Politics

Livingston A Lock For Speaker

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

November 9, 1998 / 5:32 PM EST / CBS

Louisiana Rep. Bob Livingston took command of the race to succeed House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Monday when his only rival dropped out of contention.

CBS News Correspondent Phil Jones reports that Livingston appeared to lock up the job when Rep. Chris Cox of California, his only opposition, sent a letter to Republicans announcing his withdrawal "in the interests of unifying the [GOP] conference, and putting policy victories ahead of politics."

On Monday, Livingston explained his decision to challenge Gingrich in this way: "I just saw the handwriting on the wall, that this wasn't going to work out. That he [Gingrich] had become a lightning rod, much to his own ... well, beyond his control."

The question is, will any of this make any difference to most Americans? Rep. David Obey is a senior Democrat and friend of Livingston.

"I think you will get the same legislation you would have gotten with Gingrich. They'll still being going after Social Security," Obey said. " They'll be against major health care reform. They'll still be going after environmental laws. The difference is that members will get along better. It'll be a little less of a personal snake pit here."

It's going to be a while before Republicans can talk about civility. Dick Armey, the House Majority Leader, is facing two opponents: Steve Largent of Oklahoma and Jeniffer Dunn of Washington. Some Republicans want a woman in a high leadership post.

And so the post-election blood-letting continues. What began as a 1994 "Contract With America" has turned into a contract on the political lives of most of the leaders of the Republican revolution.

The leader of the revolution, Newt Gingrich, returned to the Capitol for the first time since he fell on his sword and surrendered his speakership for last week's election debacle.

He was greeted by friendly chants of "Newt, Newt, Newt" from staff and friends who had been with him since he led the GOP revolution in 1994 to gain control of the House. At one point, Gingrich was caught wiping tears from an eye.