Minority status limits Reichert's visibility

WASHINGTON — There's been a power brownout in Auburn. The TVs are still working, but Dave Reichert has lost some wattage.

The annual power rankings from Congress.org have dropped Reichert, now a sophomore Republican, from 168th among 439 members to 419th. That puts him lower than emissaries from the District of Columbia (100), Guam (177) and Puerto Rico (377), none of whom represent a state or have actual voting rights in the House.

It's one of the miseries of suddenly waking up in the minority party.

A year ago, Reichert was the silver-haired golden boy. The freshman could be bipartisan when the occasion demanded; he was (and remains) extremely polite by Capitol Hill standards; chaired a subcommittee with limited clout, but on a hot topic — Homeland Security; and he stood out as a potential swing vote.

He had that most valuable of D.C. commodities, visibility.

Now with the Democrats in power, it's hard to find Reichert in the foreground.

Now in the minority, Reichert needs Democrats to get traction on two of his favorite topics: the outstanding punitive damage payments to victims of the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989, and prevention of oil drilling in Alaska's Bristol Bay.

He introduced a bill to give tax breaks to Exxon Valdez victims — if they get paid — but didn't round up Democratic co-sponsors.

On Bristol Bay, Reichert was one of the first members to oppose oil drilling there, even before January, when President Bush announced he would lift the drilling ban.

But when Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, introduced a bill to protect Bristol Bay in April, Reichert did not sign on as one of Inslee's co-sponsors.

Sometimes, you just have to hug a majority member and let him or her pull you along.

Reichert's chief of staff, Mike Shields, said his boss has been bipartisan on some issues. He reached out to Inslee to promote plug-in hybrid cars.

He jumped the Republican ship on the gas-price gouging bill and voted with Democrats (joining some other Republicans) in late May. And he openly supports former U.S. Attorney John McKay, who was among eight U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration.

A longtime Democratic staffer with the delegation, who begged for anonymity, said Reichert's in a tough spot.

GOP House leaders are keeping their members on a tighter leash than they did last Congress. Republicans who cross over get press, but they face retaliation inside their own party.

And it won't gain them Democratic allies unless they have a "safe seat" in their district. Reichert barely won re-election; Democrats want his spot and have no reason to help him succeed in Congress.

Two months ago, Reichert pondered his new status and said, "It's all a learning process."

Letter from Washington is an examination of the culture of politics and power in the nation's capital. Alicia Mundy can be reached at 202-622-7457 or at amundy@seattletimes.com.