A Friend of Bill's

The powerful committee boss struggles for a 19th term with the help of an ally who needs him: the President

In an indirect way, Phillip Reisterer and Tom Kwidzinski have been working hard to pass Bill Clinton's health-care plan. The two Chicago men were campaigning last week for Dan Rostenkowski in the Democratic primary next Tuesday in the state's Fifth Congressional District. At one house, a portly woman in a Chicago Bears sweatshirt answered the door. "You'll read some stuff in the papers," said Kwidzinski. "Keep an open mind. Rostenkowski brings a lot to Chicago." She nodded. Upstairs a door opened, and her father, who will be casting an absentee ballot because of some amputated toes, bellowed his loyalty: "Rostenkowski!"

It...

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