Cox Will Remain a Major Player

By now, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) is a familiar enough figure in the congressional leadership that his short bid to replace Speaker Newt Gingrich came as no surprise. Cox’s weekend in the limelight before he officially withdrew Monday displayed the mix of ambition and caution that has been so much a part of his personal style during five terms as a high achiever in Washington.

He publicly floated his interest in the job at the end of last week but declared openly Friday evening only after Gingrich quit. Gingrich had elevated Cox to his inner circle, entrusting him with the formulation of policy and putting him in charge of a sensitive investigation.

Cox at least since 1994 has been marked as someone on the rise. He is careful but not lacking in ardor for conservative ideas. That quality made him an intellectual fit with the more flamboyant Gingrich, and it potentially is one that could help him focus Republicans more on specific governmental policy than on social and cultural agendas. His cool style can be mistaken for centrism, but he holds conservative views on such nuts-and-bolts issues as budget policy and Social Security and he knows how to explain them.

Cox also has been scrutinizing Clinton policy. He has been quietly at work on an investigation with its own political and national security implications. It’s whether the sale of American satellite technology to the Chinese was facilitated by campaign contributions to the Democrats and whether that transfer inadvertently improved Chinese military capacity.

Generally preferring to operate in the realm of ideas, the well-positioned Cox holds one key to the Republican success or failure in the next chapter, even if he will not actually be the party leader. He has been shrewd enough to avoid being trapped into the kind of overreaching that cost his party and Gingrich in the recent election. Cox is no ideologue and does not make enemies easily.

The next speaker will need to round up the ideologically passionate Republicans of the post-”Contract With America” era and appeal to a wider group. Cox will not be speaker, but he probably will be an important player in the next round in Washington.