TO BE BLUNT
REES, MATTHEW
TO BE BLUNT by Matthew Rees ROY BLUNT, A SECOND-TERM CONGRESSMAN from Missouri, may be the most influential Republican no one’s ever heard of. GOP presidential favorite George W. Bush just made...
...Matthew Rees is a staff writer at THEWEEKLY STANDARD...
...No less surprising than the selection of Blunt to be chief deputy whip was Bush’s asking him to be the House liaison to his presidential effort...
...Even his legislative proposals reflect a low-profile, workhorse mentality...
...In turn, he gained exposure to GOP leaders, who were impressed with his prolific fund-raising—$250,000 on behalf of other Republicans—and his willingness to take on scut work...
...Tom Davis calls Blunt “a pro” who’s “very mature in his judgment...
...Tom DeLay had to find people for the thankless and laborious task of slowing the bill’s passage...
...I certainly didn’t anticipate being selected,” he told me...
...Even Chris Shays, whose campaign-reform legislation Blunt tried to undermine, praises him as “a straightforward and sensible person” who has “made a nice impression on all” House Republicans...
...Blunt started campaigning on behalf of other GOP challengers even before being elected in his heavily Republican district...
...The two know each other only from Bush’s occasional visits to Missouri for political events during his dad’s presidency...
...Indeed, while chief deputy whip was once considered a dead-end job, Dennis Hastert used it as a launching pad to become speaker...
...Blunt jokes that winning the governor more support from House Republicans— almost half the caucus has already endorsed Bush—is “the easiest job I’ve ever been asked to do...
...He is willing to let others take credit for his initiatives, they say, and has considerable political experience...
...Mike Castle of Delaware is the only other member of the House also to have held statewide office...
...He really believed in what we were doing,” says DeLay...
...Such modest proposals begin to explain how the conservative Blunt maintains good relations with the small but vocal band of House GOP moderates...
...He was elected county clerk at the tender age of 23 and 12 years later became secretary of state...
...His first term, however, is a model for climbing the House GOP leadership ladder...
...After losing the 1992 Republican primary for governor, Blunt took his talents to Southwest Baptist University, his alma mater...
...Longtime friends, like Missouri senator John Ashcroft, are not surprised by Blunt’s speedy rise through the House ranks...
...Connie Morella says she and Blunt “have a great relationship” and that she has “great respect” for him...
...GOP presidential favorite George W. Bush just made him his liaison to House Republicans...
...But mention “Roy Blunt” in political circles and you’re almost guaranteed a “Who’s that...
...Blunt’s political future is bright...
...So low is Blunt’s profile his name appeared just once last year in Congressional Quarterly, the weekly bible of Capitol Hill...
...You’d never see Roy’s name in the headlines,” recalls Bill Paxon, the former New York congressman, “but you’d see the impact of his work in the headlines every day...
...That helped him win a seat on the coveted Steering Committee, which determines House GOP committee assignments...
...And Tom DeLay, the House GOP whip, recently tapped him to be his top deputy, the post Dennis Hastert left to become speaker...
...Last year’s debate over campaign-finance reform illustrates Blunt’s work ethic...
...A Bush presidency would only boost his standing and enhance his chances of winning one of the House’s eight elected leadership positions...
...There were intense lobbying campaigns by several of the oth other Republicans hoping to replace Hastert, but Blunt once again distinguished himself, this time by barely lifting a finger...
...People who saw him at a recent GOP dinner in Washington noted that while other House Republicans schmoozed with lobbyists, Blunt was diligently canvassing his colleagues on an array of minor matters...
...Yet Blunt doesn’t fit the stereotype of the glad-handing pol...
...Negotiating with campus constituencies led him to joke that he would leave politics to run for Congress...
...Which he did in 1996, winning a closely contested GOP primary and then breezing to victory in the general election...
...A few years from now, Roy Blunt just might follow in his footsteps...
...But Blunt was recommended for the job by some of Bush’s other House supporters, who liked Blunt’s clout, his relations with moderates, and his workaholic tendencies (Bush’s Senate liaison, Paul Coverdell, shares all of these qualities...
...By late spring it had become painfully obvious that a regulation-heavy bill sponsored by Republican Chris Shays and Democrat Martin Meehan would pass the House...
...Blunt quickly signed up, which meant spending late nights on the House floor introducing and debating amendments to a bill destined to win a House majority...
...While some junior Republicans have proposed terminating the tax code, Blunt has sponsored a bill that would revoke the driving privileges of teens caught with tobacco, and another that would bar the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from issuing new workplace regulations until the National Academy of Sciences completes a $1 million ergonomics study...
...Blessed with a safe district, he has every reason to expect he’ll stay in the House and continue his meteoric ascent through the GOP hierarchy...
...Blunt not only delayed the bill’s passage until late summer—helping to kill its prospects in the Senate— but his tenacity helped persuade DeLay to make him his deputy when Hastert became speaker...
Vol. 4 • March 1999 • No. 27
