Boehner Leads Effort to Polish GOP 'Brand'

House Republican morale has been buoyed in recent weeks by a series of parliamentary maneuvers that have gone their way. A sustained GOP attack on Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on defense, has yielded several days' worth of media coverage on what Republicans have called Murtha's heavy-handed tactics and his generosity with taxpayers' money.

But beyond Washington, such small triumphs have had little political impact, some House GOP members and aides concede. On legislation, Republicans have at times shown remarkable disunity.

Last week, Boehner denounced a Democratic bill against energy price gouging as pointless political pandering, only to see it receive 56 Republican votes, including McCotter's. For months, Republican leaders had denounced Democrats for loading an Iraq war spending bill with nonmilitary spending that they called wasteful pork. Then last week, when Democrats separated that spending into another measure, 123 Republicans voted for it -- including House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who had been expected to hold his party off the bill.

In the coming months, House Republicans will have to deal with domestic issues that divide the party deeply. The House will take up legislation in July that couples border security with new avenues for illegal immigrants to stay and work in the country, and Bush will be pushing hard to round up Republican support. Congress will also have to decide whether to extend Bush's signature No Child Left Behind education law, a measure that Boehner helped craft but that is now castigated by many Republicans, including Blunt.

Issues such as these, not the findings of a working group, will make or break the Republican brand, conservatives say. Boehner has bolstered loyalty and cohesion in the conference by being attentive and letting members in swing districts drift away on votes with difficult political consequences.

"It's been good for morale, but . . . it's not going to get us back into the majority," said one former Republican leadership aide, who is now a lobbyist. "Boehner is still trying to be the president of the fraternity."

With more difficult issues on the horizon, he will be under increasing pressure to take tough stands -- and to demand that his party follow him.

"I would hope Leader Boehner lets his voice be heard loud and clear," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling (Tex.), who heads the conservative Republican Study Committee.