesn't want to be seen as power-hungry...
...True, some of Gingrich's allies—chiefly majority leader Dick Armey and Linder, less so Boehner—may hold on...
...Linder later told the reporter he "regretted" mentioning Marianne Gingrich...
...With that, DeLay is sure to agree...
...They chafed at Gingrich's attacks on the House...
...Livingston is more his type, a legislative insider, not a visionary with schemes for the next century...
...DeLay never fit in with Gingrich...
...This election is much bigger than J.C...
...But DeLay encouraged Davis to run, then publicly backed him...
...DeLay's influence wasn't really needed in Davis's race against Linder, who was toast from the moment it was clear Republicans had slipped on Election Day...
...It's not that DeLay has forgotten...
...Instead, they lost 5. DeLay stayed out of the Boehner-Watts contest, nominally, even though Watts backed DeLay for whip in 1994...
...Two things are going on here, one obvious, the other more subtle...
...Oddly, Linder sought to keep the campaign job by blaming Gingrich for the poor Republican showing on November 3. He told Mark Sherman of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Gingrich was trying to avoid blame by accusing others...
...At roughly the same time, DeLay threw his weight behind the bid by Tom Davis of Virginia to replace Rep...
...In DeLay's view, Gingrich was secretive, mercurial, and insufficiently conservative...
...Within 48 hours, Cox was out of the race, and Livingston had won by default...
...Now it's clear he has a following consisting of people who look to him for cues...
...Linder said the GOP base was "dispirited" and that Republicans should "set a simple, straightforward and focused agenda that not only energizes our base, but defends our principles...
...Fred Barnes is executive editor of THE WEEKLY STANDARD...
...Also, DeLay and Livingston are what one House Republican calls "institutionalists...
...Watts," says Watts...
...Webber ran DeLay's campaign...
...So I don't think he has any compunction about blaming me...
...John Linder of Georgia as chairman of the House GOP campaign committee...
...Newt would trash the institution—the House bank, the pay raise, term limits," says a Republican aide...
...Davis quickly was able to line up more votes than Linder...
...Watts's prospects improved immediately...
...But they'll have less clout, as Livingston and DeLay run the House...
...DeLay is far closer to the Christian Right and sympathetic to its agenda...
...And the more Gin-grichites booted from the leadership, the bigger the role...
...It's an honesty thing," says a House Republican...
...DeLay admitted his role, endearing himself to conservative firebrands like Joe Scarborough of Florida...
...And he and Livingston are both conventional conservatives, with none of Gingrich's libertarian tendencies...
...So it's not hard to know whom DeLay likes for conference chairman...
...It's clear DeLay could have stopped Webber, who is staff director of a House subcommittee chaired by David McIntosh of Indiana, from aiding Watts now...
...This is not a bad development for conservatives...
...Conservatives like him and moderates appreciate his candor...
...Nor did DeLay get along with Armey...
...The obvious one is that DeLay, while remaining in his No...
Vol. 4 • November 1998 • No. 11
