After the Walkover, a Squeaker

The principal item on the agenda of the House Democratic Caucus was strictly ho-hum--though it involved selection of the man who will fill the second most powerful political office in the United States: the Speaker of the House. This process has sometimes produced gory battles. But last week, with the 292 Democrats who will sit in the next Congress eligible to vote (along with delegates from the District of Columbia, Guam and the Virgin Islands and the resident commissioner of Puerto Rico), there was literally no contest. Thomas P. ("Tip") O'Neill Jr. of Massachusetts, after four brilliantly successful years as majority leader, was unopposed.

Fall Guy. The battle to succeed O'Neill as majority leader was something else again. It required three ballots and was finally settled by a single vote.

California's abrasive Phillip Burton, an explosively propelled San Franciscan who is rated as an all-out liberal by his colleagues, was the favorite. But he was by no means Tip O'Neill's favorite. With his sandpaper style and naked drive for power, Burton had quite a few enemies. Second in the handicapping was Missouri's Richard Boiling, admired as a scholarly authority on constitutional and parliamentary affairs, but considered aloof and arrogant by many of his colleagues. Third-ranked was Texas' Jim Wright, 53, who started his political career as an avowed liberal but has evolved into a conservative on many issues. Like O'Neill, Wright has few declared foes. Fourth and last in the race book was California's John J. McFall, 48, who had compounded the error of taking "gifts" from South Korea's Tongsun Park by denying, untruthfully, that he had done so.

McFall was the inevitable fall guy on the first ballot: Burton 106, Boiling 81, Wright 77, McFall 31. With McFall gone under the low-man-out rule, there was speculation that if Burton and Wright beat out Boiling on the second ballot, Burton would win the runoff --since Boiling's supporters would not throw their ballots to the conservative Texan. If Burton and Boiling were the survivors, Boiling would win, since Wright's backers would not vote for the liberal Californian. There were rumors that on the second ballot some of Burton's supporters threw their votes to Wright to guarantee that Boiling would be squeezed out. Burton admits that a number of his cronies had suggested such a ploy but insists that he vetoed it. "I told them, 'Straight football!' " Burton said later. "I wanted all the votes I could get." The denial was disbelieved by many Congressmen. The second-ballot result: Burton 107, Wright 95, Boiling 93.

Part Prophet. Secluded at the rear of the chamber, O'Neill tried to show no emotion, but his expression was morose. Though he stood aloof from the struggle and made a point of saying, "I can work with anyone," he is known to loathe Burton. Suddenly, an emissary burst from the Speaker's lobby, where the secret paper ballots were being counted, held up one finger and passed the word to members: Wright 148, Burton 147. Tip O'Neill was grinning, ear to ear. The early speculation was proved wrong: 53 Boiling voters swung to Wright and only 40 to Burton.

Elated, Wright defined his new role as that of a welder of consensus--"part evangelist, part parish priest, and every now and then part Old Testament prophet." For his part, O'Neill said in his acceptance speech: "You have given me a trust. When I lay the gavel down, I want to walk out of here and have you say, 'He kept the trust.'

The question remained whether Burton, still hungering for power, would put up a fight for the No. 3 slot in the hierarchy, that of majority whip. As the chief round-up officer and head counter for the majority, the whip has traditionally been appointed by the Speaker. Though there was a halfhearted attempt to make the post elective, the caucus eventually acceded to O'Neill's wish that it be kept appointive. O'Neill quickly named a favorite protege, Indiana's John Brademas, 49, as whip. A Rhodes scholar with an Oxford Ph.D. in social studies, Brademas was also smeared with $5,150 of Tongsun Park's money. But since he promptly reported and never denied it, he was freely forgiven. With the election of Spokane's Thomas Foley, 47, as chairman of the caucus, the continuity of Democratic programs and policies was assured. The chairman strongly influences the caucus, which in turn chooses the chairmen of powerful House committees.

Perhaps the greatest challenge to the new leaders will be not shepherding a Democratic program through Congress but keeping their unwieldy majority from fragmenting into feuding factions.

The post-Watergate election of 1974 brought 75 freshmen Democrats into the House. All but two were re-elected last month, and they will be joined by 47 new members elected this year. These first-and second-term Representatives will make up two-fifths of the Democratic majority. Without their support, the O'Neill-Wright-Brademas management cannot manage.

Barren Years. Beating the freshmen to the draw, O'Neill proposed (and the caucus naturally approved) a plan to reform the House code of ethics. He said the code should have stronger provisions dictating the disclosure of members' incomes and assets and should minimize the influence of special interests such as the housing, oil and road lobbies. Then, condemning the current code as toothless, he declared: "The American people believe too many [meaning Congressmen] go unpunished."

While the top-heavy Democratic majority was organizing for the 95th Congress, so were the 143 Representatives of the no-longer-so-Grand Old Party. The Republicans went through the motions of re-electing Arizona's John J. Rhodes, 60, minority leader, and naming Illinois' Robert H. Michel, 53, minority whip. With House Republicans outnumbered more than 2 to 1 by the Democrats, however, the G.O.P. leadership faces a long and probably barren couple of years.

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