GOP’s Go-To Guy Could Pose Risks for President

Rep. Tom DeLay, a tough political power broker from Texas, is known throughout the nation’s capital as “The Hammer.” But for President Bush, he is more like a double-edged sword.

DeLay, the House majority leader, is renowned for the pull-no-punches partisan style that earned him his nickname and made him one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress. Since Bush took office, DeLay has put his clout into driving the administration’s agenda through Congress.

But some analysts say that DeLay’s pugnacious conservatism -- most recently illustrated by his resistance to a White House-backed tax cut bill to provide benefits for low-income families -- also poses political risks for Bush.

While Bush seeks to broaden the appeal of the GOP with his brand of “compassionate conservatism,” DeLay excels at catering to the party’s core conservative base in a way that some fear will alienate independent voters.

“Tom DeLay has his strengths,” said Rep. James C. Greenwood (R-Pa.), who disagrees with him on such issues as abortion rights and gun control. “But I don’t think that among his great strengths is the ability to warm the hearts of ‘soccer moms’ and other swing voters.”

Having kept relatively quiet for a few months after becoming House majority leader in January, DeLay increasingly has shown his combative edge.

Last week, the White House urged House Republicans to quickly pass tax benefits for lower-income families, hoping to douse criticism that the new tax cut law Bush pushed through Congress gave short shrift to the working poor. Defying pressure to approve a narrowly tailored Senate bill on the issue, DeLay and his allies passed a more sweeping measure that, because it includes costly tax breaks for more-affluent families, is sure to prolong the controversy.

This spring, the White House reiterated that Bush wanted to extend a law banning certain assault weapons, a 2000 campaign promise he made on an issue polls show is important to many swing voters. DeLay -- a fervent supporter of gun-owner rights -- threw cold water on the idea, saying the extension could not pass the House.

And although Bush came to Washington hailing his bipartisan dealings with the Texas Legislature while he was governor, DeLay recently helped unleash bare-knuckle partisanship in Austin. He championed a plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts that critics said was a naked GOP power grab.

Earl Black, a political scientist at Rice University in Houston, said DeLay’s efforts tend to “revive the image of the Republican Party as the party of Newt Gingrich,” the former House speaker from Georgia whose policies Bush seemed to repudiate with his notion of “compassionate conservatism.”

“DeLay really has the potential to create problems for the White House, because he gets in the way of the leadership style Bush is using,” Black said.

Bush allies inside and outside the White House say, however, that DeLay will prove an important contributor to Bush’s reelection bid by helping the administration deliver a full plate of legislative achievements.

“There’s always going to be some give-and-take,” said one White House official who asked not to be named. But the aide added that any disagreements with DeLay ultimately are less important than “a long list of accomplishments.”

DeLay acknowledged in an interview that he “may have some detractors at the White House who may not appreciate my style.”

But he said he has much in common with the president -- their roots in Texas, their age (both are 56), their families (they both have daughters), and their political and legislative agendas. He sees no conflict between Bush’s attempts to expand the party’s appeal and his own approach.

“I’ve always thought of myself as a compassionate person,” DeLay said. “I’ve always felt that conservative philosophy was much more compassionate than liberal philosophy.”

Still, DeLay comes to his politics from a different place than Bush.

While government service is practically a family business for the president, DeLay is a former pest control executive whose first race for the House was sparked partly out of frustration with government rules affecting his small business. He is an advocate of free markets with a deep skepticism about government’s ability to be a constructive force in solving domestic problems. He led the charge, after Republicans took control of Congress in 1995, to roll back environmental regulation of business. His critique was so harsh -- he called the Environmental Protection Agency the “Gestapo of government” -- that even some in his own party recoiled.

Like Bush, DeLay is also a strong ally of the party’s social conservatives. But DeLay is a more outspoken advocate of many of their causes, such as opposing abortion rights. He gave an emotional speech on the House floor recently as lawmakers neared passage of a bill to ban a procedure its critics term “partial birth” abortion. “We have a chance today to make the world a little less cruel for the defenseless,” DeLay said.

Bush issued only a spare written statement praising the bill’s passage.

As majority leader, DeLay is second only to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) in the House’s hierarchy. And with his new post has come greater visibility. In his previous job of majority whip, DeLay operated mostly inside the House: He counted noses before key roll calls, cajoling members to vote the party line. But the majority leader traditionally has been a public spokesman for the party.

In making the transition, DeLay has made a few gestures toward smoothing his rough edges. “He recognizes he’s been the lightning rod” for many Democratic attacks on the GOP, said Rep. W.J. “Billy” Tauzin (R-La.), chairman of the House Commerce Committee.

Gone is the plastered-back hairstyle of yore, replaced by a softer, blow-dried look. He made public appearances with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) -- wife of the man DeLay tried to bring down through impeachment -- to promote foster parenting. Despite an aversion to dealing with the news media, he now holds weekly news briefings (though he still shuns guest spots on the Sunday television talk shows that most politicians covet).

DeLay said he has tried to be more cautious in his public comments. But even he acknowledged he does not always succeed.

“I can’t help but be a cocky Texan,” he said.

