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LEXINGTON, Neb. — Mike Johanns started his first year in the U.S. Senate with a scare — a health scare fueled by his past use of cigarettes and a spot on his left lung.
He will end the year in fighting form, waging a successful battle against a controversial group known as ACORN and doing what he can to knock out President Barack Obama's sweeping health care overhaul bill.
The former governor of Nebraska and former U.S. agriculture secretary also will end the year a little wiser to Washington politics.
Johanns is a Republican in a town where Democrats control Congress and the White House.
He said he has come to understand the power of the majority party and the disadvantages of toiling in the minority. Democrats largely set the agenda and control the flow of debate. It's sometimes hard to know what the day will bring, he said.
“We have no control over the agenda,” said Johanns. “If a vote comes up, you drop what you're doing. You get 15 minutes to get to the floor.”
Johanns spent several days on the road last week, holding town hall meetings on health care across Nebraska. He rode shotgun in a Chevy Impala, cruising down Interstate 80 with his shaver — which he used in the mirror — and a staff of two.
In all, he has held 17 town hall meetings this year, most on health care.
Johanns opposes a government-run health care option, saying it will cost taxpayers more than a trillion dollars over 10 years. He believes it will be the beginning of the end of private insurance companies.
He also opposes a requirement that all Americans must obtain health insurance or face a penalty.
“This will change our world,” he told an audience Thursday at the Lexington Public Library.
Johanns succeeded Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican who was one of Nebraska's most visible politicians.
Hagel was a staple on the news show circuit, but Johanns says he has neither sought nor been asked to make appearances. It may come with seniority, he says, but it isn't a priority.
“We haven't really developed that,” Johanns said. “Not that I'm against it or I don't want to do it.”
Johanns' lower profile appeared to sit well with the audiences he attracted last week in Grand Island and Lexington. Several identified themselves as Republicans, and they appeared to greet Johanns warmly.
“He doesn't hit the Sunday news slot,” said Tom Downey, a Lexington businessman. “But I think he's doing a fine job. I think he's very conservative.”
For the most part, Johanns has done little to rankle the Republican base. He has sided with his party, especially on the big issues. He opposed Obama's stimulus package, and he opposes the president's climate control bill known as cap and trade.
Johanns also led a successful fight to stop federal dollars from going to an activist group known as ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
“That certainly was a high point,” he said.
The group came under fire earlier this year after ACORN employees were captured on videotape giving advice to two conservative activists, posing as a prostitute and her pimp, on how to evade taxes.
ACORN has since sued, saying the measure passed by Congress was unconstitutional because it singled out a specific group.
Johanns is hardly a novice to politics. A former Lancaster County Board member, he rose through the political ranks, holding the offices of Lincoln mayor and Nebraska governor.
In early 2005, he was tapped by President George W. Bush to serve as agriculture secretary. He held the position for about three years.
By the time he ran for the Senate last year, Johanns had earned the reputation of “political powerhouse.” He easily bested his Democratic rival, Scott Kleeb, winning the seat by 18 percentage points.
Politically, the campaign was easy. Physically, it was tougher. Johanns said he normally has a great immune system, but throughout the campaign he kept contracting viruses and colds.
He and his wife, Stephanie, decided to undergo routine physicals after the election.
It was during the physical that Johanns, 59, learned about a spot on his left lung. Originally he was told that there was little to worry about, that the spot needed only to be monitored.
Shortly after he was sworn into office, he returned for the follow-up. The spot had grown, and the doctor wanted to do surgery quickly.
“I was a smoker until my mid-30s,” Johanns said. “So it was very frightening.”
At one point, he was told that there appeared to be some “shading” between his lungs. Doctors said they would start the surgery with a small incision near the top of his chest, which they would use to take a sample of the “shading.”
If it was cancerous, they would stop the surgery. The cancer would be too far along for surgery to help, Johanns said.
As it turned out, the spot was from an old fungal infection that is very common in the Midwest. It is found in bird and bat droppings.
No cancer was found, but doctors removed the lower lobe of his left lung as a cautionary measure.
“I'm 100 percent recovered,” Johanns said, as the Chevy Impala left a town hall meeting in Grand Island.
Contact the writer:
444-1309, robynn.tysver@owh.com
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