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GINGRICH ‘S DEPARTURE RECALLS HIS FAST RISE \ HE PUT BLAME ON OTHERS, AS DID THE MAN HE REPLACED
Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) - Sunday, November 8, 1998
Author: David Hess, INQUIRER WASHINGTON BUREAU

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It might have been a reasonable argument from the ivory tower of a college political scientist. Among the restive conservatives in the House, it was an act of sedition.

As the conservatives, led by Reps. David M. McIntosh (R., Ind.) and Steve Largent (R., Okla.), seethed over the budget deal, the country moved ahead to the Nov. 3 congressional elections. For House Republicans, the outcome was a stunning setback. After expecting to pick up as many as 30 seats , they lost five - narrowing their already slim majority to 223-212 and worsening their prospect for achieving their goals.

And that was the opening for Gingrich ‘s detractors, providing the excuse for moving to depose him, a move that had every appearance of becoming successful. His leadership had been sorely tested, they argued, and found wanting.

``We have to have new leadership or we will lose the majority in 2000,’’ said Rep. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a social conservative who has long harbored doubts about Gingrich ‘s ideological purity and leadership skills.

``I think you can’t get there from here with Gingrich leading the team,’’ added Rep. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who spearheaded an abortive coup against the speaker last year following Gingrich ‘s rebuke by the House ethics committee for lying to the panel about the source of money for some college courses he designed and taught.

Gingrich has complained to his closest allies that his tormentors do not understand what it takes to govern in a diverse society, that philosophical flexibility is indispensable to getting things done.

But his detractors insist that it is Gingrich who has lost his way.

First, they say, Gingrich buckled in 1995 when President Clinton resisted the GOP’s substantial budget cuts in a wide range of federal programs and the government shut down. To this day, many House conservatives believe they could have won that argument if Gingrich had stuck to the message and faced Clinton down.

Instead, the President deftly portrayed the Gingrich -led Republicans as irresponsible radicals and restored his own flagging popularity as a tough-minded leader. In the next congressional elections, in 1996, Democrats picked up a number of seats and reduced Gingrich ‘s House majority, making the task of managing his fractious forces even more difficult.

Then came the ethics mess. In 1997, Gingrich had to admit wrongdoing and pony up a $300,000 fine to reimburse Congress for part of the cost of the inquiry.

Weakened by that episode, Gingrich seemed ripe for dethroning as a band of young turks, led by Graham , conspired with Majority Leader Dick Armey and Whip Tom DeLay, both of Texas, to unseat him.

But Armey, at the last minute, demurred and most Republican mainstreamers rallied behind Gingrich , thwarting the coup - but inflicting a wound in party unity that never fully healed.

Largely unspoken in the post-mortems of Gingrich ‘s tenure was the difficulty of fulfilling the dual role he played as the speaker of the House - traditionally a figure who tries to rise above the meanness of partisan politics - and as the self-appointed minister of Republican propaganda and provocation.

``In the end,’’ said Perry of Sweet Briar College, ``he became too hot for his party after becoming too hot for centrist voters who saw him as a disturbing figure.’’

Last spring, when the Oval Office sex scandal was commanding center stage, Gingrich weighed in with sharp criticism of the President’s moral lapses and pledged he would ``never make another speech without mentioning it.’’

What Gingrich neglected to foresee was the backlash from moderate voters who deplored Clinton ‘s behavior but did not think it rated the guillotine. The same voters perceive Gingrich as a highly partisan and divisive figure, whose own ethics had been held up to scrutiny. Gingrich soon drew back from openly chastising Clinton .

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