That’s how he seemed to many when he spearheaded this year’s bid to change the boundaries for House seats in Texas to favor the GOP -- an unusual effort, given that the lines already had been redrawn following the 2000 census.

In a response that captured nationwide attention, outraged Democrats boycotted the state Legislature and fled Texas until the deadline for approving the plan passed.

Democrats in Washington cite the episode as typical of DeLay’s hard-nosed political tactics. But they have had a difficult time turning him into a national political whipping boy, as they were able to do with Gingrich. That’s in part because, despite his vast power, DeLay remains an unknown quantity to most Americans, polls indicate.

“Thank goodness,” DeLay said. “I don’t think it is necessary to doing my job to be a celebrity.”

But among House Republicans, DeLay is the go-to guy -- for legislative influence and political money. His fund-raising prowess is legendary, and stands only to increase with his promotion.

He raised $1.35 million for his reelection in 2002; his political action committee raised $3.3 million to contribute to other Republicans. According to federal election data analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics, a group that studies fund-raising trends, he gave more to other GOP candidates in the 2002 election than any other House Republican -- including Hastert. DeLay has also helped raise millions more through the National Republican Congressional Committee, as well as a network of other political organizations that his supporters call “DeLay Inc.”

What’s more, DeLay has the clout to channel money to candidates by leaning on other donors, especially those seeking his favor for their legislative agendas. Nor has he hesitated to try to change the way business lobbying groups deal with Capitol Hill, calling on them to stop their practice of hedging their bets by giving to both parties. He also has urged them to hire Republicans for key jobs.

In 1998, his hand got too heavy: The House ethics committee formally rebuked DeLay for pressuring the Electronics Industry Assn. not to hire a former Democratic congressman as its chief.

DeLay’s fund-raising skills helped him, as whip, to build a loyal following among the rank and file. He and a team of almost 70 deputies also relied on other techniques to solidify support, such as making sure lawmakers received federal funding for pet projects.

As majority leader, he is building bridges to a new constituency -- the House’s powerful committee chairmen -- whose legislative work he now is charged with coordinating.

He has had strained relations with moderate Republicans. They were furious to learn that a political action committee affiliated with DeLay in 2002 contributed to the Club for Growth, a conservative group that backs primary challengers against GOP incumbents it considers too liberal.

But of late, DeLay has offered olive branches. During debate on the “partial birth” abortion bill, he agreed to allow Greenwood and other abortion-rights advocates to offer an alternative. It lost, but it won DeLay some goodwill.

“He’s learned that sometimes his personal ideological bent has to yield to moderates if the team is going to work together,” Greenwood said.

DeLay’s solid base within the House gives him an ability to deliver votes for the White House that is matched by few, if any, other lawmakers. Still, the majority leader has not always been on the same page as Bush, as shown most often by disputes on tax policy.

During the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush and DeLay openly feuded over a House GOP proposal to cut costs by stretching out payments of tax refunds to the working poor. Bush denounced it as an effort to “balance their budget on the backs of the poor.” DeLay shot back: “He obviously doesn’t understand how Congress works.”

That episode has been echoed by the current flap over aid to the working poor. Stung by criticism that the new tax cuts did not include provisions for lower-income people to benefit from an increase in the tax credit for children, Senate Republicans moved quickly to pass a $10.5-billion bill to provide the aid.

Early last week, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said Bush’s “advice” to the House was to quickly pass the Senate bill. That infuriated many House Republicans, who want to provide the low-income aid only if they can also enact more tax cuts for affluent taxpayers. DeLay had a typically tart reply to the suggestion that the House rubber-stamp the Senate bill: “Ain’t gonna happen.”

White House officials backpedaled and said the administration was not wedded to the Senate bill. The House on Thursday passed a $82-billion bill that links the low-income aid to the broader tax cuts. That sends the issue into potentially protracted negotiations with the Senate -- to the dismay of those Republicans who don’t want to spend more time fighting an image that they don’t care about the working poor.

A liberal activist group sought to underscore the perception problem by organizing a band of women with children in strollers to descend on DeLay’s office Wednesday to protest the House’s stance on the tax cut issue.

At the same time, others see possible political advantages for Bush and DeLay when they periodically disagree. DeLay’s standing among House Republicans generally is enhanced when he shows a willingness to take on the White House. And it becomes easier for Bush to position himself toward the political center when DeLay highlights a difference with him from the right.

“It’s a good cop, bad cop thing,” said a senior House GOP aide.

Bush himself has joked about DeLay’s reputation. At a Washington press club dinner, he said he was once asked whether DeLay ever smiled. Bush said he replied, “I don’t know. I’ve only known him nine years.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Tom DeLay

Position: House majority leader

Born: April 8, 1947

Home: Sugar Land, Texas

Religion: Baptist

Education: B.S. in biology, University of Houston, 1970

Career: Owner, Albo Pest Control, 1973-84; member of Texas House of Representatives, 1979-84; U.S. representative, 1984-present

Family: Married, one daughter

Sources: The Almanac of American Politics 2002; DeLay’s official biography; Who’s Who in America