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Biography of The Hammer misses mark |
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By The Hill Staff
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Posted: 11/10/04 12:00 AM [ET] |
If casual political observers believe all that is written and said about House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), he is dastardly and sincere, hypocritical and principled.
So just who is DeLay? Certainly few, if any, reporters know him. He rarely speaks to reporters one on one or takes time to cultivate relationships. His weekly press conferences are sparring sessions to see who can be most clever and provocative.
Lou Dubose and Jan Reid, the Texas journalists who wrote The Hammer, do not add to what we already know or help readers understand how the “hardscrabble” Texan transformed himself from “Hot Tub Tom” to House majority leader. The reporters had 282 pages and no deadline to unearth new material about DeLay’s personal life and political dealings, but there’s not much here. This DeLay biography catalogs DeLay’s greatest infractions and power moves.
Let’s give the authors some props, however. They have written an earthy, colorful and well-organized biography.
There is an interesting chapter about his years growing up in Texas and in Venezuelan oil fields. The authors uncover a DeLay speech in which he contrasts the exotic natural environment with the political violence that occurred when leftist revolutionaries ransacked his town and assassinated local politicians.
And there are a few tidbits about DeLay’s vanity (of course, find me a politician who isn’t vain). DeLay used to have a mustache but was told to shave it before he ran for public office. When DeLay was elected majority leader, he had his teeth capped and began blow-drying his hair (Rep. Jennifer Dunn [R-Wash.] recommended her stylist).
DeLay’s father, Charlie, makes an appearance as an overbearing drunk. The authors note DeLay’s current estrangement from his mother and brothers (and who knew DeLay had a sister, Tena?). But for this material, the authors relied on a Washington Post Magazine profile written in 2000.
Nevertheless, beyond what they’ve gleaned from Nexis searches, the authors leave the reader with little beyond pop psychology.
Once DeLay gets to Congress after questionable success as an exterminator and a few undistinguished terms in the Texas state House, the authors roll out DeLay’s egregious, albeit previously reported, power moves. To any follower of congressional politics, we know about the K Street Project, Enron, Westar, winning the whip’s race even though he was not Newt Gingrich’s first choice.
Then there’s a bit of congressional intrigue that is mostly unsupported. DeLay thinks that House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) is lazy, according to a committee staffer who has worked on the Hill five years longer than DeLay has served. Can we please have another source? The authors assert that Scott Palmer, chief of staff to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), is DeLay’s real political rival. But they offer no examples of where he and Palmer have squared off.
Of course, there has been tension between DeLay and Hastert and Blunt. But can we do some reporting that gets us beyond the normal boardroom tensions? Does DeLay regret not angling for the Speaker’s office in 1998? Besides some votes here and there, where have DeLay and Hastert really bickered?
Maybe the book is not meant to change minds or persuade or even help reporters who cover DeLay, such as this one, understand what makes DeLay tick.
The best description of DeLay I’ve ever heard comes from a friend who is only vaguely familiar with congressional politics: DeLay is an alcoholic’s son, but he’s cagey and, as a reporter, you have to respect his skills. Amen.
Book reviewed:
The Hammer: Tom DeLay
God, Money, and the Rise of the Republican Congress
By Lou Dubose and Jan Reidl
306 pages; $26
Public Affairs, 2004
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