"Sacrificial Lamb" was a phrase frequently used to describe Ed Weber, the 1980 Republican nominee in Ohio's 9th District (Toledo).
Incumbent Democrat Thomas "Lud" Ashley had been in Congress for 26 years and was chair of the House Ad Hoc Committee on Energy. He rarely had trouble at the polls and against Weber — a Harvard Law graduate, U.S. Army veteran, and a Toledo lawyer who had never run for anything — and it didn't appear things would change.
"Ed seemed to have no chance but he often quoted Ronald Reagan's axiom, 'If not now, when? If not me, who?,'" recalled veteran Washington, D.C., lobbyist Dan Cohen, who worked on Weber's staff in 1981-83."He ran, Reagan swept Lucas County [Toledo], and the Reagan tide pulled him into office, making him the only Republican elected to Congress from Toledo in the 20th century."
It was really no surprise that news of Weber's death at age 91 in February would only just now be making its way to former House Republican colleagues in the "Class of '80"—the "Reagan babies"—or to reporters who covered the onetime Buckeye State lawmaker.
Beaten for reelection in 1982 after voting down the line for the Reagan agenda, Weber devoted himself to his law practice, community work such as the Boy Scouts and Toledo Torch Club, and wife Alice and their three children and six grandchildren.
He almost never came back to Washington and, after strongly considering a trip for the 2021 reunion of the surviving House Republicans who were elected in 1980, opted to stay home.
As he wrote in a Christmas card, "I really liked [my colleagues] but I just don't want to get into a big argument over Trump."
Weber had grown to dislike the 45th president and realized many of his classmates had different opinions.
Arriving in Washington in 1981, Weber was faced with a tough decision. President Reagan had unveiled his revolutionary Economic Tax Act, which included a 23% cut in individual taxes for three years, increasing the real tax exemption from $175,625 in 1980 to $600,000 by 1987, and extension of IRAs to all employees.
In addition, he backed the Gramm-Latta Reconciliation Act, with massive cuts in domestic spending and the biggest defense budget in peacetime history.
Having some concerns about lowering taxes while possibly increasing the deficit — not to mention political worries at home — Weber nonetheless spoke and voted for both Reagan's measures.
The Economic Act passed the House by 238 to 195, the difference being made by the 33 Republican freshmen who had picked up Democrat seats the year before. Gramm-Latta passed 253 to 176, with 63 Democrats crossing party lines to support it.
"Ed took a number of votes that he knew politically unpopular in his district that trended Democrat, all the while knowing the short-term risks but balancing that against the long-term benefits," former Rep. John Napier, R-S.C., who was deputy whip for the freshman class, told Newsmax. "Gramm-Latta redirected and reversed out of control domestic spending and laid the ground for the strategic defenses that allowed Reagan to shift the momentum and bring down the increasing communist aggression."
Napier pointed out that he "had personal discussions with Ed."
"He never flinched in seeing these things as his top priority and also in seeing the political consequences in his district," he said. "I admired Ed's quiet courage."
With the same calm demeanor with which he swayed juries, Weber spoke to town meetings and service clubs and patiently explained the Reagan agenda he supported. No Democrat office-holder wanted to oppose him and reelection looked good. But with the Tax and Budget acts not taking effect immediately and the recession from the '70's still lingering, little-known [Jimmy] Carter administration official Marcy Kaptur rolled up 58% of the vote against the incumbent.
Weber himself often cited his preference for Republicans in the mold of his friend and classmate from Denison College (now University) in Ohio — the late Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, a moderate-to-conservative who became chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"Dick and I were groomsmen in each other's weddings and remained friends until he died," Weber once recalled to Newsmax. "He was probably less conservative than most Republicans these days but always willing to listen to all sides and come up with workable solutions."
But Weber also voiced admiration for the late Rep. John Ashbrook, his fellow Ohio Republican.
He once showed Newsmax a snapshot of him talking to Ashbrook weeks before his unexpected death in April 1982. In Weber's view, "John was more conservative than I was, a bit more outspoken, and always a gentleman. He listened to people. He was running for the Senate when he died, and I was an early backer."
Ed Weber was also a gentleman who listened to others. He could easily be called a "one-term wonder" in Congress, not only because of the unexpected nature of his election but because he paid the price for taking controversial votes because he felt they were right for his country.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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