This is a bit of inside baseball that is only for serious political junkies. Rahm Emanuel has done something truly impressive and praiseworthy. But it will take a little explaining to understand why. Nancy Pelosi will be be Speaker of the House. There will be a divisive battle for the number two position of majority leader (Tom DeLay’s old position) between John Murtha (D-PA) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD). After Majority Leader the number three position is Majority Whip (also a position formerly held by DeLay under the Gingrich regime). Here is where it gets complicated.
It all originates with the Intelligence Committee. Back when Pelosi became Minority Leader she overlooked James Clyburn (D-SC), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and made Jane Harman (D-CA) the ranking member of that committee. This irritated the CBC. They were also annoyed when Pelosi stripped William (money in the freezer) Jefferson (D-LA) of his position on the Ways and Means Committee. Now Clyburn wants the position of Majority Whip, which is a position that Rahm Emanuel thought he had earned by successfully running the DCCC to victory. But Rahm thought better of taking on Clyburn.
House Democrats avoided a potentially combative and divisive leadership race today, as Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) decided to seek the post of caucus chair, rather than run for whip.
As of today, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) is the favorite for the whip post, the third highest leadership post for the majority party. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) is considering a bid.
Emanuel: “As the Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, I have spent the last twenty months committed to recruiting and electing candidates in every region of this country and helping bring unity to our party. Now, we have the responsibility to carry through on the commitment of change and progress we made to the American people. And I hope to help meet that responsibility as Chair of the Democratic Caucus, under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi. I seek this post, and not any other, because I believe what we need now is a unified Democratic caucus, focused squarely on the business of moving this country forward.”
It has been widely reported that Pelosi has not been pleased with Jane Harman’s performance as ranking member on Intelligence and plans on picking someone else. This led Harman to reach out to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and ask them to lobby Pelosi on her behalf. This, apparently, has infuriated Pelosi and made her even more certain to pass over Harman.
The problem for Pelosi is that the logical alternative to Harman is the person next in seniority, Alcee Hastings (D-FL). Alcee Hastings is also a member of the CBC, but he also has the rare distinction of having been impeached and convicted by Congress when he was a judge in the 1980’s. Pelosi actually voted against him. The GOP is just waiting to use that history as a counterpoint to any culture of corruption investigations and to suggest that it is imperiling our national security. Pelosi doesn’t want to further anger the CBC, but she also doesn’t want to hand the GOP a powerful tool to counter her program of ethics reform.
She may pass over Hastings for Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), a hispanic congressman. If she picks Reyes, Rahm’s decision not to challenge Clyburn will make it easier for the CBC to swallow.
Okay. Enough of the inside baseball. I feel dirty. But I’m impressed with Rahm’s decision. Good for him.
