Republican from Michigan: Dave Camp is a quiet but effective congressman.(CAPITOL HILL)

A coat rack stands in the corner of Rep. Dave Camp's office on Capitol Hill. It looks like a weeping-willow tree, drooping with ties instead of branches and leaves. Dozens of them hang from it, and the Michigan Republican probably won't ever put them away. "When I was first elected to Congress in 1990, a newspaper writer learned that I only owned two suits and three ties--so he wrote a column and told people to send me their ties," says Camp. They did, and for a while every day was Father's Day in Camp's office, with guests bearing ties for the new congressman. Recalling this experience, which has more or less ceased due to new congressional rules on gifts, Camp jumps up from his seat and digs into the heap, showing off some of his favorites. Down deep, he finds one featuring Iron Man, the comic-book hero. Others display the logos of colleges and universities. He looks for his Adam Smith tie but can't locate it. "Maybe it's somewhere else," he says.

Today, Camp owns a full wardrobe of suits and ties. He not only fits into Washington, he positively blends in, to the point of near obscurity. "He's one of our hardest-working members, but a little below the radar," says a Republican aide. "He's not a publicity hound."

Yet this quiet conservative now finds himself on the brink of public prominence. He's one of the top Republicans on the Committee on Ways & Means, which is perhaps the most powerful body in the House, because it has jurisdiction over taxes, trade, and entitlements. If Congress flips back to GOP control within the next few election cycles, Camp is well positioned to become its chairman. For the moment, though, he's the ranking member on its subcommittee on health, a position that makes him a point man among House Republicans on the domestic issue that may concern voters above all others. Any conservative plan to reform health care--or perhaps to defeat HillaryCare--is sure to show Camp's imprint.

The 54-year-old Camp comes from one of the larger congressional districts east of the Mississippi: It takes up a rural chunk of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, stretching from the outskirts of Saginaw to Traverse City. This is Republican country, where GOP presidential candidates finish 10 points ahead of Democrats and Camp earns support from about two-thirds of voters. The district includes the tiny town of Mecosta, where the conservative intellectual Russell Kirk once lived. When Camp first ran for Congress, he faced a difficult GOP primary against a candidate whom many Republicans viewed as the more rightward choice. Yet Camp met with Kirk and won his endorsement. "He's an instinctive conservative and a straight arrow," says Kirk's widow, Annette, who remains a constituent. Camp will probably keep his seat for as long as he wants it.

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During the 1990s, Camp's district didn't even have a local television station in it, which may be one reason the congressman doesn't appear on the tube much--he never got into the habit of chasing cameras. Today, he's on a bit more, but he tends to let other Republicans have the face time. "My press secretary might say that I avoid television, but I don't really dislike it or anything," says Camp. "I just don't really worry about who gets credit as long as we end up with good policy." His low-key approach makes him inconspicuous to the general public but endears him to many colleagues, who often find themselves surrounded by grandstanders who can spot microphones at a distance the way hawks see mice from above.

These qualities have made Camp an effective organizer who speaks softly and carries a big whip--he's a deputy whip in the House GOP's party structure, responsible for corralling votes on legislation. "We always gave him a tough card," says a former leadership aide, referring to the list of members Camp was responsible for contacting. "He's a good listener and he's able to engage members on the details of policy." Most recently, Camp helped round up the votes to sustain President Bush's veto of a proposed expansion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program.