Word: paxon
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...grandstanding? Perhaps. From the heart? Maybe. But whether his drive has dissipated permanently or not, for over 20 years Paxon has felt a compulsion to justify his existence through political achievement...
Everything in Paxon's history suggested that he would be a career politician. The son of a judge and a party activist, he was born and raised to take pride in his Republican heritage and his upstate New York State roots. Straight out of Canisius College in Buffalo in 1977, Paxon was elected to the Erie Country State Legislature at the tender age of 23. He quickly rose through the ranks of state politics, and in 1988 he won the seat of Jack Kemp, who ran unsuccessfully for President that year...
...Paxon has taken his ambition to the national level. In 1994, he worked closely with Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich to realize the historic Republican takeover of the House. But last year, in perhaps Paxon's most eventful year, he seemed poised to challenge both Gingrich and Majority Leader Dick Armey for their positions. While Paxon's most recent connivances have come to no avail, he has somehow emerged from the controversy with a surprisingly positive public image...
There have been skeptics, however. As one Armey backer said of Paxon in The Washington Post, "He's a guy who would lie to your face and stab you in the back. We're going to miss him." But with the focus suddenly turned from Paxon's recent display of political ambition to his sudden rededication to family values, much of the media attention Paxon has received has been favorable, and he was heartily applauded last week by many of his colleagues for his decade of service in Congress...
...While Paxon has enjoyed resounding support in upstate New York, he hasn't always been as supportive in return. A recent article in The New York Times noted Paxon's repeated failures to win battles for New York State interests, suggesting that more often than not Paxon's lack of success was caused by a simple lack of effort...