GOP Sees Chance to Alter ‘Mean White-Guy Image’

For years, congressional Republicans have agonized and puzzled over their party’s problems in attracting female and minority voters. Now, some believe, a golden opportunity has suddenly landed in their laps.

The turmoil set off by Newt Gingrich’s resignation as speaker has prompted an array of Republican congresswomen and the GOP’s one black congressman to seek House leadership posts. That gives Republicans the chance to dramatically diversify their public face as they strive to maintain an increasingly tenuous grip as the majority party in Congress.

For many Republicans, the need to broaden the party’s appeal was driven home by last week’s elections, in which they lost five House seats. Nationwide exit polling by Voter News Service showed that the GOP remained plagued by a gender gap, with Democratic House candidates winning 53% of women’s votes. And blacks, as has been the case for decades, preferred Democratic candidates over Republicans by a whopping 89% to 11%.

Still, it is unclear whether the 223 House Republicans actually will add a demographic mix to their high-visibility slots when they cast secret ballots next Wednesday to choose their leaders. As the challengers continued to work the phones Tuesday to line up support, the odds appeared to be turning against some of them.

With the speakership apparently won by Rep. Bob Livingston of Louisiana, the major battle underway is for majority leader, the No. 2 job.

Rep. Jennifer Dunn of Washington, a moderate who supports abortion rights, is seeking to oust Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas. Also opposing Armey is Rep. Steve Largent of Oklahoma, the choice of many young GOP conservatives.

With Tom DeLay of Texas, the majority whip, facing no opposition, the top three Republican leaders will continue to be white males unless Dunn is victorious.

Three Women Seek Conference Vice Chair

In the race for the No. 4 spot--chairman of the Republican conference, to which all GOP House members belong--J.C. Watts Jr., an Oklahoma conservative and the only black party member in the House, is running against Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio, who holds the post.

In addition, three women are running for conference vice chair, a post being vacated by Dunn. They are Reps. Sue Myrick of North Carolina, Anne M. Northup of Kentucky and Tillie K. Fowler of Florida. The fourth candidate is Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan.

Rep. Deborah Pryce of Ohio is uncontested in her bid to remain conference secretary.

Fowler said in an interview that gender is not an issue she raises. “I don’t mention it. Hopefully most of us are past that,” she said.

One GOP strategist, speaking not for attribution, conceded that efforts to push for a diverse House leadership team may strike a somewhat jarring note for a party that has taken strong anti-affirmative action stances.

The strategist insisted that, even if the female challengers and Watts fail in their bids, “you can be a spokesman for House Republicans without being in the leadership.”

But others believe that the party will miss a chance for political gain, especially if neither Dunn nor Watts is elected to the posts both seek.

“Clearly, [House Republicans] do need to present a new, fresh face,” said Roger Davidson, a University of Maryland congressional analyst. “It would be a shame if they ended up with the same people--mostly white, Southern guys.”

Leadership contests, however, usually are won or lost on the basis of personal relationships or the quality of services provided or promised, analysts said.

“This is a real opportunity for the House Republicans, and it may be that at some point members will say, ‘Gee, maybe we shouldn’t have all these Southern white males,’ ” Davidson said. “But there’s a tendency for members to look to [other] factors in choosing some of these people.”

Rep. George P. Radanovich (R-Mariposa) said Tuesday that he dropped out of the race for conference chairman--and endorsed Watts--because Watts is “a better communicator than I am.”

Not Surprised by Diversity Focus

Having effective leaders and communicators who happen to be minorities, Radanovich said, can only help erase the party’s “mean white guy image.”

Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) said Tuesday that he has not heard his GOP colleagues stress the diversity factor. But the case for diversity would not surprise him, said McKeon, who briefly contemplated challenging Armey for the No. 2 spot.

“I’m sure if I were supporting Jennifer Dunn, I would be talking up diversity,” he said. “If you are pushing somebody, you pick all the arguments you can.”

But Dunn’s chances may have gotten a bit longer Tuesday after two key House members--Reps. David Dreier (R-San Dimas), slated to chair the Rules Committee in the next Congress, and John R. Kasich (R-Ohio), chairman of the Budget Committee, endorsed Armey.

Watts’ chances also may be fading, GOP sources in Congress said.

In the frenzied competition, the prominent role of the female challengers and Watts comes at a time when Capitol Hill Republicans have been lavishing praise on GOP governors as the party’s new paradigm--successful chief executives who did quite well among minority voters last week.

“Almost across the board, one of the things that characterize them is they got astonishing proportions of minority votes,” said Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush, for instance, won 47% of the Latino vote in his runaway reelection. Another potential candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2000, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, won 55% of the Latino vote and 65% of the women’s vote.

Nationwide, the Voter News Service polling found that 63% of Latino voters favored Democratic House candidates.

The showings by Bush and McCain, Ornstein said, show that “you can be conservative and still be inclusive.”

“Would it be really good for the Republicans to have a leadership team that has the kind of breadth or outreach represented by J.C. Watts and Jennifer Dunn? Absolutely yes,” he said.