Are politicians a “scurvy lot?”

From Insideriowa.com political blog. used with permission.

On June 14, 2009 in the Boston Sunday Globe Jeff Jacoby wrote an excellent column on Massachusetts corrupt politics “Bay State's low standards.” The opinion piece listed some of the current failures of the legislature including “… spending the state into near-insolvency, … passing the largest tax hikes in state history [including a 25% increase in sales tax], … gutting initiatives passed at the ballot box, … marching in lockstep behind corrupt legislative leaders, … stuffing the public payroll with their relatives.”

Jacoby begins his piece with a stunning flashback into history.

THAT Massachusetts lawmakers are a scurvy lot is not exactly breaking news. In his notes on the Constitutional Convention in 1787, James Madison records the comments of Elbridge Gerry, a Massachusetts delegate and future governor, on the caliber of Bay State politicians:

"In Massachusetts the worst men get into the Legislature," Gerry told the convention, and "several members of that body had lately been convicted of infamous crimes." The State House was a place where "men of indigence, ignorance, and baseness spare no pains, however dirty, to carry their point."

Gerry, by the way, is associated with the creation of “politically” shaped districts for legislative elections to benefit your party. These came to be known as “Gerrymander” districts because one of them had the rough shape of a salamander to which an observer noted it should be called a Gerrymander instead.

Jacoby also makes an excellent point, the danger of incumbency. We all know that most politicians are reelected at the rate of 98% in some years. He writes that,

“Gerry's point was that democracy is no guarantee of good government, since voters often elect meritless hacks. But even he might have marveled at the willingness of Massachusetts voters in our day to keep voting the bums in instead of throwing them out. Year in, year out, election after election, the overwhelming majority of state legislators are reelected, often without even the formality of a challenge.”

I have NEVER understood nor accepted the fact that in the United States we allow (better said, the political parties allow) uncontested elections. In Cuba or North Korea that is expected. In Iowa or Massachusetts we should strive for “100% Competition” in our elections. Every house and state Senate district has at least two people – one Democrat and one Republican – who would merit candidacy to represent their neighbors.

If I had a lot of money I’d set up an endowment and fund the “100% Solution” project to identify, recruit, train and give some campaign advice and seed money to worthy citizens so that we never again have elections where there is only one candidate. Barring that, I believe that at the very least the two major parties should do so immediately.

On the other hand, uncontested elections would be the perfect venue for third parties such as the Green or Libertarian party to field candidates. Unchallenged incumbents are not used to raising money, organizing voter turnout, or campaigning. Therefore they should be easy picking’ for a challenger who is smart, connected to the community, and hard working.

Besides, it is not healthy to have the “monoculture” of just two political parties. In every other democracy in the world there are three or four parties that actually make a difference, have members elected to legislatures, and sometimes offer the most innovative alternative ideas to policy problems.

At least we have frequent scandals that topple or mortally wound politicians and make room for new blood. Nevada Senator John Ensign’s (R-Nevada) affair with a staffer is the most recent. Ensign is a member of the Promise Keepers, a Christian organization devoted to cultivating “men of integrity”— so this scandal is especially juicy.

It gets even better. According to Jim Rutenberg in the June 19, 2009 New York Times,
“A spokesman for Senator John Ensign said … that the husband of the former staff member with whom the senator admitted having an affair … had made demands for money through his lawyer. … [The husband], Doug Hampton, had demanded cash from the senator after learning of Mr. Ensign’s relationship with his wife, Cindy Hampton. Both Hamptons, and even their son Brandon, had worked at the Senate and political offices of Mr. Ensign…”

Other recent notable fiasco’s include former US Senator Larry Craig’s (R-Idaho) anti-gay policies, which ended up making him look ridiculous and hypocritical for [possibly] being gay when he played “footsie” with the undercover cop at the Minneapolis airport. The dethroned incumbent list goes on with prostitute problems for David Vitter (R-Louisiana) who in July 2007 was identified as a client of "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey, and Eliot Spitzer who in 2008 was forced to resign as Governor or New York because the Times revealed that he had patronized a prostitution service called Emperors Club VIP and consorted with “Kristen” 22 year old Ashley Dupré who was paid $4,300 in cash including $1,100 as a deposit with the agency toward future services.

A cancer-stricken wife and a campaign bimbo spelled the end of John Edwards (not an incumbent but a real hot prospect for president). Kinky, explicit text messages to young, underage boy pages unseated Congressman Mark Foley (R-Florida).

