Politics: Howard (Buck) McKeon of Santa Clarita is making a name for himself as leader of largest GOP freshman class in Congress in years.

Day was just breaking over the nation’s capital, but Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon was already engaged in a lively exchange with fellow leaders of the House Republican freshman class.

Six lawmakers had gathered for their weekly 7 a.m. meeting in the Capitol Hill office of McKeon, the Santa Clarita Republican who is president of the GOP freshman class. They had previously decided to join their Democrat counterparts in supporting Vice President Al Gore’s much-touted initiative to reform and streamline the federal government. But some had doubts.

“This thing is a joke. Why are we jumping in bed with him?” asked Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.). “There’s some stuff here we ought to have done a long time ago. But the bottom line is the man does not believe in streamlining government. He believes in bigger government.”

McKeon, a conservative who is a proponent of reducing government, conceded that Manzullo’s skepticism had validity. But he held firm.

“It’s the Democrats’ attempt to get the Perot voters,” McKeon said, alluding to former presidential candidate Ross Perot’s insistence that the government needs to be overhauled. “But it opens a window for us to reach out to the Democrats and to pick things that we want to support in it. . . .

“I know I sure heard a lot during the campaign where people said they were tired of the same old thing where we just came back here and fight with the Democrats. This is an opportunity to build.”

McKeon prevailed, upholding a broad, though hardly unanimous, consensus among the 48 first-year GOP lawmakers with the well-honed pragmatism that has become his trademark. In the process, he preserved an opportunity for himself and other Republican freshmen to join forces the next day with Democratic lawmakers at a high-profile news conference that trumpeted the hallowed themes of bipartisanship and government reform.

Colleagues of both parties say this exemplifies McKeon’s leadership as Republican class president. A down-home personal style and his sense of when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em have served him well as he seeks to make a mark on behalf of the largest and most diverse GOP freshman class since World War II.

“His greatest strength is his ability to develop some consensus, if possible,” said Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.), a freshman leader. “He doesn’t dominate a situation, but he makes sure that everybody gets a chance to say something. He’s more of an architect of fairness.”

Nine months into his first term, McKeon has gone from a wide-eyed neophyte to whom the Byzantine legislative process was a mystery to an increasingly knowledgeable lawmaker who diligently works the cloakroom, House floor and members’ offices, taking the pulse of his first-year colleagues or enlisting their support on an issue.

For McKeon, 55, owner of a chain of western apparel stores who’s served as a bank chairman, school board member and Santa Clarita mayor, leading the first-term Republicans in the 103rd Congress has brought him a valuable platform. It has provided public forums, such as the recent news conference and a 45-minute C-SPAN appearance the same day. And it has expanded his network of relationships in an institution built on personal ties and allowed him to display his leadership skills.

“Out of 435, it’s kind of hard to get known,” McKeon reflected during a recent interview. “So you have to do something that sets you apart from other people. And I think being class president has done it. It gives you a chance to stand out a little bit.”

He cannot point to any immediate benefits for his sprawling 25th District, which encompasses the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys and a portion of the northwest San Fernando Valley. But he said that contacts he has made and clout he has gained as class president will undoubtedly make him more effective for his constituents.

The closest one gets to criticism of McKeon’s performance is the notion that he is merely “a figurehead” and that other freshmen have been more out front on specific issues. And a Republican source says that beyond the two unifying causes--deficit reduction and government reform--there are disagreements among the newcomers.

The post has brought frustration. Asked how much the class has accomplished, McKeon paused, smiled ruefully, and said: “Not as much as we’d like.” The GOP freshmen, who arrived determined to reform Congress, adopted an ambitious agenda of 19 goals--many of which are opposed by the Democratic leadership.

Nonetheless, well into its first year here, the class of ’92 has backed efforts that achieved several of the aims and, McKeon contends, laid the groundwork for others. At the freshmen’s urging, the Republican leadership limited the tenure of the top minority member on any policy committee to three terms. With the party’s freshmen playing a key role, the House eliminated four select committees on hunger, children, aging and narcotics--saving $3.5 million annually.

Most significantly, the Republican newcomers unanimously backed the successful effort of four-term Rep. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) to change a 61-year-old rule that helped powerful congressional leaders prevent legislation from coming to a vote on the House floor.

Under the measure, the House will make public the names of House members who sign so-called discharge petitions--which allow a majority of lawmakers to pry bills loose from committees that do not want to act on them. Critics said the rule allowed members to acquiesce secretly in leadership efforts to bottle up legislation that they publicly claimed to support.

McKeon maintains the reform greatly improves the prospects for votes on a balanced budget amendment, line-item veto and term limits for members--all Republican freshman goals opposed by Democratic leaders. He noted that these initiatives also were part of his campaign platform last year.

The insurgency of the freshman Republicans has provoked criticism--and not just along partisan lines. None other than Rep. Robert H. Michel, the House Republican leader for the past 13 years and a lawmaker since 1957, complained shortly before announcing his decision to step down next year about newer House members who indulge in “trashing the institution.”

It was not surprising when 40 of the 48 freshmen--including McKeon--lined up behind Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) to become the new GOP leader shortly after Michel made his announcement this month. Gingrich has courted the newcomers and won many with his take-no-prisoners approach to going after the Democrats as he seeks to win the first Republican majority in 40 years.

Some of the GOP freshman proposals have come under fire as apparent efforts to prevent the majority Democrats from passing legislation--thereby increasing gridlock.

They include proposals to require a three-fifths majority to approve tax increases, and to ease the difficulty of amending bills on the House floor--a revision that would make the House more like the Senate, where a minority of lawmakers can block or delay action through the amendment process.

