Hill Republicans content without another DeLay or Gingrich
By: Susan Ferrechio
Chief Congressional Correspondent
March 16, 2009
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| House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, second from left, speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 23, 2009, after a meeting between Congressional leaders and President Barack Obama to discuss the economy. From left are, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.; Boehner; House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Va.; and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) |
WASHINGTON — It’s been more than a decade since Newt Gingrich commanded the Republican revolution in Congress and nearly five years since Rep. Tom DeLay arm-twisted his way into the GOP history books.
The Republican ranks in Congress are much quieter now, and their shrinking minority status is not all that’s to blame.
The party these days lacks a galvanizing figure like Gingrich or an enforcer like DeLay in either the House or Senate. And Republicans seem to prefer it that way.
“I don’t know if we need to have a person who epitomizes the Republican Party right now,” said Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., who served under DeLay and Gingrich. “But the advantage is when you don’t have the prima donnas, you’ve got more teamwork.”
Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., served under DeLay at the height of his power and last week apologized to Gingrich for recently criticizing the former speaker’s tendency to “stand back and throw bricks.”
“In my opinion,” Gingrey reflected last week as he stood under Gingrich’s portrait outside the House Chamber, “We don’t have that person in our caucus right now.”
The expectations for a new party leader to rise on Capitol Hill have grown within the GOP of late. Democrats have tried to paint conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh as the de facto head of the party, and new Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has continued to struggle.
Congressional Republicans appear to be rolling along fine without a powerful figurehead. In the House, Republicans are led by Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, whose style as minority leader is far more subdued than Limbaugh’s is at the microphone.
Boehner prefers to let his 178 Republicans help decide the direction the conference takes, unlike DeLay, who ran a top-down operation and punished those who stepped out of line or voted the wrong way.
The low-key Boehner avoids the frequent contact with the media that Gingrich used to help make himself a household name.
Members say they like Boehner’s quiet and collaborative style, which is one of the reasons he managed to hang on to his leadership post after the party’s devastating losses in the last election.
Without bullying, he has kept Republicans together in voting against some of the major Democratic initiatives.
“All you have to do is look at the vote on the stimulus package,” said Rep. Steven C. LaTourette, R-Ohio, referring to the $787 billion legislation every House Republican voted against in February.
Some members, however, want a more vocal leader. Earlier this year, House Republicans elevated Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., to serve as minority whip. While Cantor is younger and more aggressive than predecessor Roy Blunt, R-Mo., members say he is no DeLay or Gingrich.
“I don’t believe that,” one veteran Republican said at the suggestion Cantor might become the next “Hammer,” as DeLay was famously nicknamed.
Newer members such as Cantor are beginning to assume more visible roles, though.
Members elected Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., an outspoken conservative, to conference chairman, the No. 3 leadership post. And relative newcomer Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is expected by some members to take a leadership role when the budget debate begins in the coming weeks.
“There is no question Paul Ryan understands solutions to that problem better than anyone on our side,” said Rep. Doc Hastings,
R-Wash.
Across the Capitol, Boehner’s style is hardly overshadowed by his Senate counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who rarely speaks to the media and is barely audible when he does.
Despite his status as Republican leader, McConnell last week was happy to declare former presidential candidate John McCain “our best known and most prominent senator.”
McConnell said the GOP’s power, though, lies not in a name like McCain or Limbaugh, but in the party breakdown in the Senate, where Republicans have 41 seats — enough to block legislation through the use of the filibuster.
Between votes, the party is working on getting more powerful by winning in the next election.
“I view us as kind of an incubator of ideas,” McConnell said. “We receive ideas from a whole lot of different sources including from Newt Gingrich, who has an idea a minute.”