So, while politicians have a huge incumbency advantage, their peccadilloes often open spaces for fresh faces and new leadership. And, while they all seem to be hard at work, unfortunately it is often not related to their service to their constituency but more closely related to other “service.”

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/06/14/bay_states_low_standards/ For Jacoby’s full article on Mass politicians.

Steffen Schmidt is University Professor of Political Science at Iowa State University and Political Editor of InsiderIowa.com. His book American Government and Politics Today, 2009-2010, (Cengage) is in its 17th edition.

Dem in trouble all over the USA

Are the Democrats in Trouble? You Betcha!
By Steffen Schmidt

I have sufficiently exposed the flaws in the Republican Party this year, weaknesses that are troubling even to GOP leaders and operatives.

Now, in fairness, I must turn my guns on the Democrats.

Sure they control the House, Senate, and the White House. Of course their approval ratings are at least 10 percentage points ahead of the GOP. Democrats trust and like their party by a huge gap. BUT, there is the disaster called California, the chaos of New York, and the slime of the bay State (Massachusetts).

In California the Democrats have managed to spend the state into bankruptcy and don’t have the spine to cut spending and raise fees and taxes. While Arnold Schwarzenegger is governor and is nominally a Republican it is the Big spending Democrats who have blocked any efforts to straighten out this magnificent state.

In New York the Democrats are weak and led by governor Patterson with approval ratings of 21%, which is les than his disgraced predecessor Elliot Spitzer (he resigned when his dalliances with a young prostitute in Washington, DC was revealed) who has a whopping 26% approval.
Patterson is in such miserable shape that there is talk of a primary challenge for the 2010 election, which he would probably lose. The democrats are the majority party in New York but they seem rudderless against the pitifully small Republican contingent, which, while on life support, continues to lunge up from the deathbed, its arms extended out Frankenstein-like.

The latest GOP “miracle” was the defection of two “rogue” Democrats Pedro Espada Jr. and Hiram Monserrate. These two Hispanic Senators decided to switch parties and vote with the GOP, thus giving the republicans a 52 vote majority in the Senate. Because Gov Patterson was the Lt. governor when Spitzer quit there is no one in that position and Sen. Espada, as Senate President, would become the Gov. of New York State should Patterson quit.

By the way Mr. Espada is under investigation for keeping bad campaign finance records for which he has been fined before, doubts about where his official residency is (he represents the Bronx but they say he really lives in Mamaroneck, which is not his district), dubious tax-payer financed travel, and illegal earmarks for a nonprofit in the Bronx which he founded and is its CEO.

This “traitorous” behavior has given New York Democrats a bad case of vertigo. Without a strong leader and the machine politics muscle that could have deterred the two Hispanic defectors, the party seems adrift.

Senator Monserrate decided over the weekend following his leap to the GOP to switch back again to the Democrats thus creating a tie in the New York Senate. Did I mention that their defection (we used to use that for Cubans who would seek asylum) was arranged” by a “rogue billionaire” (I don’t know how that differs from a non-rogue billionaire) Tom Golisano, the retired Paychex billionaire, three-time gubernatorial candidate and founder of the NY state Independence Party. (By the way he is moving to Florida where there is no income tax and saving $14,000 a day by leaving New York.)

Wow! Real gridlock! Real “dissidence”! Evil billionaires! How cool is that? Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch said “… it makes New York look like a banana republic.”

So while California is a political and economic disaster, New York Democrats have now become a joke.

Then there is Massachusetts. We all know that there are no Republicans in Mass. So the Democrats have been free to rampage through the system with no scrutiny and they decided to commit almost every abuse of power imaginable. Their offenses range from repeatedly assaulting women in public to taking bribes and stuffing them in their bra, extorting money for contracts, putting relatives on unspeakable payrolls, greatly increasing public pensions for themselves at a time of serious economic pain, and of course sucking the Federal Govt. and US taxpayers dry with the “Big Dig” waterfront project which makes defense and medical contract overruns looks like a day care center scandal.

Lets put it in perspective. We now have the third Speaker of the House in the Bay State (or “on Beacon Hill” as they say because that’s where the State House is located) in a row to face criminal charges! No wonder citizens in Massachusetts are literally giving the finger to legislators as they drive home.

