By: Politico

Politicians hate hard choices, and Democrats in the House will be asked Thursday to cast the hardest vote of all: one against an established colleague.

For a week now, Democrats have shied away from making public statements of support for either Michigan Rep. John Dingell or California Rep. Henry A. Waxman, who’s trying to oust Dingell as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

But members of the Democrats’ Policy and Steering Committee forced the issue Wednesday, voting 25-22 to recommend that Waxman replace Dingell on the panel. That vote is the precursor to Thursday morning’s caucuswide vote in the Cannon House Office Building.

“I wish we did not have to make the choice between two extraordinary legislators,” said North Carolina Rep. G.K. Butterfield, an uncommitted member of the Energy and Commerce panel.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, a Dingell supporter who once worked for the dean of the House before joining him as a member, was so reluctant to answer questions about the race Wednesday that he said doing so might have an adverse effect on his health.

The unexpected tussle between Dingell and Waxman echoes another fight two years ago, when Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland overcame a challenge by Pennsylvania Rep. John P. Murtha, a top ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.

This election has been much quieter than the Hoyer-Murtha fight. But it still forces Democrats to pick sides between two of the most powerful members of their caucus. It also forces them to confront the merits of the seniority system that has governed Democratic politics for most of the past century.

Asked to reflect on what the struggle meant for that system, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel of New York, an Old Bull whose own perch was challenged this year, laughed and said that it “depends on how this vote goes.”

Rangel said he was genuinely unsure of the outcome. “I have no idea why the Waxman supporters are so confident. I have no idea,” Rangel said as he entered the conference room in the Capitol basement where members of the steering committee voted Wednesday.

Following the steering committee vote, both camps stayed true to form, with Waxman remaining mum and Dingell’s team rushing to comment publicly.

Waxman wouldn’t answer questions after leaving the room, other than to say, “We’ll see” about tomorrow’s vote. Even a reporter’s attempt to get him to offer his favorite color failed to elicit a response.

Dingell’s supporters immediately downplayed the vote, saying that they expected Waxman to win by a greater margin, given the geographic and political makeup of the committee — which includes a number of Pelosi loyalists and 11 Californians, among them the speaker herself.

“We’re in a much stronger position with the rank and file,” Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Doyle said on a conference call after the vote.

In addition, four Dingell supporters on the Steering and Policy Committee — Rangel, Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, Wisconsin Rep. Dave Obey and Tennessee Rep. John Tanner — didn’t vote. Tanner was absent, and the other three had not been ratified as chairmen, preventing them from casting a vote.

On a conference call with Dingell supporters, South Dakota Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin complained that the vote itself was “divisive” and “unproductive.”

But each of the members on the call argued that Dingell remains in a solid position to win despite the outcome on Wednesday.

As the final vote approaches, Dingell’s supporters have increasingly made the case that more voters share their candidate’s more moderate policy views, particularly with regard to energy policy.

“We have to be careful rewriting environmental legislation,” given the economy, said Alabama Rep. Artur Davis. “Dingell is a more even hand on the steering wheel.”

But whatever the results, Davis and others believe the caucus will rally around the winner — and President-elect Barack Obama.

“The race we had two years ago was a bitter internal fight,” Davis said. “But you saw how quickly those wounds healed.”

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