Tuesday's disastrous election results prompted many House Republicans to seriously consider the need for new leadership, i.e., the replacement of Rep. Newt Gingrich (GA) as Speaker of the House. Louisiana's Bob Livingston, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, announced Friday that he was running for the job - and, hours later, Gingrich stunned Washington, DC with the news that he would step down as Speaker and leave Congress altogether. Now a healthy (and much-needed) struggle to succeed Gingrich will take place. In addition to Livingston, the candidates are (or may be): Rep. Chris Cox (CA), Rep. James Talent (MO) and Rep. Henry Hyde (IL)
-
Christians and social conservatives blamed Tuesday's losses on the lack of Republican leadership, lack of a clear agenda, hesitance or compromise on pro-life and pro-family issues, lack of resolve for the impeachment of the president, abandonment of promised tax-cuts and an 11th hour capitulation to Bill Clinton on the budget agreement. These can all be laid at the feet of House Speaker Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (MS).
-
Liberal Republicans blamed losses on "rigid ideology" within the party and are calling for an "inclusive Republican agenda" that will "continue to broaden" the party.
-
Junior conservatives who are able and willing, e.g., Rep. David McIntosh (IN) and Rep. Steve Largent (OK), are now free to run for (and possibly win) other senior leadership posts. In fact, Largent announced Friday that he would run for the position of House majority leader to replace Rep. Dick Armey (TX). Armey announced he would not try to succeed Gingrich but will seek to retain his current position.
-
Some are still feeling the sting of the 1997 "rebellion". At that time a sizable group of conservative members, many who came to Congress in the 1994 Republican "revolution" believing they had a conservative mandate, initiated a coup to replace Gingrich. Gingrich met them with decisive action and the "rebels" were disciplined. Gingrich fired conservative rising-star Rep. Bill Paxon (NY) from his chairmanship of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). Paxon later surprised everyone by leaving Congress, reportedly to spend more time with his new wife, former Rep. Susan Molinari (R-NY -- she voted pro-abort while in Congress) and their new baby. Paxon had been mentioned as a possible replacement for Gingrich since, under the law, the Speaker need not be a member of Congress.
The Republican Party remains the only one of the two major parties whose platform Bible-believing Christians can conscientiously support. But Newt Gingrich, and to a lesser degree Trent Lott, have repeatedly refused to stand by the Republican Party platform. If the new leaders in the House are of the faction who wish to abandon the party's core values to be more "inclusive," it will be over. There will be no difference between the parties. Democrats will likely recapture Congress and the White House in 2000, and even if they don't, it will hardly matter. The Republican Party and American Christians who care about their children and grandchildren have come to an inevitable, major crossroad.