In Iowa, Gov. Chet Culver (D) looks vulnerable with low approval ratings and a likely primary fight as well as an aggressive field of Republicans on the hunt. Steve King vs Bob Vander Plaats should be fun. The State House also looks wobbly for the Democrats assuming Iowa Republicans can field what I like to call a “99 County Campaign -99CC” (i.e. find someone with a pulse to run against the Dems in every single race). In 2010 this may be possible because they have finally discovered the Internet and social networking technology and could “Twitter” their way into a majority.

The point is that while the Republicans look weak and in disarray nationally (which they are) the Democrats actually have a soft underbelly in many states. The 2010 elections may be more interesting that the mainstream pundits and media have estimated. So stay tuned. It could be a great year for America’s favorite contact sport.

Steffen Schmidt is University Professor of Political Science at Iowa State University and the lead author of the book American Government and Politics Today 2009-2010, (17th edition), Cengage Publishing.

Where to GOP?

“A new Gallup analysis of almost 150,000 interviews conducted from January through May of this year sheds new light on the substantial gender gap that exists in American politics today. Not only are women significantly more likely than men to identify as Democrats, and less likely to identify as independents, but … this gap is evident across all ages, from 18 to 85, and within all major racial, ethnic, and marital-status segments of society.”

This is a serious problem for republicans for several reasons. First, women are a larger percentage of the population than men. Second, women vote more than men. Third, how long can it be before women socialize their kids and spouses to this pro-Democratic party leaning?
This poll comes on top of other bad news for the GOP from a USA Today/Gallup poll.

One-third of Republicans now say they have an unfavorable opinion of their party. Just 4% of Democrats have an unfavorable view of their party. Asked by Gallup "what comes to mind when you think of the Republican Party," 25% of those surveyed said "unfavorable" and another 1 in 4 offered negative assessments including "no direction," "close-minded" and "poor economic conditions." Sixteen percent said “conservative” and 7% "favorable."

There have also been some serious bi-partisan activities favoring the Democrats. Republican Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois was appointed as transportation secretary. Former Republican Sen. Arlen Specter’s (Pa.) switched to the Democratic Party. Republican Robert Gates is Secretary of Defense. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman was chosen to become U.S. ambassador to China. The new Army Secretary will be Rep. John McHugh, R-N.Y. These defections are driving the Republicans crazy.

These developments also come on top of a fierce battle among several national GOP elites for political oxygen and leadership visibility.

A Grand Canyon has opened up between the ultra conservatives of the party (Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich) on the one hand, Sara Palin and Mike Huckabee on the other hand, and on the third hand (yes this is at least a three handed party) the “Big Tent Explorers” who want to broaden the party appeal.

These “explorers” met in Arlington, Virginia in a town hall-style meeting of the newly formed National Council for a New America. This event, at a pizza restaurant, was the opening shot to “launch a series of listening sessions across America.” Attending the event were former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.) who is often called a “rising start” in the GOP. This group also includes John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) another “rising star.” They laid out their vision for reviving the GOP. The meeting was brutally trashed by Rush Limbaugh and other hard-core conservatives who believe that the GOP must return to its “true” conservative roots.

Finally there was the ugly early skirmish for 2012 between Alaska Gov Sara Palin and Newt Gingrich. According to By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog, “Palin was initially invited many weeks ago to address the House and Senate Republicans' annual fundraising dinner in D.C. There was an apparent miscommunication between the two camps over whether she had accepted, resulting in fed-up beltway Republicans asking former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to keynote the confab.” Then it got interesting according to Politico, “After being invited — for a second time — to speak to the annual joint fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Palin was told abruptly Saturday night that she would not be allowed to address the thousands of Republicans there after all. The reason given for the snub, said a Palin aide, was that NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions was concerned about not wanting to upstage former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the fundraising gala's keynote speaker.”

The Washington buzz is that Newt became furious when he found out Palin was speaking and would certainly upstage him. The organizers then had to pull the plug on Palin. So this was the opening shot heard around the GOP of “The Brain” Gingich vs. the “Super Star” Palin. Stay tuned for the next extreme professional political wrestling match.

All of these are “pings” coming from the GOP flight deck. They suggest that a massive national air, land, and sea search operation for a leader for the Republicans is now urgently needed in order to find the Republican party and then unify and focus it around winning leaders and themes.

It’s always hard to be the “out” party.

It is exceptionally difficult when all of the indicators of political vitality (a huge gender gap, a racial and ethic minority gap, a very real age and youth gap, an “ideological approval rating” gap) point in the wrong direction.