GOP Leaders Face Bailout Pressure

As the votes came in Monday afternoon, perhaps no one on Capitol Hill had more on the line than House Republican Leader John Boehner and Whip Roy Blunt. In the end, just 65 of the 199 Republicans in the House voted for the bill, sealing its fate as it went down to defeat.

Though Republican leadership is hopeful it can corral more members to vote for the second version of the economic stabilization plan when it comes up today, Boehner's and Blunt's performance earned decidedly mixed reviews. Heading into a tumultuous election, both leaders' futures atop the conference are being questioned.

Boehner walked a delicate line in urging his members to vote with him in the first place. Facing a rising tide of newly prominent members who oppose big spending, In asking those same members to buy in to a $700 billion bill, Boehner had to step lightly.

"What he did was ask every House Republican who could vote in good conscience for this bill to do so," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel. "It's not what a lot of our guys, including Boehner, were elected to do. He obviously respected the views of those who couldn't."

According to most conference members, Boehner achieved that delicate line. "Boehner applied the most effective pressure of all, and that was he appealed to our statesmanship and our principles," said Trent Franks, an Arizona Republican who ended up voting against the bill. "Boehner has done an absolutely excellent job in this situation," he said, pointing out that he had voted for Boehner's opponent in the 2007 race for Republican leader. "He's kind of made a believer out of me."

In the minds of other Republicans, it was a moment that gave younger members a chance to step up and audition for future runs at leadership. While Boehner "looked like he was fighting for us and he didn't break any arms," it was Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor who came out on top, according to one Republican who asked not to be named discussing internal conference politics.

Cantor, who along with Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan offered an alternative proposed bailout, ended up achieving more for Republicans, the member said. "When Cantor put out the proposal, we felt we got movement."

A Republican aide who follows conference maneuvers gave credit to the two leaders as well as to Cantor, the chief deputy whip, and Ryan, who has a reputation as a spending hawk. Boehner's efforts were supplemented by Blunt, who negotiated the final deal with Democrats, Cantor, who whipped Republican support, and Ryan, who lent valuable credibility that allowed some Republicans to vote for the measure.

Virtually no House Republican blames Boehner for his party's electoral woes. Some in the conference say he could go farther in engaging Democrats and do more to cut down on free-wheeling spending that got the party in trouble to begin with. Many, though, are grateful for his travel and fundraising on behalf of House candidates.

Instead, the nearly unanimous opinion is that the bailout bill's failure is the most evident development to date that demonstrates the lack of Congressional fealty to the White House.

The blame for the bill's failure falls largely on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, members and aides said. Boehner "was put in a very, very difficult situation by Mr. Paulson," Franks said. "Paulson has really made a problem on this," the member who asked for anonymity said.

"The administration's influence with House conservatives is zero, zip and nil," said one former leadership aide who cited myriad crises on which the White House demanded action. "The question will be if the leadership can quickly rebound with a new plan or significantly altered plan."

But the road is about to get a lot bumpier for Boehner and Blunt. While the bailout bill seems likely to pass later today, there will almost certainly be fewer Republicans in the 111th Congress than there are now, thanks to an electoral climate that remains poisonous for the GOP. Two years after taking over as minority leader, Boehner has not been able to dig his party out of its hole. A loss of more than a dozen seats, some Republicans suggest, could cost Boehner his job.

Maneuvers around the economic stabilization package are seen by some as an early audition for those who might harbor leadership aspirations. Cantor, said the member who asked to remain anonymous, is seen as a potential candidate, and after announcing his alternative plan with Ryan, a close ally, his stock rose.

Two other prominent Republicans, Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling and Florida Rep. Adam Putnam, could play a role in conference leadership in the future.

Hensarling, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, led eighty fellow RSC members in voting against the bill. The RSC gives him a platform; former chairs of the group include Reps. John Shadegg and Mike Pence, each of whom ran for leadership positions in 2007, as well as Tom DeLay, who served as majority leader.

Putnam is already the GOP conference chairman, and he's proven himself as a bomb-thrower popular with cable news networks. Still, some Republicans said Putnam was not out front on the measure early enough. While rattling off the roles leadership played in the bill, the only thing the current aide could cite was Putnam's presence on television backing the bill.

Races for leadership positions are a long way off, though, and no member of the Republican conference has called for either Boehner or Blunt to step down. Whether the two are seen as part of the problem that caused, or absolved of responsibility for, the party's expected losses in November remain to be seen. But with younger members interested in moving up the leadership change, Boehner and Blunt have a tricky path ahead.

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