Politics
& Government The State of
Things
.
.. The
State of Things: The Water Still Ripples ...
The
Jeffords Decision If
you did not read last month's
Special
Report:
Jeffords Leaves Republican Party
we
invite you to do so now. It's been a month or so
since Jim Jeffords shook not only Vermont, but the nation, when he
announced his decision to leave the Republican Party and caucus with the
Democrats. Some {mostly Democrats and some Progressives} applauded
his decision. Others {mostly Republicans} suggested that Jeffords
step down and a new general election be held to fill the vacancy, for
which, of course, Jeffords would be free to run. ... Words
like 'courage' and 'cowardice' echoed about ... phrases like
'act of conscience' rumbled alongside 'act of betrayal'
... and all of them filled the airwaves and print media for a
time. Talk shows were more swamped than usual with calls and, as we
mentioned in our original 'Special Report', the traffic on the telecom
lines became so jammed, people were not only losing their internet
connections, but getting busy signals for almost an hour, and, in some
cases, longer than that ... even when the person they were
calling hadn't been on the phone at the time. In the interim,
Jeffords team has announced that he will be returning the donations given
to him by members of his former party. But it's
been a month or so, and here in America, where yesterday's headlines turn
very quickly into distant history, Senator Jeffords' decision has moved
from the front page. But his decision was historic, of course,
though not necessarily for the reasons that some may imagine. The
fact of his defection itself, for example, was not particularly
historic. Ever since John Connolly {the former Texas governor who'd
been riding in the same car with Kennedy when he was assassinated
in Dallas, and who himself was wounded} switched
to the Republican Party ... and ever since John Lindsay, the former Mayor
of New York, became a Democrat, there has been something of a plate
tectonic shift taking place beneath the American political landscape. Connolly's
defection, of course, has been the more prototypical. Many Southern
Democrats, Democrats in opposition to Lincoln, the Republican, felt
betrayed by Lyndon Johnson and his Great Society programs, particularly
those aimed at civil rights, desegregation, and, eventually, affirmative
action. But along with them went many more members of the
traditional Democratic base. Many blue-collar workers in the
industrial northeast and mid-west left, for example, largely in response
to the civil disorder that characterized the late '60s. For them,
the Nixon platform of law & order had a distinctive appeal. And
many of those who had not defected in the earlier Nixon rounds did later
when they opted for Regan's optimism over Carter's belt-tightening.
Many anti-abortion / pro-life Catholics devoutly abandoned the Democratic
Party, too, for obvious reasons. It
is probably safe to say that nowhere near as many defections have gone the
other way. In this light, then, Jeffords' decision to caucus with
the Democrats was a minority decision, though one with obviously majority
consequences. That point, of course,
was the one which was seized upon -- the fact that Jeffords,
one man, was single-handedly able to wrest control of the Senate from the
Republican Party and hand it over to the Democrats. As a first,
there's probably no doubt that Jeffords' decision will become something
for the history books. But what sort of history it will become --
both for the short- term and the long-term -- still remains an open
question. So cognizant is Washington, however, of the
historic implications for the short-term that Senator Jeffords has been
under guard by the Capitol Police ever since he made his
announcement. He has, evidently, received, several death threats,
and only this week, a lobbyist for the National Association of
Homebuilders uttered a threat, ostensibly a death threat, at Jeffords
office in the presence of his staff. Sadly, that
may be one gauge of certainty that one has, in fact, made history, even if
the major media have scarcely paid attention to the fact. But
whether or not the Jeffords decision will make history for the long term
will depend largely on forces which lie considerably beyond his control,
or anyone else's for that matter. While there's no
discounting the fact that he single-handedly effected a switch in the
control of the Senate, the actual impact of that change is not necessarily
as dramatic as the one which took place when Gingrich and his crew wrested
Congress from the Democrats. In fact, that instance of Republican
control was more more vocal and more effective in shaping the political
dialogue than the newly Democratic Senate is likely to become, if only
because of the difference in both numbers and the attendant media
coverage. And inasmuch as the shift of power now has an opposition
party in slim control of but one House of Congress, George Bush is
probably still in a better position than Clinton had been with roles
reversed. No. If the Jeffords' decision is to
have a significant impact, it won't be as an isolated event. In less
than two years, we will be back at the polls with another opportunity to
vote -- in or out -- those we think will make the best difference in
Washington. While Jeffords' decision may be seen as an
act of courage or one of betrayal, depending on one's vantage, and while
he managed something unprecedented in wresting control of the Senate away
from an administration with which he found himself increasingly in
opposition, the Jeffords' decision will stand or fall as an historic event
only if it marks the beginning of another shift in the American political
landscape. From here, it would seem that the shift can
take one of two directions: Either toward an increase in third-party
or independent candidates ... or a move back toward the
Democratic agenda and platform. For the Jeffords' decision to become
historic for the long-term, the latter shift would have to be fairly
dramatic and long-standing. But if Senator Jeffords' decision
signals the beginning of even a modest move toward viable candidates who
do not align themselves with either major party, then he may indeed have
made a bit of history. It's unlikely, of course, that
his defection will herald a move in either direction. It's too soon
to tell for sure, though you can bet that the pollsters and the
politicians they contract with are having a field day with the data.
But if Senator Jeffords does make the history books for the long run, it
will be because his personal declaration of independence was the start of
something bigger than he might've imagined ... and possibly, not
even something he particularly wanted. lmc
. *******
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