Thread: Dreier a Different Kind of Republican

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Dreier a Different Kind of Republican

By ERICA WERNER
The Associated Press
Wednesday, September 28, 2005; 6:13 PM

WASHINGTON -- California Rep. David Dreier, who will be helping out in the Republicans' temporary House leadership group, is a congressman with fewer sharp edges than Tom DeLay.

Dreier, 53, a 13-term Republican from suburban San Dimas east of Los Angeles, will be helping Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri with some of the majority leader duties set aside by DeLay after his indictment Wednesday.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, looks on during a news conference regarding Hurricane Katrina on Capitol Hill in this Sept. 2, 2005 file photo. A Texas grand jury's recent interest in conspiracy charges could lead to last-minute criminal indictments, possibly against DeLay, as it wraps up its investigation Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005, into DeLay's state political organization, according to lawyers with knowledge of the case. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) (Charles Dharapak - AP)

Blunt will move up from Republican whip to temporarily fill DeLay's post and will be aided by Dreier, the chairman of the House Rules Committee, and Eric Cantor of Virginia, the chief deputy whip.

Skilled at one-on-one politics _ he seems never to forget a name _ Dreier maintains a reliably conservative voting record on economic issues. He never comes off as extreme.

"When Republicans turn to Dreier they're putting their best face forward, because he's articulate, reasonable and attractive," said Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California, where Dreier graduated in 1975.

"DeLay can be articulate, but in the press he shows too much of a hard edge," Pitney said.

Dreier has a more moderate voting record on some social issues than DeLay, for example opposing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage that DeLay supported.

He is a frequent face on television talk shows, particularly after serving as one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's top supporters when the actor ran for governor in 2003.

Dreier remains among Schwarzenegger's top Capitol Hill allies, and on the governor's trips to Washington the two smoke cigars together in Dreier's Rules Committee office in the Capitol.

"David Dreier is a reasonable conservative who represents his party and the governor in a very thoughtful and credible manner," said Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger's deputy chief of staff for communications.

Dreier has been talked about as a U.S. Senate candidate, but he passed on entreaties to challenge liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer last year.

He faced a surprisingly difficult re-election campaign last year when the hosts of a conservative talk radio show in Los Angeles criticized him for what they said was his failure to support tough anti-immigration measures. Dreier has supported President Bush's guest worker program. He won re-election to his House seat with just under 54 percent of the vote, down from 64 percent in 2002.

A native of Kansas City, Mo., Dreier is unmarried.

Hi Folks; this article fronts with this; Dreier a Different Kind of Republican.

No kidding, Dreier is a Gay as a parade. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

I can't wait how the republican't party stuffs this back into the closet.

bush, robertson, and the rest of the social conservatives are going to have to swallow very hard. There are even rumors rove is gay, as is bush himself. Not that there's anything wrong with that. HAHA! This is going to get circus like before it concludes. I figure the republican'ts could claim Jesus was Gay, and that would solve the whole problem.

BTW; some of my best friends are homosexuals of either gender.

David Brock an unabashed Gay former republican't, and has dropped dime on homosexuals in republican't party. Hey, are you sure you want to pick up that dime?

For a clue to who the Gay republican'ts are, read David Brocks; Blinded by the Right. cheers glenn