Posted on 09/22/2004 5:39:01 AM PDT by Land_of_Lincoln_John
Since his book came out last month, House Speaker Dennis Hastert has morphed from mostly pragmatic politician into frequent partisan pit bull.
The top House Republican, who represents Kane and western DuPage counties, has been in a tussle for weeks with George Soros, a California billionaire and leading donor to Democratic causes. Over the weekend, Hastert let loose his view that Sen. John Kerry is the favored presidential choice of al-Qaida because the Massachusetts Democrat would be less likely than President Bush to respond strongly to a terrorist attack.
And Monday, Hastert wasn't backing away from any of his election-year comments after an appearance at defense contractor Northrop Grumman in Rolling Meadows. Nor was he seeking to fuel the feud with either Soros or Democratic presidential running mate Sen. John Edwards, who accused Hastert of joining the "fear-mongering choir."
Asked if he were playing up fears for political purposes, Hastert replied: "No, I think that's (terrorism) a reality and we need to be ready for it. I think the American people need to understand it. I think Sen. Edwards and John Kerry ought to go back and talk to the people about what they plan to do to stop terrorism in this country."
Hastert aides point out that in both recent flaps, the speaker simply was responding to reporter questions - in the case of the Kerry and al-Qaida comments, repeated questions.
On the day before the Republican National Convention, Hastert questioned on a Fox News Channel show whether Soros got some of his money from drug dealers. Subsequently, Soros and Hastert traded letters publicly, with Hastert not offering the apology Soros wanted. That led Soros to file a complaint with the House ethics panel last week.
Hastert maintained Monday that he didn't besmirch Soros.
"I think it's a legitimate question to ask if someone is dumping 10 or 20 million dollars into an election campaign to influence voters, where does the money come from?" Hastert said.
The speaker was in the Northwest suburbs to appear with Congressman Philip M. Crane as Northrop Grumman officials accepted a best manufacturing plant award from a trade publication.
Earlier in the summer, Hastert told the Daily Herald that Crane needed to get back to his 8th Congressional District and work harder to turn back a challenge from Democrat Melissa Bean. On Monday, Hastert pronounced that Crane had heeded his advice.
"He's been back here almost, in August, seven days a week and talking to a lot of folks," Hastert said. "In a place like this, Phil Crane has been an advocate of strong defense."
Bean spokesman Brian Herman said Hastert didn't have enough faith in Crane to help him become House Ways and Means chairman in 2001, a post Crane long coveted.
"Countless families in this district, every major paper and even members of his own party have criticized Phil Crane's ineffectiveness for years," Herman said. "The fact that he feels he should be rewarded for five weeks of campaigning clearly demonstrates what kind of effort he usually devotes to his job."
Never back away from the truth/ Yesterday I heard John Kery say if he wasnt elected we may be in a war that goes on forever, I havent heard any criticism of Kerry.
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