ders. Reagan first proposed welfare reform running for governor of Cali- fornia in 1966. We finally passed it in 1996, 31 years later. I was trying to build a majority, and suddenly in ’94, we had a Democrat — Pres- ident Bill Clinton — to contrast with. Clinton had run as a moderate, but promptly moved. In his first two years, he


CLINTON


alienated the country on economic and social grounds. He created an environment in which we could be very effective taking him on.


Had Watergate not occurred, would Republicans have captured the House earlier? There’s no question coming out of


’72 that the Republican Party was on the verge of becoming competitive. The level of attack on Nixon, and the degree to which Watergate shattered Republicans, probably stopped his- tory for another decade until Reagan came along.


In your book, you tell a story we’ve never heard about Tip O’Neill. Tip’s closest friend and roommate,


Rep. Ed Boland, D-Mass., was chair- man of the House Intelligence Com- mittee and, in 1984, had gotten a dozen Demo- crats to sign a warm let- ter to [Nicaragua Marx- ist strongman Daniel] Ortega beginning, “Dear Comandante.” So, we


O’NEILL


were attacking them. Tip came down from the chair and


was furious. He got so angry he was yelling at me and, of course, he’s phys- ically huge. This was great television, so for the first time, House Republi- cans were on all three TV networks that night, and it was a morale boost. Years later, Tip told [Rep.] Bob


Walker, R-Pa., “You guys really owe me. If I hadn’t attacked Newt, no one would have noticed [their argu- ment]. I made you guys.”


McCarthy Gets It H


Newt Gingrich: Former GOP


Speakers Dennis Hastert, John Boehner, and Paul Ryan — none of them understood the concept that we are a party supported by people who want to change Washington, [D.C.], not people who want to manage Washington. So, there is a Goldwater-Reagan-


Gingrich-Trump wing of the party that wants to change Washington pretty dramatically. Kevin is much closer to that


position, but also understands he must lead a coalition that includes moderates. And if you look at the bills he’s bringing up, they are all very conservative. But he doesn’t give everything


the hard right wants, because the truth is you can’t.


I was trying to build a majority, and suddenly in ’94, we had a Democrat — President Bill Clinton — to contrast with. Clinton had run as a moderate, but promptly moved.


Is there room for moderates in today’s Republican Party? Look at the balance Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy has to maintain. The guys on the right would like a party that is guaranteed to be a minority. I have always told people you can


have a center-right majority. You can- not have a right-of-center majority.


Look at picking up four seats in


New York, four in Florida, in Califor- nia — there were a number of people who are moderate Republicans by today’s standards, which meant they would have been conservatives in the 1990s. They are the margin of the majority because they are from districts you can lose. Most of the Republicans come


from districts that are so Republi- can, they can be impervious to the public because they are going to win anyway.


ow do you see Speaker Kevin McCarthy?


[Former Vice President] Mike Pence and other past House members believe Congress functioned better when members received only two paid trips home per year, brought their families to Washington, D.C., and were friendlier to one another. Do you agree? No. You want your members to go


home and be in touch with people. The whole point of the House is that you run every two years and, in prin- ciple, you are closer to the people. Senators can stay in Washington and hang out, but House members should not. They ought to be back home. You’ve got to go home and listen to your constituents.


What advice do you give the Republican House and Republicans running for Congress now? It’s very simple, and it’s the key to March to the Majority. Start with the people, listen to the people, and try to understand what the people need and want. You’re not hired to be their overlord. You’re hired to be their advocate.


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