Hard to Say He's Sorry

John Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader, showed up half an hour late for his weekly news conference on Thursday, but he had a good excuse: He had been trying to persuade Joe Wilson to apologize on the floor of the House for shouting "You lie!" at President Obama during his address to Congress.

Democratic leaders even delayed a vote to give Boehner time to sway his colleague, but it was a fool's errand. Wilson, in truth, just wasn't that sorry.

"I did have a conversation with Mr. Wilson," Boehner told the reporters, not denying that he had tried to elicit a public apology. "I'm not going to relay the contents of my private conversation with him."

"Are you disappointed he won't apologize on the House floor?"

"You'll have to talk to him," Boehner said sourly.

Reporters and camera operators, staking out Wilson's office since 6:30 a.m., finally did talk to the Republican from South Carolina when he left for a vote just before noon. He made it clear that even the apology he gave to the White House on Wednesday night was ordered by party leaders. "Well, I, uh, last night I heard from the leadership that they wanted me to contact the White House and, uh, say that, uh, my statements, uh, were inappropriate," he said in a soft drawl. "I did."

So much for contrition. And that points to a larger predicament for the GOP, which is now riding the tiger of public anger toward the Democrats' health-care proposals. The party relies on that anger to rebuild its power -- and yet embracing the raw anger of the town hall meetings, as several lawmakers did Wednesday night, risks making the Republicans look like hooligans.

Boehner, while disavowing the timing of Wilson's outburst, very much endorsed the sentiment. "Don't underestimate the amount of emotion that people are feeling," he counseled at his news conference. "Americans are frustrated, they're angry, and, most importantly, they're scared to death." Four times, Boehner labeled the shouting "inappropriate," even as he backed the substance behind Wilson's outburst and held up a report that he said supported Wilson's position.

Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Senate Republican, on Wednesday night had called Obama's speech to Congress "disingenuous" and "Chicago-style politics." Given the opportunity to temper those remarks at a news conference Thursday, Kyl declined. "If it's harsh for me to criticize him for doing that -- and it may certainly seem that way -- I think it's honest," he said.

While Wilson kept a low profile Thursday morning, well-wishers such as antiabortion activist Randall Terry and some anti-tax "tea party" activists stopped by his office to voice their support. When he finally emerged, Wilson elaborated on the issue that caused his outburst. "The Congressional Research Service has indicated that, indeed, the bills that are before Congress would include illegal aliens, and I think this is wrong," he said. (Actually, the report says illegal immigrants would not be prohibited from enrolling in a health-insurance exchange but "would be barred" from receiving subsidies.)

His aides were nervous. "Gotta go -- we gotta go," one urged.

Wilson was also equivocal on his campaign Web site, where he posted a fundraiser saying that he shouldn't have disrespected the president, "but I am not sorry for fighting back against the dangerous policies of liberal Democrats."