LET'S BE BLUNT:

Blunt Takes Place Among Potential Leaders (Jim VandeHei, November 18, 2002, Washington Post)

Is Roy Blunt being groomed to become the next speaker of the House?

Blunt, an ambitious conservative from Missouri, last week was unanimously elected majority whip, the third-ranking Republican leadership position.

Blunt -- in replacing his friend and boss, Tom DeLay of Texas, who was promoted to majority leader -- instantly became a leading candidate to replace House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) when he retires, lawmakers said.

While Hastert is all but certain to stay until 2004, he has made it known to friends that he longs to retire to his farmland in Illinois and fish walleye in the Fox River. He has won rave reviews from both sides of the aisle for his leadership of the narrowly divided House since becoming speaker in 1998. President Bush has a tight working relationship with Hastert and would likely pressure him to stay on. Regardless, under term-limit rules, Hastert is required to turn over the gavel no later than 2006. [...]

Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), one of Bush's closest allies in the House, is someone to watch, too. Smart and savvy, Portman has made friends throughout the GOP and impressed policy wonks with his commitment to detail in legislative fights over everything from pension reform to tax cuts. Portman and Blunt are seen as rivals for future power by many lawmakers.

Other possibilities include Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, and Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.).

Assuming Mr. DeLay is content to be the man behind the curtain, it's probably helpful for the party that the four leading contenders are non-Southerners. Posted by Orrin Judd at November 18, 2002 1:25 PM