November 2, 2010--Dream On
Pundits are assuming that by this time tomorrow there will be a seismic shift in political power in Washington. At the very least, they are saying that the GOP will wrest control of the House of Representatives; and that this will mean . . . well, not very much.
But what about all those Tea Party folks who are about to represent us? Not to worry, the chattering class says, this will be just like 1994 when, during the Clinton administration's first term, the Republicans, lead by Newt Gingrich, armed with their Contract With America, seized control of the House and rather than obstructing things, worked in a bipartisan way with Clinton and passed a lot of meaningful legislation. For example, they reformed welfare "as we know it" and more than balanced the budget.
So this time around, as soon as the newly elected are sworn in, they will realize that they have the responsibility to govern. The time for taking pot shots at Obama and the Democrats and Congress and Washington itself is over. They will now be, after all, members of the government and part of the Washington establishment. This will mean that they and Obama, with self-interest very much in mind, will cut some spending, cut some taxes, and offer some breaks for a variety of job-creation initiatives. After all, if they don't get this done a new wave of Tea Partiers and/or reenergized Dems will mobilize to kick the newbies out of office two years from now.
Saturday's New York Timesran just such a front page story in which they found that many of the Republicans who are virtually certain to be elected, "grizzled veterans" they called them, are mainly experienced Washington hands and thus we should not unduly worry about the radical things that they, unlike Tea Party folks, are likely to do. (See article linked below).
Cited were Rob Portman, certain to be elected to the Senate from Ohio, who spent 12 years in the House before serving in the Bush administration. Roy Blunt of Missouri, who is about to enter the Senate, is completing his seventh term in the House. Arkansas Representative John Boozman, who is likely to defeat Senator Blanch Lincoln, has served five years in the House. And there are others.
From their past history in Congress these seasoned and pragmatic politicians are known to be more inclined to compromise and work in a bipartisan way than possible new Congressmen and Senators such as Sharron Angle or Rand Paul. Congressman Blunt, for example, is a close friend of Democratic House minority Leader Steny Hoyer and made a career out of working with colleagues across the aisle.
Thus we should not worry about the bomb-throwers about to be elected and pay more attention to those with steady hands.
Maybe, maybe not.
I see it as more likely that these experienced Republicans will be more inclined to worry about getting on the wrong side of the right wing media and talk show hosts and their soon-to-be Tea Party colleagues than interested in working with Obama and the Democrats. I see them arriving in Washington already ducking for cover.
Look at how intimidated poor Olympia Snow and Susan Collins have become. Both are, or were, among the very few remaining GOP moderates but they have been running scared since Tea Party favorite Scott Brown got elected to the Senate to fill Teddy Kennedy's seat. If ultra-liberal Massachusetts could elect an ultra-conservative senator Maine is unlikely to be far behind. (For governor Mainers are about to elect Paul LePage, a Tea Party bully.) Since the moment that Brown became Senator Brown, Snow and Collins lined up in lock-step to follow the lead of Mitch McConnell, the GOP minority leader who did not originally back about-to-be Senator Rand Paul but since Paul won the Kentucky primary can't get his picture taken often enough with the Aqua-Buddha one.
Thus I am not feeling sanguine about the pragmatic possibilities of the anticipated results. The headlines will appropriately all be about the energy the Tea Party generated and how that translated into political victories. On the ground it will likely mean that even those inclined to want to actual govern via compromise will spend the next two years shaking in their boots in the hope that the Tea Party will not turn against them in 2012.
And of course, if nothing gets done in Washington it will in effect be just what the Tea Party desires--no government and no spending. Except, of course, when it comes to waging wars.
But what about all those Tea Party folks who are about to represent us? Not to worry, the chattering class says, this will be just like 1994 when, during the Clinton administration's first term, the Republicans, lead by Newt Gingrich, armed with their Contract With America, seized control of the House and rather than obstructing things, worked in a bipartisan way with Clinton and passed a lot of meaningful legislation. For example, they reformed welfare "as we know it" and more than balanced the budget.
So this time around, as soon as the newly elected are sworn in, they will realize that they have the responsibility to govern. The time for taking pot shots at Obama and the Democrats and Congress and Washington itself is over. They will now be, after all, members of the government and part of the Washington establishment. This will mean that they and Obama, with self-interest very much in mind, will cut some spending, cut some taxes, and offer some breaks for a variety of job-creation initiatives. After all, if they don't get this done a new wave of Tea Partiers and/or reenergized Dems will mobilize to kick the newbies out of office two years from now.
Saturday's New York Timesran just such a front page story in which they found that many of the Republicans who are virtually certain to be elected, "grizzled veterans" they called them, are mainly experienced Washington hands and thus we should not unduly worry about the radical things that they, unlike Tea Party folks, are likely to do. (See article linked below).
Cited were Rob Portman, certain to be elected to the Senate from Ohio, who spent 12 years in the House before serving in the Bush administration. Roy Blunt of Missouri, who is about to enter the Senate, is completing his seventh term in the House. Arkansas Representative John Boozman, who is likely to defeat Senator Blanch Lincoln, has served five years in the House. And there are others.
From their past history in Congress these seasoned and pragmatic politicians are known to be more inclined to compromise and work in a bipartisan way than possible new Congressmen and Senators such as Sharron Angle or Rand Paul. Congressman Blunt, for example, is a close friend of Democratic House minority Leader Steny Hoyer and made a career out of working with colleagues across the aisle.
Thus we should not worry about the bomb-throwers about to be elected and pay more attention to those with steady hands.
Maybe, maybe not.
I see it as more likely that these experienced Republicans will be more inclined to worry about getting on the wrong side of the right wing media and talk show hosts and their soon-to-be Tea Party colleagues than interested in working with Obama and the Democrats. I see them arriving in Washington already ducking for cover.
Look at how intimidated poor Olympia Snow and Susan Collins have become. Both are, or were, among the very few remaining GOP moderates but they have been running scared since Tea Party favorite Scott Brown got elected to the Senate to fill Teddy Kennedy's seat. If ultra-liberal Massachusetts could elect an ultra-conservative senator Maine is unlikely to be far behind. (For governor Mainers are about to elect Paul LePage, a Tea Party bully.) Since the moment that Brown became Senator Brown, Snow and Collins lined up in lock-step to follow the lead of Mitch McConnell, the GOP minority leader who did not originally back about-to-be Senator Rand Paul but since Paul won the Kentucky primary can't get his picture taken often enough with the Aqua-Buddha one.
Thus I am not feeling sanguine about the pragmatic possibilities of the anticipated results. The headlines will appropriately all be about the energy the Tea Party generated and how that translated into political victories. On the ground it will likely mean that even those inclined to want to actual govern via compromise will spend the next two years shaking in their boots in the hope that the Tea Party will not turn against them in 2012.
And of course, if nothing gets done in Washington it will in effect be just what the Tea Party desires--no government and no spending. Except, of course, when it comes to waging wars.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
4:38 AM
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