7/19/00 5:00 p.m.
Sen. Paul Coverdell, R.I.P.
In appreciation.

By NR's John J. Miller & Ramesh Ponnuru

enator Paul Coverdell's death is, of course, a tragedy for his family and friends, to whom we extend our condolences. Conservatives across the country may not realize how much of a loss it is for them, as well.

Coverdell was a pleasant surprise for conservatives, who were not expecting much from him at first. When he ran for Senate in 1992, all they knew of him was that he had served as George Bush's Peace Corps director, that he was pro-choice, and that his record in the state legislature was not especially conservative. Still, his victory in a run-off election, just weeks after President Clinton was elected, was a much-needed shot in the arm for Republicans — and a signal of how quickly the bloom would be off the rose for the administration. (A few months later, Kay Bailey Hutchison would win a special election in Texas: another portent of the earthquake that would come in 1994.)

Senator Coverdell quickly took the lead in the storied health-care battle of 1993 and 1994. While Phil Gramm of Texas led the fight on the Senate floor, Coverdell worked with the full spectrum of conservative organizations to keep the Republicans' inside and outside games co-ordinated. Conservatives had not organized such an effective operation to influence legislation before (and haven't since, alas). He ascended to a leadership position.

Conservatives came to understand that they could work with Coverdell because, unlike some of his colleagues, Coverdell worked. The most one could expect from some other senators, more conservative than Coverdell, was a speech complaining about the Republicans' having lost their way. Coverdell, meanwhile, patiently worked to find it again. He pushed educational savings accounts, which gave Republicans something to stand for on education other than just opposing federal spending and regulation. He was also a champion of medical savings accounts.

Because Coverdell did much of his work behind-the-scenes, he's not a hero to conservatives nationally. But his death is a grievous loss for them. It's unlikely anyone else in the Senate is going to fill the critical, if thankless, role that Coverdell selflessly played. R.I.P.