Posted on 09/15/2002 6:21:32 PM PDT by GeneD
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, Sept. 10 — After 26 years in Congress, happily cultivating his image as the quintessential Republican moderate, somehow above the partisan fray, Representative Jim Leach suddenly finds himself smack in the middle of the battle for the House.
"It's a hard time," he says, sighing, his voice trailing off as he ponders the weeks ahead.
Redistricting has forced him into a new Congressional district that is decidedly Democratic. His opponent, Dr. Julie Thomas, is well financed, has strong roots in the community, and makes the case — in the calm, just-trust-me style of a longtime pediatrician — that Mr. Leach talks moderate but does not deliver on bread-and-butter issues like health care and education.
"When the votes are close, he votes with the Republican leadership," Dr. Thomas, 57, says. "He smiles and listens" on issues like children's health insurance, "but there's no action."
This debate in a chunk of eastern Iowa dominated by Cedar Rapids and Iowa City — the new Second Congressional District — looms large in the political world.
Technically, all 435 House seats are on the ballot this fall, but probably fewer than 50 will have truly competitive elections, and only a handful will have the significance of this one. Democrats need a net pickup of just six seats to regain a majority in the House, which they have not held since 1994. This seat, they say, represents one of their best hopes.
Because the fate of the House depends on so few competitive seats, the parties and their allies will blanket districts like this with money, advertising and any other resource they can bring to bear.
Every House race is different, but this race has some of the more enduring plot lines: a respected incumbent facing a talented newcomer, presidential hopefuls and administration officials tripping over themselves to help, moral dilemmas for the candidates, big strategic implications for the parties, and — this being Iowa — lots of voters who just want to talk about the issues.
Nobody knows how close it will be, but one thing is clear: Jim Leach — the pride of the Princeton/foreign service/old establishment wing of the Republican Party — is headed into the partisan fray this time.
He does not like it. "I've never felt more uncomfortable with the tactics of the opposition," he complains.
Mr. Leach, 59, the son of a Davenport business family, went to Congress in 1976, served for six years as chairman of the Banking Committee and made his legislative mark on issues like the savings and loan crisis and overhauling regulation of the financial services industry.
His last close election was in 1996. He seems haunted by the young Democratic operatives who videotaped his town meetings last month, canvassed the state for Democratic voters last summer and are scrutinizing his voting record on issues like financing for the Department of Education and Social Security. He sounds a little like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, hearing the footsteps of tireless pursuers, wondering, "Who are those guys?"
Last Sunday, Mr. Leach made the rounds at a renewable energy expo outside Cedar Rapids, listening to the virtues of wind power and photovoltaics. He was strongly endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters, is considered to be one of the greener Republicans and clearly felt he was on friendly ground at the question-and-answer session that ended his visit. But then came The Question.
A young environmentalist rose and said he recognized that Mr. Leach was sympathetic to his cause but added that he was "very concerned that a vote for you is a vote for the Republican leadership."
Mr. Leach looked pained, saying that voters had to make the judgment whether "it's healthier to have some diversity within the parties" — clearly alluding to moderates like himself. But afterward he told the environmentalist, "You ask a tough question," and indeed, it cuts to the heart of this race.
Mr. Leach was ranked the second most liberal Republican in the House by National Journal this year, outdone only by Representative Constance A. Morella, who represents the Maryland suburbs outside Washington. That position has clearly helped him survive, politically, in Democratic-leaning terrain. But the new district is considered by many to be even more Democratic than the old. (The new configuration also required him to leave his hometown, Davenport, which is now in another district, and move to Iowa City.)
Moreover, leading Democrats argue that the amiable Mr. Leach is essentially an "enabler," who helps preserve a razor-thin Republican majority in the House and advances the conservative Republican agenda, whether he likes it or not.
Rachel Gorlin, Dr. Thomas's media consultant, said the choice for Iowa Democrats will be framed very simply: "Why, when you can have a real Democrat, would you choose Jim Leach?"
The Democrats' great hope is the first woman to open a pediatric practice in Cedar Rapids and a longtime advocate of expanding health coverage to children and others. This is her first run for elective office, but she has lobbied the Iowa Legislature and Congress on health issues for years. In fact, she tells voters she decided to run because Mr. Leach would not co-sponsor a bill to provide universal coverage to children.
