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largely unchanged.
"The Republican Party needed somebody to say they were a reform candidate, so he said it," said L. Sandy Maisel, a professor of government and director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Colby College. "But in reality, he's carrying on in the tradition not just of DeLay, but past Democratic and Republican leaders alike."
Mr. Boehner's calendar for June and July included several fund-raisers by lobbyists and political action committees, including the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America Inc. and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America.
A review of Mr. Boehner's recent contributors finds a "who's who" of Washington special interests, many with issues before Congress. The Indian tribes have fought to keep gambling legislation from affecting their casinos. Investment companies that have contributed tens of thousands of dollars have a stake in legislation to update the pension system.
The warm relationship between Mr. Boehner and Washington insiders began with the Republican takeover of the House in 1994. Gary Andres, for example, is a lobbyist who got to know Mr. Boehner in the 1990's, and turned to him years later to sponsor a bill, sought by an association of well drillers, that authorized $50 million in federal money to develop private drinking water wells in rural areas.
Mr. Andres said he worked with Mr. Boehner to make the bill "something that he could agree with philosophically."
Mr. Boehner got it approved as an amendment to the 2002 omnibus farm bill.
"I've known him since he came to Congress," Mr. Andres said of Mr. Boehner. "I consider him a friend. I've worked with him on a number of things."
More than 10 of Mr. Boehner's former staff members have gone to work for lobbying firms, and his former chief of staff, Joyce Gates, is married to a lobbyist, Bruce Gates. Mrs. Gates and her husband, whose firm has contributed more than $100,000 to Mr. Boehner and represents dozens of blue chip companies, have helped produce popular "warehouse parties" for Mr. Boehner at Republican conventions since 1996.
Mr. Boehner's views on what is permissible were outlined in a 37-page manifesto that he sent to House Republicans when he was campaigning for majority leader in January.
In the part dealing with "institutional ethics and reform," Mr. Boehner made a virtue of being friendly with lobbyists, saying that "absent our personal, longstanding relationships, there is no way for us to tell" which ones might be corrupt.
A favorite tool of lobbyists is travel invitations to members of Congress, which has emerged as a contentious issue this year. Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois, has suggested banning privately paid travel, but Mr. Boehner has opposed that idea.
Mr. Boehner is a frequent traveler, having accepted 39 trips since 2000, compared to 2 trips for Mr. Hastert and 18 for Mr. DeLay, according to House travel records compiled by PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks campaign and lobbying activities.
Mr. Madden said such trips were valuable because they allowed "members to find out about the issues that they're voting on."
In March, Mr. Boehner kept to his tradition of attending the Futures Industry Association convention at the Boca Raton Resort and Club. He and his wife, Deborah, have flown to at least six of the annual events, usually at the expense of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which has spent more than $25,000 on the trips.
This year, because Mr. Boehner combined the trip with fund-raising events for Florida Republicans, he used his leadership committee to reimburse the exchange for his travel costs, according to campaign finance filings.
Mr. Boehner took part in the "Washington Outlook" panel discussion on the last day of the four-day conference.
According to Bloomberg News, which covered the event, Mr. Boehner addressed a legislative issue of concern to the association, the proposed tax on futures transaction, offering assurances that Congress would most likely not enact it.
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