How One Vote Was Won

Tom Harnett was one of the new breed of conservative Congressmen swept into office in the Reagan triumph of 1980. Once a Democrat, the South Carolinian switched par ties after George McGovern's nomination in 1972, and he carries with him some of the fervor of the convert. Though he helped Reagan win his budget battles last year, he was put in an agonizing predicament by the tax bill. "I'm philosophically opposed," drawled Hartnett the day before the vote. "You don't cut Government by giving it more money. You've got to starve the bureaucrats to death." The tall, dark-haired Congressman carefully adjusted his tie. "But I don't know what to do, I really don't. The President says he's convinced, and I've been with him on virtually every vote." Reagan had been giving Hartnett the full treatment. Twice the President had invited the lawmaker to the White House for a friendly chat.

At one get-together, Hartnett complained that John Lehman, Secretary of the Navy, had abruptly canceled a visit to a naval base in his district. Lehman, it turned out, was peeved that Hartnett had tried to stop him from selling a destroyer, based in Charleston, to Pakistan. "Oh, don't worry," said the President. No sooner had Hartnett returned to his office than the phone rang. Lehman was telephoning from Japan. "I'll be there," promised the Secretary. "Oh, by the way, we'll make sure that destroyer stays in your district." Hartnett was pleased by the favor, but he was still uneasy about the tax bill. "I couldn't quite imagine people in my district slapping me on the back and saying, 'Hey, thanks for raising my taxes.'" Treasury Secretary Donald Regan called, as did Caspar Weinberger of Defense and James Watt of Interior. The White House's political operatives pointed out that with his Democratic opponent having recently been arrested for drunk-driving, Hartnett faced an easy election this fall. "Come on, Tommy," they insisted, "you can afford this vote." Two hours before balloting began, Energy Secretary James Edwards, a fellow South Carolinian and a friend, called to make a final pitch.

"The President is waiting," said Edwards.

"He's doing some horse trading up here, and he's got to have a commitment. I want it now. "Still Hartnett refused. As the voting bells rang, Hartnett headed for the floor. At 5:49, two minutes after voting began, one of the President's men implored Hartnett to come to the rescue if the vote was close. Five minutes into the voting, a conservative colleague asked him to cast a no vote. "I really don't know what I'm going to do," insisted Hartnett. Then, with less than a minute to go, the Congressman stood up amid the hubbub on the floor. Hartnett gazed up at his wife in the spectator's gallery. He gave a thumbs-up sign, shrugged and pretended to flip a coin.

Finally, he held his head for a moment and pressed the yes button on his electronic voting machine. As it turned out, he had cast the 218th, and decisive, vote for Reagan's tax bill. "It tore at my conservative guts to vote with people like Tip O'Neill and Dan Rostenkowski," Hartnett said afterward. "But it was the right thing to do."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.