Like Mr. Leach, Dr. Thomas makes up in sturdy earnestness what she lacks in telegenic appeal. Her aides had difficulty finding photographs from her career high points — like her work at a camp for diabetic children — to use in the biographical television advertisements that traditionally open a campaign.
"I don't like being in front of cameras," she explained, with an apologetic laugh, in an interview this week. Her campaign manager, Holly Armstrong, chimed in, "That'll be a first in Congress."
When she first considered the race, in early 2001, Dr. Thomas said, "I think everyone had a question about a novice citizen challenger taking on a longtime incumbent. But they recognized the Democratic performance of the district, and they recognized my commitment."
Before long, building on contacts acquired through years of health care advocacy, she had acquired substantial financial and political support: Emily's List, the influential fund-raising committee for Democratic women who support abortion rights, endorsed her. Democratic presidential hopefuls (always eager to make friends in Iowa) came to campaign. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York agreed to give a fund-raiser for the Thomas campaign at her home in Washington.
In fact, as of the last filing of campaign finance reports, on June 30, Dr. Thomas had more cash on hand than the longstanding incumbent — $432,801 to $146,511.
But Mr. Leach suggests he has something more important — the moral high ground. He vows to abide by longstanding commitments to accept no political action committee money or out-of-state money, and to run no negative advertising.
"We've almost reversed roles," he argued in a recent interview. "I'm running the challenger's campaign," he added. "I go to all the events. I'm everywhere. She spends most of her time on the telephone, what Democrats call dialing for dollars. It's smart politics. I just happen to be uncomfortable with it."
He added, with a trace of pride, "I'm confident I'll be the most outspent Republican incumbent."
At an appearance this week at the University of Iowa, Dr. Thomas was asked by an insistent young student why she didn't abide by similar policies. "I don't apologize for PAC's," she said, referring to political action committees and arguing that they provided a way for people, especially working people, to pool their money to have a voice. She said it was "disingenuous" for Mr. Leach, with all the advantages of incumbency, to embrace this position. "I need every single dollar I can get to beat Jim Leach, and I will do that," she said.
Of course, nothing is binding the national Republican Party to abide by Mr. Leach's code.
Democratic strategists say they fully expect the National Republican Congressional Committee to come out swinging this fall. "We know they're coming in at the end," said Ms. Gorlin, the media strategist. "They've placed the buy, and I don't think it's for more positive Leach ads." A spokesman for the Republican committee declined to comment.
For all the strategizing and the money, House campaigns remain a very personal art form. One day this week, Dr. Thomas drove north of Cedar Rapids for a small "meet and greet" organized by a group of parents whose children she has treated over the years. They gathered at a white farmhouse overlooking corn and soybean fields golden in the late summer sun, and they listened to Dr. Thomas describe her campaign.
"Instead of a voice for large corporations, large companies, we can have a voice for small businesses, for families and for health care," she said.
She seemed comfortable with this relentlessly domestic message. But the night before, her tentativeness as a first-time candidate was apparent as the subject moved to foreign policy, when she met with a group of peace activists unhappy about the prospect of war with Iraq. She expressed her concern about the administration's policy but said she had more questions than answers.
Mr. Leach, not surprisingly, is far more comfortable on that terrain, outlining his reservations about the Bush administration's approach. He says, with some frustration, that his opponent has simply not disclosed her position on an array of issues — a luxury that an incumbent, obviously, does not have.
["She's running, as far as we can gather, as part of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party," Mr. Leach said at a joint appearance with Dr. Thomas Friday on Iowa Public Television's "Iowa Press." "I'm running as a moderate Republican, as an independent voice on a whole spectrum of issues."
Dr. Thomas said she was running on the issues that voters cared about, with health care at the top of the list. She denounced the House Republican plan for prescription drug benefits for the elderly, which was supported by Mr. Leach. She described it as "a placebo, a pill without active ingredients," which would provide subsidies to insurance companies instead of direct benefits to the elderly.]
Mr. Leach says he is not neglecting the parade-route politics of an Iowa fall; he was out last weekend at the Rodeo Days Parade in Fort Madison, handing out his signature red-white-and-blue feathered headbands.
His allies say they are convinced that voters will see their candidate as who he is — not as a proxy for the national party, but as Jim Leach.
"It's a difficult district for a Republican, certainly," said Julie Adams, his campaign manager. "But people look at Jim Leach as the guy he is. They know where he stands. There's a certain ease with him."
DO CHOOSE: House Majority Leader Gepppppppbbbbbbbhardt vs. a GOP House.
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