At the behest of Newt Gingrich, John Boehner asked a startling question at his regular Thursday Group meeting with key Republican constituency groups on March 13. How, the House Republican Conference chairman wanted to know, would the members of the group react if the House delayed consideration of tax cuts until a deal to balance the budget had been struck with President Clinton?

Boehner was floating this trial balloon in front of the Republican party’s strongest grassroots supporters — those who toiled tirelessly to build and sustain support for the Contract With America. The Thursday Group includes, among others, the Christian Coalition, the Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, and the National Association of Home Builders. These groups had cleaved to the GOP during the darkest days of the public outcry against the two government shutdowns and were instrumental in providing crucial political support for dozens of vulnerable freshmen in 1996.