WASHINGTON - Telephone, letter and face-to-face persuasion continued full force Friday, as Rep. J.C. Watts declared himself within a dozen votes of ousting John Boehner from the House leadership.
"I have over 100 colleagues supporting me and I feel confident that we are going to continue to pick up support and win this election," said Mr. Watts, an Oklahoma Republican who wants to take over as conference chairman.
To win that post, which ranks fourth on the majority-party leadership ladder, fellow GOP House members must select Mr. Watts over Mr. Boehner, R-West Chester, during an organizational vote next week.
The closed-door biennial meeting and secret balloting in the past have created situations in which candidates' pre-vote tallies show double-counting, apparently because of colleagues who promise to back more than one contender. There's no way to know whether the 100-plus names on Mr. Watts' list also have told Mr. Boehner they're with him.
Mr. Boehner's team refused to say how many votes it is counting on.
"We're confident enough with our position that we don't feel obligated to throw numbers out so early in the game," said spokesman Dave Schnittger.
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The internal vote to pick leaders for the 1999-2000 term is scheduled for Wednesday.
Mr. Boehner sought to show a Watts weakness Friday by releasing an endorsement letter from 10 members of Mr. Watts' class - fellow Republicans who entered Congress at the same time, as part of the group elected in 1994. The letter praised Mr. Boehner as an effective organizer and "honest broker when disputes arise."
"The ultimate irony is that John Boehner, one of the rebel turks, may be ousted by a new wave of rebel turks," one Republican aide said.
Mr. Boehner came to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990 and joined the "Gang of Seven" - a group of freshmen who assailed veteran congressmen for their overdrafts at the House Bank and abuse of the House Post Office.
They pushed for reforms including legislation making members of Congress subject to the same laws it writes for ordinary citizens. In 1994, Mr. Boehner was one of the principal architects of the Contract With America, the GOP agenda that helped launch Republicans to their first House majority in 40 years.
Mr. Boehner issued a letter to his colleagues last weekend touting the services his staff has provided during the 105th Congress. Those services have been particularly important to new members of Congress. An aide to freshman Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., said the decision to vote for Mr. Boehner was the easiest his boss has had to make.
"Not only have John Boehner and his staff have done everything we have ever asked for, but they have helped us with things we didn't know to ask," said Craig Roberts, Mr. Shimkus' top aide.
But the quality of Mr. Boehner's day-to-day management of the Republican conference may not be enough for him to keep his job.
"Most people think he's done a very decent job in that position," said Eddie Mahe, a veteran Republican strategist. "That being said, it's not like someone else couldn't also do that job. It's not heart surgery."
