Hard time for Hastert leads to hard feelings

Campaign finance debacle may signal future problems

WASHINGTON — In an emotional day with congressmen cursing one another off the House floor, "The Coach" lost his cool.

"Shut up!" the normally gentle Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) yelled at a Tennessee Republican during a crucial meeting about campaign finance reform, according to a source present at the session.

As the House of Representatives was struggling Thursday over the issue, Hastert, the former high school wrestling coach with a devoted following within the GOP, spent much of the day huddled in thorny meetings, trying to soothe Republicans balking at his leadership.

Since he succeeded former Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) as speaker, Hastert has enjoyed rave reviews for his fairness and his solicitous approach to lawmakers. That fairness was called into question last week even as loyalists vigorously defended him after campaign finance legislation collapsed without even a debate.

Nevertheless, the angry exchanges that marked the brawl may portend future difficulties for Hastert on high-profile issues such as stem cell research, patients' bill of rights, prescription drug benefits and federal spending.

"He's not a miracle worker, but with such a narrow majority, miracles are in short supply," said John Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College in California.

That was evident Thursday from the disarray on the House floor over campaign finance. The whole issue is now in limbo, with no vote on the substance of the matter taking place as had been expected.

By day's end, the process had spun out of control, and emotions were no longer in check. A group of about seven Republicans, upset with what they believed was a parliamentary stacking of the deck against reform by Hastert, told him that they would abandon him on an important vote on the contours of the expected debate.

Rare rebuke

Their decision to vote against the speaker on the procedural matter, or "rule," was a rare rebuke for any speaker and not seen since former Rep. Tom Foley (D-Wash.) held the job in the early 1990s.

Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) said Hastert was using unfair tactics to structure a debate that would make it virtually impossible to pass legislation banning the use of unlimited soft money donations for political parties to use in campaigns.

At that, one source said, the speaker erupted. "Shut up!" he told Wamp. "Shut up, I don't like your attitude." Another source inside the meeting said Hastert simply told Wamp he was out of line, but aides to the speaker did not contradict the account.

In recent weeks, Republicans have walked away from their party leadership on several high-profile votes. Some joined Democrats in opposing drilling off the coast of Florida and in the Great Lakes. On trade, enough opposed letting Mexican trucks cross the border without meeting U.S. safety guidelines to again undermine the GOP hierarchy.

And they were on the verge of scolding President Bush for spending $30 million to send letters to all Americans announcing the new tax cut when Hastert and the GOP brass twisted the arms of seven Republicans to change their votes.

"This is a trend for the next two years," said Darrell West, a political science professor at Brown University. "When you have a razor-thin majority, it's easy to lose. You lose half a dozen members and your majority disappears."

Hastert could not be reached for comment. But he insisted last week that he had treated his opponents on campaign finance fairly and he said he went "one step further" when he offered to rewrite the ground rules, upsetting conservatives within the GOP.

"It's pretty clear who didn't want to bring campaign finance legislation to the House floor, and it's the Democratic leadership," he said, referring to Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.).

Even so, members of the GOP said Hastert had had a hard time managing the situation.

`Hit on all sides'

"He's a really good guy, very tough issue, got hit on all sides, not his best day from my point of view," said Rep. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). "He really wants to be fair and fair's a perception sometimes."

Wamp, the object of Hastert's ire, said the speaker "seemed tired and he was very upset when I met with him."

"I don't think it was one of the better days for our party, for House Republicans or for the House Republican leadership," Wamp said.

But even Republicans who support the campaign finance bill sponsored by Reps. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) and Martin Meehan (D-Mass.) said Hastert got a raw deal.

"I felt for him because I think he made a genuine effort," said Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who stuck with the speaker on the controversial procedural vote despite his support for the Shays-Meehan measure, which is similar to a campaign finance reform bill sponsored by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.). Kirk said he disagreed with Shays' criticism that Hastert had not kept his word to provide a fair floor fight.