Washington Is Stuck, but He’s Getting Out

Washington

In the outer office, constituents were dropping by unannounced, more or less demanding to see the congressman, “right here on his doorstep,” as one visitor insisted. In his inner sanctum office, Representative Gary Ackerman was happily contemplating his departure from all that after 30 years in Congress.

“I like to work, but in order to work you need a work product,” said the New York Democrat, who described arriving in the Capitol as a “bright and bushy-tailed liberal,” up from a childhood in a public housing project, eager to pass a law on his first day. He is exiting not so much in despair as relief to be gone from the legislative intransigence that he sees extended across the aisle by the House Republican majority.

Sounding like an anthropologist, Mr. Ackerman talked of spending enough time in Congress to remember dealing creatively with an extinct species known as moderate Republicans. “Oh yes, compromise,” he said nostalgically of such long-ago behavior. “They’ve all been quieted, muzzled, taking pledges before they ever get here,” he said, his tone unabashedly partisan. “It’s not that they’re running a Do Nothing Congress — they’re running an Undo Everything Congress.” He quoted a Capitol truism: “Any jackass can kick down the barn.”

The low point, he said, was when a Republican friend told him that private caucus meetings featured prayer gatherings where lawmakers hold hands and invoke God for or against specific measures on the House agenda. “In the past, a fight was over how to make a good bill better. Now it’s become Good versus Evil.”

As one of scores of lawmakers expected to depart this year, Mr. Ackerman may be typical, with no big, historic law named after him, but a number of successful efforts like spearheading a campaign to feed the starving in Ethiopia and sponsoring the “Baby AIDS” legislation, which required that mothers be notified if newborns tested positive for H.I.V. He survived a political scuffle or two, resigning from the ethics committee in 1992 after being entangled in the scandal over abuses of House checking accounts. In campaigning, he recalls taking out a loan of $160,000 for his first run, and three decades later he admits to cringing at the need to beg people for $1 million-plus every two years to keep his job. He described slinking off to his party’s campaign committee office near the Capitol where, in separate phone cubbies, lawmakers must turn themselves into jolly mendicants to check-writing supporters. “A sad tale of woe to see famous politicians calling and schmoozing, and everyone knows why.”

Constituents from the old Sixth District, which straddled the Queens-Nassau border, couldn’t accuse Mr. Ackerman of losing track of home. He chose not to sink deep roots in Washington, and lived on a houseboat on the Potomac called the Unsinkable, which sank and was replaced by Unsinkable II. Over the years, he watched sizable yachts owned by lobbyists tie up at his marina, but he loathes the idea of cashing in as a lobbyist after retirement as so many colleagues do. Only more “hat in hand” behavior, he said, describing a pathetic subgroup of ex-congressmen. “Guys who lose or give up their seats and never go home and hang around town because home is no longer real — and this place became real.”

Sometimes he sounds passionate enough to go another two years. But at 69, Mr. Ackerman suddenly decided he had had enough of politics where healthy compromise is off the table, with no sign that the majority pendulum would swing back in time for him. So he quit, and then quickly endorsed Assemblywoman Grace Meng, to help her win the primary in the heavily Democratic district. She fit in with the philosophy he celebrated at a recent farewell dinner, that politics, at its heart, should be driven by a desire to help people, not attack government.

Looking back, he says he’s still haunted by some votes he took. One was for the repeal of the 1988 Medicare catastrophic coverage plan. “We were so proud” when the plan passed, he said, “but the seniors became outraged it would cost them $6.35 or something, and started a big rebellion. The public isn’t always right, you know.” Democrats quickly repealed the good measure, following their panicked leadership “like a bunch of sheep,” Mr. Ackerman bitterly recalled. “I didn’t come here to go along, but I went along.” And he regrets voting for the Iraq invasion, he says, on the basis of “contrived, phony evidence.”

Still, he departs as he arrived — an optimist about the public’s eventually making good choices. He sports a carnation every day just as he did as a city public school teacher, his first job. His sense of humor is intact.

“What do I do with all these plaques?” he asked, puzzling over 11 cartons of them, collected over the years from groups like the East Bayside Homeowners Association and American Veterans for Equal Rights for being a solid public servant. More constituents were coming and going in the anteroom, looking for the congressman who was happily making his own plans to be gone.