Norman J. Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank, echoed Michel’s view.

“Mostly, this is a freshman class that is intent on making its mark by bringing the dominant power of the institution to its knees,” Ornstein said. “They’re mad as hell and they don’t want to take it any more. They have no interest in being around a long period of time. Period. Certainly not in the minority.”

Ornstein said the Republican freshmen have had little discernible impact other than “in terms of tone, which is one of partisan tension. They’re quite combative.”

McKeon rejects much of this criticism. But it does strike a chord.

He acknowledged that most of the freshmen will be more comfortable with Gingrich’s approach than they have been with Michel’s more accommodating style. But, as the leader, McKeon said, “I’m not convinced that Newt is going to be as combative as he’s been in the past.”

Of the freshmen in general, he said: “I really think that we are a reflection of the electorate . . . There are many of them who are angry. There are many of them who really do want to make change and would like to see real change within the institution. I think if you go in the communities, that’s what the people want, that’s why they got elected.”

Nevertheless, he adds: “I think the more we tear down the institution, the more it tears us down. Because we are now part of the institution.”

McKeon does not dispute the increased partisan tension, but he blames the Democratic leadership. He said that Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) arranged meetings to keep the Democratic and Republican freshmen apart after the November election and during orientation. Then, in the first session of the new Congress, the Democrats angered Republicans by extending voting rights on the House floor to delegates from the District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Puerto Rico--giving the Democrats additional votes.

Rep. Eva M. Clayton (D-N.C.), president of the 69 Democratic freshmen, disagrees with McKeon that Foley kept the newcomers apart. Rather, she said many Democratic and Republican freshmen have a fundamentally different view of government.

“Government is described by some as ‘the less, the better,’ ” said Clayton, a liberal and the first black lawmaker from North Carolina this century. “I can’t subscribe to that.”

The “reinventing government” news conference to announce the formation of a bipartisan freshman task force was the first time that the newcomers from both parties united on a policy initiative. Despite their general inability to find common ground, Clayton praised McKeon.

“He’s very easy to communicate with,” she said. “As a person, I can deal very well with him.” And another freshman Democrat who has worked with McKeon, Rep. Jane Harman of Marina del Rey, calls him energetic and refreshingly irreverent.

Among his Republican colleagues, McKeon receives high marks for encouraging togetherness and communication without thrusting himself into the limelight. Each Wednesday morning he presides over an informal session of freshman Republican leaders in his office. Later each Wednesday afternoon, he steps up to a wooden lectern in a spare meeting room in a new wing of the Capitol to preside over a gathering open to all the GOP freshmen.

At the Oct. 6 session, McKeon asked about 20 attendees “to keep your powder dry” on the race for House whip to succeed Gingrich. He acknowledged that many were already committed in the leader’s race but urged the class to consider weighing in together on the second spot. Others said that they might try to extract commitments for reform in exchange for support.

“He has focused very aggressively on keeping the freshman class united and focused on issues, particularly the area where we have the greatest unity, which is reform of Congress,” said Rep. Michael Crapo (R-Ida.), another freshman officer. “And he has strengthened the unity through interpersonal relationships.”

One key issue on which the class has not forged a consensus is campaign finance reform, particularly on the sensitive matter of contributions from political action committees. The freshmen have had heated discussions over whether or not to support a ban on this special-interest money. Ultimately, they compromised by calling for a reduction of the amount that a PAC can contribute to a candidate from $5,000 to $1,000 per election.

Interestingly, the Republican conference endorses a more far-reaching reform to eliminate all PAC money. McKeon said he signed onto both the freshman and conference proposals even though “I don’t think PACs are that bad” since they’re often a group of individuals who pool their resources to ensure that their mutual interests are heard.

At the same time, McKeon has continued to accept PAC contributions. In his 1992 campaign, he received $96,775 from PACs, or 29% of his total of $329,814 in contributions. In the first six months of this year, PACs gave him $28,216, or 31%, of his $91,841 total. This included $3,000 from the American Bankers Assn. and $2,000 from the National Restaurant Assn.

“You try to get reform, try to cut it back,” McKeon said, downplaying the sums he receives. “But as long as the law is the way it is and you’re dealing in the real world, there’s no sense handicapping yourself versus somebody who will be running against you.”

The freshmen also differed with the leadership by appearing with Perot at the Capitol. Freshman Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) had invited Perot to meet the freshmen and McKeon said he agreed “to work with him to put it together.” McKeon had briefly compared himself to Perot during his primary bid and met with Perot supporters in his district during and after the campaign.

Michel, however, told the freshmen that he thought the meeting was a bad idea. Subsequently, Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.), the Senate minority leader and a once-and-possibly future GOP presidential candidate himself, said Republicans should stop being “props for his television” when Perot shows up for “his dog-and-pony shows on Capitol Hill.”

McKeon disagrees. He said Perot’s appearance helped publicize some of the freshman reform agenda, including the proposal to make public the signatories on discharge petitions. McKeon is unfazed about concerns expressed by Michel and others that Perot might seek the Republican presidential nomination in 1996.

McKeon’s latest initiative is aimed at reelecting his 47 freshman colleagues in 1994 and bringing enough Republicans with them to win a House majority. He is meeting with each individually to see if they need help in fund-raising or making their offices more effective. And he is inquiring about potential GOP candidates in nearby Democratic districts.

“What we have to do to take over is have alternatives,” said McKeon, sounding like a man who has grown increasingly comfortable wearing a leadership mantle.

“We have to express those in a positive way. We have to lay out a vision of what the Republicans seek for the future of the country and let people make a choice. If we can’t do a job of selling what we believe in, then we don’t deserve to be in power.”