Livingston Attempts to Unify Republicans

As House Republicans coalesced quickly behind Rep. Bob Livingston of Louisiana as their next speaker, the heir apparent spent Monday reaching out to his adversaries and trying to start patching the deep wounds within his party.

Although Livingston now faces no competition in the race to succeed Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) as speaker, he continued calling colleagues who had not yet come into his camp--including members of the California delegation who had been supporting the bid of Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach).

Livingston was all but anointed speaker Monday when Cox, the only announced or likely challenger, confirmed he was dropping out of the race. “The truth is, the vote is in. Bob Livingston is going to be our next speaker and I’m withdrawing my name for that reason,” said Cox.

Other battles still loomed for lesser GOP leadership jobs--including a potentially fractious struggle for the No. 2 job.

But in signs that the rough waters that have unsettled the House in the last week are beginning to calm, Livingston not only won Cox’s endorsement but received a congratulatory telephone call from House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) and had a conciliatory meeting Sunday with one of his most vociferous critics, an Indiana congressman.

In perhaps the ultimate gesture toward burying the hatchet, Livingston appeared Monday night with Gingrich--the man he helped force from the speakership--at a meeting of the GOP’s leading political action committee. Gingrich, in his speech to GOPAC, referred to Livingston as “the next speaker of the House.”

Still, the surprisingly easy consensus that formed around Livingston belied the great difficulty he faces in what is emerging as the most politically exacting job in Washington. Presiding over a fractured party with only an 11-seat margin in the new House, Livingston may have to resort to scotch tape and bailing wire to keep the GOP together. He is already taking potshots from conservatives who think he’s not ideologically pure enough.

And while he may be more willing than Gingrich to reach across the aisle to build bipartisan coalitions, Democrats--tantalized by the prospect of winning a majority for themselves in 2000--may not be in a cooperative mood.

Comparing Congress to Bosnia

“Congress is as governable as Bosnia,” said Marshall Wittmann, director of governmental relations at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. “You have rival factions forming at every minute.”

Cox’s decision to drop his speakership bid cleared the field for Livingston when House Republicans meet Nov. 18 to elect their leaders for the new Congress. An effort to draft Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) has been abandoned, and no other candidates seem to be in the wings.

The turmoil within the party was set off by the GOP’s loss of five House seats in last week’s election--results which led to Gingrich’s departure. With his successor apparently in place, attention now focuses on the fight for the No. 2 job--House majority leader, now held by Rep. Dick Armey of Texas.

Armey infuriated conservatives when he undercut an abortive coup against Gingrich last year. And with Gingrich having removed himself from the fray, Armey is now the main target of criticisms that strategic errors by House leaders were a major factor in the GOP’s poor election showing.

Armey faces challenges from both wings of the party--Rep. Steve Largent (R-Okla.), a leader among the younger conservatives swept into the House in the GOP rout of 1994, and Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-Wash.), a more moderate member who officially announced her candidacy for majority leader on Monday.

Along with offering solid conservative credentials, Largent is well-known because of his Hall of Fame career with the Seattle Seahawks football team. But Dunn, a Gingrich protege, may benefit from an eagerness among many Republicans to promote a woman to the higher ranks of their party.

Battling for Leadership

The fourth ranking GOP House leader--Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio, head of the Republican Conference--is being challenged by Rep. J.C. Watts Jr. of Oklahoma, the only black Republican in the House. Last week, Rep. George P. Radanovich of Mariposa had announced he would seek the post, but he withdrew Monday and endorsed Watts.

While Livingston is in line to get the top job without opposition, it will not be without complaint. Rep. David M. McIntosh (R-Ind.), leader of a conservative caucus of about 40 members who backed Cox, has criticized Livingston for doing too little to cut spending and taxes.

McIntosh also lambasted Livingston for sending Gingrich a letter last week--before the speaker announced on Friday he was stepping down--containing 16 demands for greater autonomy in running the Appropriations Committee. McIntosh interpreted the letter as seeking a quid pro quo for not challenging Gingrich.

But Sunday, after it became clear Cox was going to drop out of the speakership race, McIntosh had what was described as an amicable discussion with Livingston.

“The leaders of the moderate and conservative factions are really going to have to step up to the plate and put the interest of the party ahead of the interest of their specific groups,” Chris Jones, McIntosh’s spokesman, said Monday. “Dave, as a leader of one of those groups, is willing to do what it takes to do so. That’s the message he delivered to Chairman Livingston, despite their past differences.”

But off Capitol Hill, the Wall Street Journal editorial page--often a key indicator of conservative thought--on Monday slammed Livingston as “the candidate of the old guard . . . [who has] often run a little roughshod over the concerns of social conservatives.”

The Traditional Values Coalition, an Anaheim-based conservative group, accused Livingston of giving short shrift to their agenda, which includes abolishing the National Endowment for the Arts and anti-abortion curbs on international family planning aid.

Livingston allies planned to call the coalition and other conservative groups to encourage them to hold their fire. “The time for recriminations is over,” said a Republican strategist in the Livingston camp. “We should find the things we agree on.”

Indeed, many GOP lawmakers say they hope the searing political experience of last week’s election loss may drive Republicans to a new spirit of unity-under-fire. But Livingston inevitably will have his hands full trying to maintain that unity when, on every issue, any six Republicans can defect and deprive him of a GOP majority.

The different factions of the GOP “have each other by the throat,” said Rep. Mark E. Souder (R-Ind.), “and we will until we die.”

Livingston has expressed a willingness to go hunting for help among Democrats, but that party--emboldened by its election success and pushed leftward by the strong hand of minorities and labor in their victories--may not be as eager to move to bipartisanship. “Our people realize we are close to a majority, and want to take over in 2000,” said a senior House Democratic aide.

* BROAD EXPOSURE: Rep. Christopher Cox’s foray into the race for House speaker raised his political profile. A3

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Profile: Bob Livingston

Age: 55 years

Religion: Catholic

Personal: Married to Bonnie (Robichaux), with four children

Education: Bachelor’s, Tulane University, 1967; law degree, Tulane, 1968

Career: First elected to Congress in August 1977, in a special election called after the incumbent Democrat resigned and later went to jail for voter fraud; lost a bid for governor in 1987; became chairman of House Appropriations Committee in 1994.

COMPILED BY TRICIA FORD / LOS ANGELES TIMES

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

On the Issues

Where Rep. Bob Livingston stands on key issues:

* Reducing Medicare growth: Yes

* Increasing minimum wage: No

* Welfare reform: Yes

* Constitutional amendment to ban flag-burning: Yes

* Repeal of assault-weapon ban: Yes