POLITICIAN WATCH : Middle Grounder

Fresh from a near-defeat of his own in his home district in Georgia, Rep. Newt Gingrich failed to negotiate the defeat of California Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Highland) for the No. 3 House Republican leadership post. And that’s a blessing.

Lewis won the chairmanship of the party caucus easily against Gingrich’s choice, Rep. Carl D. Pursell (R-Mich.). That’s a clear victory for moderate Republicans and, it is devoutly hoped, a sign that Gingrich doesn’t hold the sway over his party that he wishes he did. It also should set Gingrich back in a race with Lewis to replace House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.), who is expected to retire from his post in two years.

The confrontational Gingrich and other hard-line conservatives have been angry at Lewis because he endorsed a White House budget plan that included tax increases, putting GOP candidates on the hot spot just before the fall elections. But the party’s shift away from the “read-my-lips” stance on new taxes was both welcome and necessary in light of the nation’s deficit. It was not a sign of the party’s weakness; it was an effort to respond to reality.

Lewis, however, was unable to stop a move by other conservatives to remove him as California’s representative on the Republican panel that appoints GOP members to committees.

You don’t have to agree with every stand Lewis takes to understand why this seven-term congressman is widely regarded as a decent, level-headed politician. He is exactly the sort of person responsible pols should want in one of the GOP’s top spots.