Rep. Jerk (D-WI)

Political Diary tells us about the obnoxious antics of one of the new Democrat House freshmen:

Beltway reporters are already making their lists of which of the 51 freshmen House members will provide the best copy. Sure to top some lists is Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Steve Kagen, who gave up his medical practice and spent $2.5 million of his own money (some 80% of his total spending) to win an open GOP-leaning district around Green Bay. Judging by his own admissions, he may be in the running for Most Boorish freshman.

Rep. Kagen has already made news by conducting his own high-profile inspection of mold found in the basement of his Congressional office building (he declared it wasn't dangerous). But what the home folks are really buzzing about are the stories he tells about his first encounters with President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove.

The Scene, an alternative newspaper in Appleton, Wis., reports that Mr. Kagen regaled a group of local peace activists with tales of his first few weeks in the nation's capital. He reported that when he went to the White House for a reception, he found Mr. Rove in a restroom. He blocked his departure by holding the door closed. "You're in the White House and you think you are safe, huh?" he asked Mr. Rove. "You recognize me? My name's Dr. Multimillionaire and I kicked your ass."

Mr. Kagen said he expected that such a statement would make the White House aide squirm, but instead the reply was simply, "Oh, congratulations."

Looking for bigger game, the freshmen Democrat then met Vice President Cheney. He promptly walked up and said, "Mr. Vice President, thank you for your service to the nation, and thank you so much for coming to Green Bay and campaigning against me. I couldn't have won without your help."

But he wasn't done yet. "I was feeling real good at this point," Mr. Kagen told his audience. When he met President Bush and the First Lady, Mr. Kagen told him, "Mr. President, thank you for coming to Green Bay. My name is Dr. Multimillionaire. That was before the race. Now they call me Doctor Thousandaire. I couldn't have won without you coming."

Mr. Bush smiled and deflected the comment by saying, "I've lost a lot of money in my life, too." So Mr. Kagen turned to his wife Laura and said, "Hi Barbara, how are ya?" He explained: "I did that because I learned on the campaign that the meanest thing you can say to another gentlemen is, 'He's a fine fellow,' and you then refer to his spouse by a different name."

Rick Sense, a conservative Wisconsin blogger, says he is stunned by how "obnoxious, childish, rude and angry in victory" Mr. Kagen is. It does make you wonder how he will act should he lose his first re-election effort in a district that gave President Bush 54% of the vote in 2004. The only two Democrats to have held the seat in the past half century won in the Democratic landslide years of 1974 and 1996 and fell to Republican challengers after one or two terms.

He'll be a one-termer...if that long.

UPDATE: The White House says it never happened the way Mr. Kagen described it, and Kagen won't comment. Could it be that Mr. Kagen has Al Gore disease and is attempting to enhance his resume with the wacky left by creating thise stories of his "speaking truth to power" out of whole cloth? Either way, he's target #1 in '08.