The New/Old GOP
WASHINGTON: This was definitely not another Republican revolution -- after all, Dick Armey hung on to his majority leader job. But in holding off challenges from ex-NFL jock Steve Largent, darling of the social conservatives, and Jennifer Dunn, darling of the we-need-more-women-here faction, crusty old Dick Armey may do more for Republicans than new faces ever could.
"The new fashionable word for Republicans is 'pragmatism,'" says TIME Washington correspondent Jay Branegan. "Armey may not be telegenic like Largent, but as a fiscal conservative -- which is the only thing that unites the Republicans these days -- he has crossover appeal to the swing voters." The newest face among the new GOP elite was J. C. Watts, who handily won John Boehner's No. 4 job. Looks like the moralists, the diversity hawks and the football fans will all have to share him.
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