House GOP asks leader candidates for platforms

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House Republicans from across the political spectrum urged their colleagues to make the two announced candidates for majority leader come up with detailed platforms, even as some conservatives said they want a third candidate to emerge.

Meanwhile, two new candidates jumped into the race for the whip post, the No. 3 leadership slot, even though it isn't technically open yet.

Yesterday's events indicate that the election to permanently fill the post vacated by former Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas -- the first real contested leadership election in years -- could become a full-blown re-evaluation of where the party stands.

Conservative Rep. Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican, and Rep. Charles Bass, New Hampshire Republican and a leading centrist, wrote a letter urging colleagues not to commit to a candidate because neither Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri nor Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio has agreed to fundamental changes in the way the House operates.

"We're asking people to wait and see what the candidates are, force them to come out with their positions," Mr. Flake said, calling specifically for voting procedure changes and curbs on earmarks, the special pork projects members put in spending bills.

Mr. Flake said he is hoping for a third candidate, possibly Rep. John Shadegg, Arizona Republican and a favorite of conservatives. Mr. Shadegg has not ruled himself out.

Rep. Walter B. Jones, North Carolina Republican, also said a third candidate must emerge because Mr. Blunt, the current majority whip and acting majority leader, and Mr. Boehner, a committee chairman and former Republican Conference head, could be seen as part of the present leadership and thus tainted by recent scandals involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

"I feel that both those men are very capable, but we need an individual that does not have any ties to the leadership," Mr. Jones said.

Rep. Mike Pence, Indiana Republican and the influential chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC), announced yesterday that he would not run for a position but said he wants the candidates to make their pitch at an RSC retreat later this month.

Mr. Flake said the race could change even if one candidate claims to have locked up enough support before then.