From todays NRO....(is this not VERBATIM what I said to you 2 days ago?)
After rising like a meteor to the No. 4 spot in the House GOP leadership, Watts hoped he could move up. The conference chairman is in charge of forming the Republicans' message to the press and the public. While Watts has mixed reviews in that regard, the general consensus is that, for a Republican, he did a good job. Certainly, the media has a harder time demonizing congressional Republicans today than they did in 1998. Watts is partly to thank for that.
But he wanted more. When Majority Leader Dick Armey (Tex.) announced he was retiring, Watts made an almost spastic run for his post and the whip spot being vacated by Tom DeLay (Tex.). Neither of those efforts went anywhere. Soon afterwards, he tried to reshape the conference role so that he would have more say in policy issues.
Watts was stuck at No. 4, and so time with the family seemed a lot more appealing