Chris Shays, the Ishmael of New England congressional Republicans – “And I alone am left to tell the tale” – is not entirely unhappy in his new role as the last moderate Republican still standing. According to a report in the Hartford Courant:
"Speaker Nancy D. Pelosi, D-Calif., has clashed with Shays for years. She came to his Fairfield County district in 2004 and declared Shays a 'rubber stamp for the radical right wing, check-your-brain-at-the-door congressperson.' And worse, 'an enabler for Tom DeLay,' the former Republican majority leader who gave Shays fits.
"Shays had shot back. 'Nancy Pelosi is a fraud,' he said flatly, referring to some minor trouble she'd had with the Federal Elections Commission after taking contributions that exceeded federal limits.
"Thursday, though, Shays could revel in the knowledge that Pelosi is leading the fight for his plans for ethics reform: to ban gifts from lobbyists, to place tough restrictions on privately financed trips and to ban travel on corporate jets.
"Pelosi's people are saying nice things publicly about Shays, and he's saying nice things about her. 'I'll probably see more things done in this Congress than in the past,' he said."
Moderates adapt quickly to changed circumstances; it is the secret of their longevity. However, this time it worked only for Shays. Other moderate Republicans in Connecticut did not survive.
"I don't know what being the only Republican member from New England means," said a bewildered Shays.
Some Republicans are hoping Shays will understand that it means, among other things, not being a Democrat.
Prior to the election, the Hartford Courant, weary of moderation, decided to throw out of the boat all Republican members of the Connecticut US congressional delegation. The Courant proceeded to endorse all the Democrats – Big surprise! – and before you could say “Connecticut is a one party state,” Nancy Johnson and Rob Simmons were send packing. Simmons lost in a squeaker to Joe Courtney and Johnson surrendered her seat to Chris Murphy. Simmon's lost because he waws out-organized in UConn.
There are a few theories that might explain the Republican losses. Certainly Johnson and Simmons did not lose because the Courant threw in its lot with the Democrats. If influence were electricity, you couldn’t light a light bulb with the influence Connecticut’s press wields over voters. Papers and other media outlets continue to exert influence upon politicians, but they’ve lost credibility among voters and subscribers, who continue to seek out other means of gathering alternative information.
One might assume that heated objections to President George Bush’s prosecution of the war on terror turned the trick, until one realizes that the two Connecticut politicians most conspicuously associated with Bush’s prosecution of the war, Shays and Sen. Joe Lieberman, were not shown the door.
My own guess is that authenticity was decisive: The political persona of a politician must be authentic. Shays’ authenticity derives from both his association with the Republican Party and his attachment to certain political ideas. If he drifts too far from either, he too will go down with the Pequod.
"Speaker Nancy D. Pelosi, D-Calif., has clashed with Shays for years. She came to his Fairfield County district in 2004 and declared Shays a 'rubber stamp for the radical right wing, check-your-brain-at-the-door congressperson.' And worse, 'an enabler for Tom DeLay,' the former Republican majority leader who gave Shays fits.
"Shays had shot back. 'Nancy Pelosi is a fraud,' he said flatly, referring to some minor trouble she'd had with the Federal Elections Commission after taking contributions that exceeded federal limits.
"Thursday, though, Shays could revel in the knowledge that Pelosi is leading the fight for his plans for ethics reform: to ban gifts from lobbyists, to place tough restrictions on privately financed trips and to ban travel on corporate jets.
"Pelosi's people are saying nice things publicly about Shays, and he's saying nice things about her. 'I'll probably see more things done in this Congress than in the past,' he said."
Moderates adapt quickly to changed circumstances; it is the secret of their longevity. However, this time it worked only for Shays. Other moderate Republicans in Connecticut did not survive.
"I don't know what being the only Republican member from New England means," said a bewildered Shays.
Some Republicans are hoping Shays will understand that it means, among other things, not being a Democrat.
Prior to the election, the Hartford Courant, weary of moderation, decided to throw out of the boat all Republican members of the Connecticut US congressional delegation. The Courant proceeded to endorse all the Democrats – Big surprise! – and before you could say “Connecticut is a one party state,” Nancy Johnson and Rob Simmons were send packing. Simmons lost in a squeaker to Joe Courtney and Johnson surrendered her seat to Chris Murphy. Simmon's lost because he waws out-organized in UConn.
There are a few theories that might explain the Republican losses. Certainly Johnson and Simmons did not lose because the Courant threw in its lot with the Democrats. If influence were electricity, you couldn’t light a light bulb with the influence Connecticut’s press wields over voters. Papers and other media outlets continue to exert influence upon politicians, but they’ve lost credibility among voters and subscribers, who continue to seek out other means of gathering alternative information.
One might assume that heated objections to President George Bush’s prosecution of the war on terror turned the trick, until one realizes that the two Connecticut politicians most conspicuously associated with Bush’s prosecution of the war, Shays and Sen. Joe Lieberman, were not shown the door.
My own guess is that authenticity was decisive: The political persona of a politician must be authentic. Shays’ authenticity derives from both his association with the Republican Party and his attachment to certain political ideas. If he drifts too far from either, he too will go down with the Pequod.
Comments
Snowe and Collins are US senators. Shays is the sole remaining Republican in the US House of Representatives. It’s true that Shays announced close to Election Day that he favored a timeline for withdrawal; he since has announced that he does not favor a “surge” in troops. I don’t think that either Shay’s or Lieberman’s positions on the war were decisive in the general election. That seems obvious; if they had been decisive, both would have lost since these two were the congressmen in Connecticut most closely associated with Bush’s effort to create a democratic oasis in the churning Middle East. Your comments are always appreciated.
Fairly shrewd analysis. You raise too many points for me to do justice to any one of them. I’m not sure Iraq can be settled militarily. I am sure that Bush is right about the nature of terrorism, which is bad news for the rest of us. Baghdad cannot be secured without draining the swamp: That means breaking a lot of furniture and killing a most of the followers of Sadr – not likely. You would also have to punish Syria and Iran militarily. Perhaps no one but be remembers that Shays lost the endorsement of the Hartford Courant because he was promoting an invasion of Syria. For a war to end, there must be two indispensable conditions: 1) one of the two opposing forces must win, and the loser must acknowledge defeat. What would a defeat look like for Amadinijad? The answer is – it would look very much like victory. He is awaiting the destruction of the Middle East, a sign of the return of the mahdi. My view of things is more pessimistic than yours. I think we already have lost in the area. But the loss will mark only the beginning of the struggle. And it is by no means certain that the West – by which I mean everything loveable in the West – will win.
Interesting to know what your predictions for the area are after the Great Satan has left. I think this piece pretty much covers the Homefront.