In Eye of Social Security Storm, Quiet Power Broker Is Courted

When Representative Jim McCrery raised questions about President Bush's plan to overhaul Social Security, the White House quickly put the squeeze on him. Four of the president's men descended on Capitol Hill to pay a visit to Mr. McCrery, an unassuming Louisiana Republican, surrounding him with charts and figures in a fevered effort to get him to endorse the company line.

It worked - sort of. Mr. McCrery, the chairman of House subcommittee on Social Security, still says the plan will be a tough sell on Capitol Hill. But, in a subtle shift that mollified the people at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, he is now careful to add that Congress should give it a chance.
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...And Mr. McCrery cannot afford to lose the White House. He has aspirations to become Ways and Means chairman, one of the most powerful jobs on Capitol Hill, when Mr. Thomas's term is up in 2006, and he knows that his future could hinge on the Social Security debate. With Congress in recess this week, Republicans must go back to their constituents to sell Mr. Bush's plan. If Mr. McCrery sounds skeptical, they might have a tough time doing it.
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Like many Republicans from traditionally Democratic Louisiana, Mr. McCrery was once a Democrat. A lawyer by training, he worked in the early 1980's for Mr. Roemer, then a Congressional Democrat, and went on to become a lobbyist for the timber industry. In 1988, he ran as a Republican for the seat Mr. Roemer had vacated to become governor. Mr. McCrery won, becoming the first Republican to represent the district in 114 years. He was headed for defeat until his opponent, a state legislator named Foster Campbell, was injured in a car crash. Mr. McCrery pulled his advertising and became known as "Gentleman Jim," a label that fit a personality his consultants had tried in vain to revamp.

http://nytimes.com/2005/02/22/politics/22mccrery.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5094&en=0e2163690950d4d2&hp&ex=1109048400&partner=homepage