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The Republican Party's Catholic cadre. . .coming soon - Washington Post (blog)

???initialComments:true! pubdate:04/26/2012 14:45 EDT! commentPeriod:14! commentEndDate:5/10/12 2:45 EDT! currentDate:4/27/12 8:0 EDT! allowComments:true! displayComments:true!Posted by Aaron Blake at 02:45 PM ET, 04/26/2012 TheWashingtonPost

Forget Mormonism; the real story in the Republican Party right now is the rise of the Catholics.

Republicans, who according to Smart Politics have put a Catholic on the ticket just once before (vice presidential candidate William Miller in 1964), seem to be experiencing something of a Catholic renaissance.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) addresses a crowd at a town hall meeting in Manchester, N.J. Christie, like most other potential GOP vice presidential nominees, is Catholic, but the party has only had a Catholic on the ticket once before. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

First, a pair of Catholics in Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum gave Mitt Romney a run for his money in the nominating contest, and now, four of the five politicians seen as most likely to join Romney on the ticket are Catholic as well.

Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) — four of the five most likely GOP VP choices, according to InTrade — are all Catholic, not to mention other people thought to be contenders, like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Sen. Pat Toomey (Pa.), New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.).

In other words, most of the top contenders are Catholic.

It means that there’s a distinct chance that the 2012 Republican presidential ticket will not have a Protestant on it after decades of Protestants having a stranglehold on the party’s presidential nomination.

But the 2012 veepstakes aside, the rising crop of Catholic politicians in the Republican Party signals a couple other shifts.

Most of these politicians will be considered top potential presidential candidates down the line, meaning it’s quite possible the Republican Party will nominate its first-ever Catholic for president in the relatively near future.

The Catholic GOP candidate, until recently, was a rare thing. And Rudy Giuliani, Sam Brownback and Tommy Thompson didn’t exactly take a big step forward in the 2008 GOP presidential race.

Also, it signals an evolution for the party beyond the days of “Values Voters,” when social conservatives and evangelicals seemed to dominate the debate within the party and set the agenda.

Catholics (aside from Santorum) are known for being more moderate and may have had a harder time fitting into that Republican Party.

Today, though, it’s quite possible the party’s leading voices of the future will be distinctly Catholic.

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Republican Veepstakes: Plain is the new pizzazz - Washington Post (blog)

Before you can make even a guess at who former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will pick as his vice presidential running mate, you have to decide what this election is really about.

In this Feb. 20, 2012 file photo, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio talks to reporters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Days into his new role as presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney has initiated a months-long search for a running mate, an effort to be guided as much by his methodical corporate-based approach as the shadows of Sarah Palin. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)Is it a referendum on President Obama’s first four years in office? Or is it a choice between the policies and personalities of Romney and Obama?

Democrats generally prefer the latter option. Republicans like the former.

If you buy that basic way of thinking about the race, it makes it more likely that Romney’s main criteria in picking a running mate will be to do no harm, to avoid the public relations debacle that Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) courted when he named former Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential pick in 2008.

Rather than having his VP pick be a major moment in the campaign, Romney may well want to simply make the pick, have he/she get the requisite two or three days of wall-to-wall media coverage and then disappear back into the fabric of the campaign as Republicans work to shine the spotlight fully on Obama and his record.

That way of thinking seems to have propelled Ohio Sen. Rob Portman’s prospects of late. Every one we talk to in DC — literally, everyone — seems to have Portman at or near the top of their Veepstakes list. He is, after all, a former Budget director (albeit during the Bush Administration) and a popular elected official from the swing state of Ohio.

And, most importantly if you believe the theory we laid out above, Portman is relatively short on pizzazz. (Here’s Stephen Colbert’s take on Portman.)

Our latest Veepstakes Line, which ranks the ten people most likely to wind up on the ticket, leans toward the safe(r) picks. Of course, Romney’s not likely to make the pick for several more months so we reserve the right to change our mind. (And then change it again.)

The rankings are below. The number one ranked candidate is the most likely to be the pick. Agree? Or, more likely, disagree? The comments section awaits.

To the Line!

