Shadegg for leader.(POLITICS)(John Shadegg)

THE race for House majority leader is on, with an election set for Feb. 2. The overwhelming favorite is majority whip and acting majority leader Roy Blunt, who with the assistance of Tom DeLay built a formidable political and financial machine in recent years. Running second is John Boehner, the chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, a well-liked conservative. The dark horse is a late entrant, John Shadegg of Arizona. All three candidates have conservative voting records and are capable of handling the job, but our candidate is Shadegg, the underdog.

John Shadegg is a member of the class of 1994 who never lost the conservative, reformist spirit of that watershed year. He voted against President Bush's No Child Left Behind legislation and, more recently, against the prescription-drug bill. He has warm personal relations with some of the conference's moderates, and is a fresh face at a moment that cries out for one.

There are three questions for the House GOP in the current environment: Can it clean up its image? Can it reform practices that have at best made for sloppy governance and at worst contributed to corruption? And can it pursue policies that restore the trust of its political base and restore a purpose to an often directionless majority? Shadegg is the best candidate on all counts.