Monday, November 15, 1999

Democrat Lucas sides with GOP on many votes

---

Record reflects constituency

BY PAUL BARTON
Enquirer Washington Bureau

        WASHINGTON — Rep. Ken Lucas of Richwood may be a Democrat, but that doesn't mean he feels compelled to vote like one.

        Quite the contrary, on numerous controversial and major issues this year, Mr. Lucas, a first-term member, has voted with the Republican majority.

A few examples:
        • The $792 billion Republican tax cut package opposed by President Clinton and leading Democrats. Mr. Lucas voted for it.

        • Banning adoptions by gay couples in the District of Columbia. Mr. Lucas supported the idea.

        • Holding a criminal accountable for death or injury to the fetus that occurs during a violent crime. Mr. Lucas supported it, although many Democrats and liberals considered it a back-door attack on abortion.

        • A Republican measure during Kosovo that would have prohibited the introduction of ground troops without authorization from Congress. Mr. Lucas supported it.

        • Republican proposal to amend the Constitution so that a supermajority is required in Congress to increase taxes. Mr. Lucas supported it.

        • Republican proposal to give states the option of posting the Ten Commandments in state government buildings. Mr. Lucas supported it.

        And when Republicans harshly criticized the Clinton administration over reports of widespread Chinese espionage in nuclear weapons programs, Mr. Lucas joined them.

        At other times, Mr. Lucas finds a way to support the proposals of both parties, as he did with reform of health maintenance organizations.

        Mr. Lucas voted for all HMO reform and patients rights proposals that came to the floor from both parties.

        Neither party, he said, enjoys “a monopoly on good ideas.”

        Mr. Lucas also supported both Democratic and Republican proposals when the House considered measures to “lock up” Social Security funds and keep them from being used for other government expenditures.

        “I think your allegiance to your constituents comes before your allegiance to your party,” Mr. Lucas said in an interview. “I am who I am. Maybe I am a product of my environment.”

        That environment, the conservative 4th Congressional District of Northern Kentucky, could explain quite a bit of what's going on during Mr. Lucas' first term, political analysts contend.

        For Mr. Lucas to hold onto the seat, it is essential he maintain a largely conservative voting record.

        “It is a vital strategy,” said Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report, a respected Washington newsletter. “He cannot vote like Ted Kennedy and keep that seat.”

        Larry Sabato, congressional expert at the University of Virginia, said Mr. Lucas and other Southern and border state Democrats have been given “a pass” to vote however they feel they need to on key votes.

        The only time Democrat leaders believe they must have their votes is in selecting the House speaker and other key leaders.

        “They have done this with many others in the past, and that is one of the reasons the Democrats are coming back,” Mr. Sabato said.

        The Virginia professor added: “The Democrats know how incredibly lucky they are to be controlling that election” in the Kentucky 4th.

        Mr. Lucas, a 65-year-old financial planner, did not come to Con gress with the idea of making a career of it. That also gives him freedom to vote his conscience, added his press aide, John Lapp.

        “I wouldn't say that I have caught a lot of flak (from party leaders). People know where I'm coming from, who I am and what I stand for,” Mr. Lucas said.

        Ms. Walter, of The Cook Political Report, said Mr. Lucas' conservative votes already seem to paying political dividends.

        “It's a good reason they (the GOP) can't find a Republican to run against him. There is not a big chink in his armor.”

       

---

Downtown projects angle for state dollars
Hot time tonight for Backstreet Boys fans
Stargazers hope meteor shower will dazzle
Y2K-I-DO: Couples ring in millennium with wedding bells
What's the secret to living to 100?
Youths rally for Ten Commandments
Morality messenger blends old with new
'Nightline' to air historic tapes from Clifton Jewish archives
GET TO IT
Megadeth won't stray from heavy metal way
Democrat Lucas sides with GOP on many votes
Driver arrested after car chase, 2 accidents
Ideas flow for water system
Miss Glasgow crowned Miss Ky. USA
Naiser's restorations often better than new
Put college in your future, Ohio kids told at statehouse
TRISTATE DIGEST
Voinovich cuts own path from GOP line
Volunteers search for hidden homeless