10. Susana Martinez : Martinez, the governor of New Mexico, is probably the least well known politician on this list. And, in a party still trying to get out from under the Palin pick, Martinez’s lack of experience at the national level may ultimately doom her chances. Still, she has much to recommend her as the first Hispanic woman elected governor of a state — and a swing state no less! The 2012 election may be too soon for Martinez’s debut on the national stage but she is someone to keep an eye on beyond this November. (Previous ranking: 5)

9. Chris Christie : If ever there was someone who was temperamentally unsuited to be vice president, it’s the governor of New Jersey. He oozes “boss” from every pore not “guy standing next to the boss”. That said, people don’t tend to turn down the vice presidency when it’s offered to them. Particularly people who face a perilous reelection campaign in 2013. (Previous ranking: 6)

8. Bobby Jindal : Jindal clearly has a large number of vocal advocates within the Republican party. (We know because anytime we write anything with a whiff of criticism regarding Jindal in it, they barrage our email inbox.) While Jindal’s profile is appealing — popular conservative governor from the South, Indian American etc. — it just feels like he is on a trajectory to run for president in 2016 or 2020 rather than serve as VP in 2012. But maybe that’s just us. (Previous ranking: 4)

7. Kelly Ayotte: The New Hampshire Senator is still barely being buzzed about when it comes to the Veepstakes but we’ve got a hunch that she may wind up being a more serious player by the end of this process. Why? Ayotte is a woman (duh) from a swing state who is well liked by both the tea party and establishment wings of the party. She also has a law and order background — she was the state Attorney General before being elected to the Senate in 2010 — and a very natural manner on the campaign trail. If you are looking for a darkhorse, Ayotte could well be it. (Previous ranking: N/A)

6. Bob McDonnell : The Virginia Republican hasn’t done anything wrong since we last ranked the vice presidential candidates. The reason for his drop? The more Republican strategists we talk to, the more convinced we are that some of the things in McDonnell’s past — his controversial thesis, transvaginal ultrasounds etc. — are too risky for the notoriously risk-averse Romney. On the other hand, we are increasingly convinced that Virginia the swing state in November and, if that’s the case, Romney might be convinced to put the very popular governor of the Commonwealth on the ticket. (Previous ranking: 2)

5. Paul Ryan : There’s no candidate who we struggle more to rank on the Line than the Wisconsin Republican. On the one hand, he is sort of a plain choice: a white male from the Midwest who currently serves in Congress. On the other, his proposed budgets make him a potential pizzazz pick — for good and bad. When Romney and Ryan campaigned together in the runup to the Wisconsin primary, there seemed to be a real connection (an underrated factor when it comes to picking a running mate). But does Romney really want to answer for the politically tough decisions in a budget he didn’t even write? (Previous ranking: 10)

4. Tim Pawlenty : If Romney truly wants to make no news and put someone on the ticket who won’t rock the boat, then the former Minnesota governor could be the best choice. While Pawlenty struggled when he was the headliner during his own presidential bid earlier this year, he is a dogged campaigner and someone who has been a steady messenger for Romney. If the whole presidential race rests in the Rust Belt, Pawlenty’s humble roots and Sam’s Club Republicans message could resound. Another plus? he has the best nickname — Tpaw — of anyone on the Line. (Previous ranking: 8)

3. John Thune : The South Dakota Senator is, for some reason, not getting much love in the Veepstakes. We’re not exactly sure why. Thune is a safe pick who brings a bit more charisma and conservative name recognition with him than even Portman. Of course, Thune is from South Dakota, which is not exactly a swing state. Still, Thune’s stock is a bit undervalued at the moment. We would suggest buying now since it seems likely to rise between now and when the pick is finally made. (Previous ranking: 7)

2. Marco Rubio : Yes, we know we compared Rubio to Lionel Messi is our last Veepstakes Line. But, Rubio is very clearly a pizzazz not a plain pick and would overshadow Romney on the ticket from the day he was picked. Does Romney willingly want to do that? It’s also important to remember that for all of the adulation Rubio gets, he is still a newbie on the national stage. We were reminded of that fact when he couldn’t seem to track down the final page of his foreign policy speech at Brookings earlier this week. (Previous ranking: 1)

1. Rob Portman : As odd as this is to write, Portman is very clearly the hottest commodity in the veepstakes at the moment. While we have written that being the pick of GOP insiders isn’t the greatest attribute in an outsider election like this one, Portman seems to fit the bill if Romney is looking for a steady, proven candidate who happens to come from a swing state. One other thing we’ll say for Portman: He’s the rare politician who has a legitimate statewide political organization in a state the size of Ohio. (Previous ranking: 3)

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Republicans are losing the class warfare fight - Washington Post

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Marc A. ThiessenOpinion WriterRepublicans are losing the class warfare fightText SizePrintE-mailReprints By Marc A. Thiessen,

No doubt Barack Obama would love to reprise Ronald Reagan’s 1984 “Morning in America” reelection campaign, but the anemic economy is not cooperating. Without a robust recovery to trumpet, the president is betting his reelection on class warfare — focusing on “income inequality” and “fairness.” Class warfare is not a winning strategy, but it is the only card Obama has to play.

