Letter from Washington

House Speaker Carl Albert and Majority Leader Hale Boggs face a challenge to their leadership that may result in major changes in the House hierarchy in 1973. Long an erratic performer off the House floor, Boggs has maintained his position in the Democratic hierarchy by a canny knowledge of who and where his enemies are. Albert, on the other hand, has gained power by hewing to a middle course that avoids making enemies in any quarter.

The most likely—in fact, about the only—challenger to either Albert or Boggs is Richard Bolling of Missouri. Bolling would hardly be a factor in 1973 if Wilbur Mills had not been making Presidential noises that many take to be a bid for the House Speakership. Few House members believe that Mills can be denied the Speakership if he wants it. Albert’s position is thought by some to be tenuous. It will not be helped by a recent ADA attack on his Vietnam voting record, the essence of which was that a Democratic Speaker should be in greater accord with his party’s left wing. Albert is a realist, and the next few months will probably see him shoring up his left front.

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House Speaker Carl Albert and Majority Leader Hale Boggs face a challenge to their leadership that may result in major changes in the House hierarchy in 1973. Long an erratic performer off the House floor, Boggs has maintained his position in the Democratic hierarchy by a canny knowledge of who and where his enemies are. Albert, on the other hand, has gained power by hewing to a middle course that avoids making enemies in any quarter.

The most likely—in fact, about the only—challenger to either Albert or Boggs is Richard Bolling of Missouri. Bolling would hardly be a factor in 1973 if Wilbur Mills had not been making Presidential noises that many take to be a bid for the House Speakership. Few House members believe that Mills can be denied the Speakership if he wants it. Albert’s position is thought by some to be tenuous. It will not be helped by a recent ADA attack on his Vietnam voting record, the essence of which was that a Democratic Speaker should be in greater accord with his party’s left wing. Albert is a realist, and the next few months will probably see him shoring up his left front.