Schaffer's swan song

Human Events, Dec 3, 2001 by Gizzi, John

"I told the President, There's plenty of people already in Washington who've made a career out of weaseling out of their commitments: " Rep. Bob Schaffer (R.-Colo.) said last week, recalling to reporters how George W. Bush had urged him to run again next year in spite of Schaffers "three terms I'm out" pledge when he won his initial House term in 1996.

Bush was not the only Republican to say, "Run, Bob, Runt!" House GOP leaders, as well as party activists throughout the Centennial State, implored the 39-year-old conservative dynamo to junk his '96 pledge and stay put.

Universally popular with fellow Republicans in his 4th District (High Plains) and re-elected last year without a Democratic opponent, Schaffer (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 96%) would almost certainly have been forgiven by constituents for running again and been re-elected with ease. After all, Colorado Republican Rep. Scott McInnis of the 3rd District broke his three-term promise in 1998 and has easily won two more terms.

But politics, Schaffer insisted, was not a consideration in his decision. "It basically came down to looking my kids in the eye and saying 'I made a promise,"' he said. "The biggest reason is a personal one"

Shortly after jetting to Washington from Denver last week, the retiring congressman told me that "I decided on this in 1996 when I made my pledge. I planned on it and I never really thought of reconsidering it"

A onetime rental property manager, Schaffer was elected to the state senate at 24 and Congress at 34, where he was elected president of his freshman class. A leading member of the conservative Republican Study Committee, the Coloradan proudly boycotted Bill Clinton's 1999 State of the Union Address after voting for his impeachment. Schaffer was also a dogged investigator in the House Education and Workforce Committee's probe of illegal money laundering by the Teamsters Union, suggesting at an early stage that former top Clinton staffer Harold Ickes was "the natural conduit" between the union and the White House.

"Isn't it wonderful-a politician who keeps his word!" exclaimed former Sen. (1978-90) and conservative icon Bill Armstrong (R.-Colo.). "The press here is treating this as a `man bites dog' story because the public has become so inured to the idea that people are going to bend the truth once they are in office"

As eloquently as he defended Schaffer's keeping his word, Armstrong also.joined the growing number of conservatives condemning the concept of voluntary term limits by congressional candidates. "Am I happy Bob kept his word? You bet. Would I tell other candidates for Congress to make the same promise? No," the former senator told me. "I would urge them to introduce a termlimits law once they are elected, one that will apply to all members of Congress. We have mandatory term limits for our state legislators here in Colorado and they work fine."

"There's no value to [term limits] today," echoed Schaffer, voicing his regret over making the promise in the first place and recalling how he lost choice committee assignments because he would soon be "termed out.'