GOP choice ignores ties with lobbyists, funny name

Ad Nag outdoes himself.

Leader's Rise Reflects Growing Concern in Republican Ranks

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 — The surprise election of Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio as House majority leader was a cry of concern by an entrenched Republican majority, acutely worried that voter unease about corruption and partisan excesses could threaten its control of Congress this November.

Mr. Boehner packaged himself as the reform candidate, methodically distancing himself from Representative Tom DeLay, the hard-driving former majority leader identified with both ethics investigations and a searingly partisan manner. His victory, following the restrained and politically unadventurous State of the Union speech on Tuesday night by President Bush, left the impression of a party on the defensive as it surveys the inhospitable electoral terrain.

Wha?

Was it his wife or his children who permittted him to package himself as a reform candidate?

Nagourney is such a hack. Did he write the story before Boehner was chosen? Because not more than a few paragraphs after his "GOP fights corruption" lede, we find this:

Despite his close ties to lobbyists, Mr. Boehner went to great lengths to present himself as a reform candidate, and he was not as close to Mr. DeLay or to Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist at the center of the influence-peddling investigation that has Congressional Republicans so worried, as Mr. Blunt.

But Mr. Boehner was an active member of the lobbying-governing culture that has taken hold here, and Democrats were quick to try to pierce his claim of virtue with e-mailed newspaper articles detailing his ties to lobbyists. What is more, as several Republicans argued on Thursday, a party that had come into office as fresh-faced reformers under Mr. Gingrich has now, after 12 years, become the face of the establishment; at the same time, the Democratic minority is intent on presenting itself to the public much the way Mr. Gingrich's Republicans did.

GOP to voters: We think you're stupid. And if Nagourney is any indication, the GOP is right.

In the same paper, not posing as "News Analysis," we have Carl Hulse, for whom Congress is his beat.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 — Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio in an upset on Thursday became the new House majority leader as Republicans, worried about a corruption scandal and their own tarnished image, tried to distance themselves from the tenure of Representative Tom DeLay.

Mr. Boehner defeated Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, the interim majority leader and a protégé of Mr. DeLay, on a second ballot, 122 to 109, after Mr. Blunt fell six votes short of victory in the initial voting.

Republicans in the caucus room in the Cannon House Office Building said the announcement of the results left everyone stunned, including Mr. Boehner.

Mr. Boehner is a conservative in the same vein of House Republican leaders for the past dozen years, and his election is unlikely to lead to any substantial change in direction on most policy issues.

He presented himself as a reformer, highlighting his opposition to directing taxpayer money to pork barrel projects, but he is no stranger to lobbyists and interest groups.

In choosing him, however, his colleagues were clearly hoping to present to the nation a fresh face, albeit one not unfamiliar in Washington.

Hulse also helpfully provides a pronunciation key for Boehnert's name. One that I am going to willfully ignore.

Republicans in Congress don't care about corruption. Boehner's selection confirms this. Democrats had better start making this case strenuously. I mean, it worked for Hamas.