That’s the good news for Republicans. The bad news is: Right now, the GOP is blowing it.

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This should not be a hard fight for the Republicans to win. Americans are less receptive to class warfare arguments after three years of hearing Obama make them than they were when he first took office. A recent Gallup poll found that Americans reject the view of this country as divided between “haves” and “have nots” by a 58-41 margin (in 2008, they were evenly divided 49-49).

Moreover, addressing income inequality is low on the American people’s list of priorities: 82 percent say it is extremely or very important to “grow and expand the economy” and 70 percent say it is extremely or very important to “increase the equality of opportunity for people to get ahead if they want to” (emphasis added). But only 46 percent say that it should be a priority to “reduce the income and wealth gap between the rich and the poor.”

In other words, a campaign focused on “fairness” should be a losing campaign. Yet somehow the leading GOP presidential contenders seem determined to turn Obama’s weak hand into a winning one. First, Newt Gingrich launches class warfare attacks on Mitt Romney that would make Obama blush. Then, Romney declares that he’s “not concerned about the very poor,” that “corporations are people,” and brags in economically depressed Detroit about owning four cars. Then, Rick Santorum steps up to defend income inequality, declaring: “There is income inequality in America. There always has been and hopefully — and I do say that — there always will be.”

Instead of defending income inequality, Republicans should be turning Obama’s income-inequality attack around on him. They should be saying: Mr. President, your policies exacerbate income inequality. Since you took office, 2.6 million Americans have fallen beneath the poverty line. Government dependency is at an all-time high. Nearly 13 million are unemployed, and millions more are under-employed — working part time because they can’t find a full-time job. Still others have simply given up on finding a job and dropped out of the work force entirely. Our problem isn’t income inequality; it’s income stagnation. The message should be: Mr. President, you’re responsible for this. You are making income inequality worse.

Unlike the president, conservatives don’t want to divide up a shrinking economic pie more equitably. We want to grow the pie so everyone gets a bigger slice. We want to see everyone’s income rise. And truth is, when the economy is growing, and incomes are rising, no one cares about income inequality. That is the kind of problem we wish we had in the United States today. Republicans should make the case that the GOP will promote upward mobility and grow the economy for all Americans, while Obama’s policies have given us downward mobility and economic stagnation.

Unfortunately, Republicans seem terrified that Obama will succeed in painting them as defending the rich. How else to explain why Mitt Romney limits his capital gains tax cut to those making less than $200,000? There is no economic rationale for this. And in announcing his tax plan last week, Romney made a point of distinguishing between deductions for “middle income families” (which he’d protect) and those for the “top 1 percent” (which he won’t). Why is a GOP candidate even using the term “top 1 percent”? That is the language of Occupy Wall Street.

Instead of fearing Obama’s class warfare attacks, Republicans should go on the offense, pointing out that it is the GOP that want to means-test government spending and take away the billions of dollars in government benefits, taxpayer subsidies and corporate welfare the wealthy receive each year and do not need. Republicans should propose a “Buffett rule” of their own: Warren Buffett does not need Medicare. And Republicans should make clear that they will end the government handouts that Obama has been giving to his wealthy backers. As Hoover Institution scholar Peter Schweizer has pointed out, 71 percent of Energy Department grants and loans went to President Obama’s political cronies, who raised $458,000 for his campaign and were, in turn, approved for grants or loans of nearly $11.4 billion. Apparently, Obama’s idea of class warfare is that the rich pay more taxes, but they can have it back in spades if they contribute to his presidential campaign.

Sadly, Republicans are not fighting on those terms right now. They had better start soon or it could cost them the election.

Read more about the 2012 election from PostOpinions

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Kathleen Parker: The trials of Saint Santorum

Michael Gerson: Republicans make it easy for Obama

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