Because the rules of the Senate require unanimous consent (or 60 votes) to accomplish anything, one member can make any other member’s life miserable just by refusing to grant their consent to move to a vote. That breeds a collegial, non-confrontational culture that has many virtues. There is much to admire about how the Senate operates, especially when you compare it to the venomous House. But it has its downsides, as The Hill points out this morning in an article about Susan Collins’ hurt feelings. Sen. Collins is smarting because several senators campaigned for her opponent in her home state of Maine. The article uses the example of Norm Coleman, when he first arrived in the Senate six years ago.
Coleman learned that personal politics are not quickly forgotten in the chamber. He discovered that shortly after he came to the Senate and criticized Sen. Byron Dorgan (D) during an appearance on a conservative talk radio show in Western Minnesota.
Dorgan, who represents neighboring North Dakota, told his Republican colleague: “If you make it personal it will have an impact.”
Coleman said he then resolved never to attack a colleague.
“Relationships are always important,” he said. “I was reminded of that when I first got here and I never forgot that.”
Dorgan said that his rule is “that I don’t go someplace to campaign with somebody to speak ill of a colleague.”
A Republican colleague once attacked him in his home state, Dorgan recalled, and “I was pretty displeased with that person” and it had an impact on their relationship.
It didn’t take much of a warning for Sen. Dorgan to convince Coleman to shut his pie hole. Coleman knew that Dorgan could short circuit any bill that Coleman wanted to see passed. The Democrat’s merciful stance towards Joe Lieberman is easier to understand in this context. Yet, this deferential attitude can go too far if senators are unwilling to hold each other accountable. I think another problem we have in our political culture is the great deference we grant to war heroes. Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham was one of the Air Force’s most accomplished pilots and a model for the movie Top Gun, and now he is in prison for taking bribes. John McCain bravely endured five and a half years in a dismal Vietnamese prison camp, but was a member of the disgraced Keating 5. Charlie Rangel is a decorated veteran of the Korean War and the powerful chairman of the House Ways & Means committee, but he traded legislation for donations to a charity (a City College program built in his honor).
It’s an old saw that power corrupts, and young idealistic politicians can lose their moral compass after spending decades in Congress. The whole culture inside Congress is far too forgiving of corruption, as seen most recently in the obscenely long standing ovation the Senate gave to convicted felon, Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. At the top of the power structure on Capitol Hill, I think the players see politics much like an arm-wrestling match. The two sides fight back and forth, one side sometimes taking the edge only to let slip the advantage to the other side. It’s rare when one side actually gets a pin, as has happened in the most recent election. The inclination, at the top, is to give the other side a pass for all the shenanigans they attempted during the battle. Now, they think, it’s time to arm-wrestle anew…on an even playing field. No looking back to the last match.
Of course, these are the kind of distorted values you develop when you see politics more as a sport than as a calling and a service. The very collegiality that makes the Senate a pleasant place to work is also the clubbiness that refuses to disqualify an opponent for tripping or slashing. Commit seven felonies and bring disgrace upon the whole institution? No problem, have a standing ovation for your decades of distinguished service. Isn’t this like applauding Barry Bonds for all the Home Runs he hit while he was juiced up on steroids? No one disputes that Pete Rose was one of the best baseball players to ever play the game. But he’s not in the Hall of Fame because he disgraced the league by betting on the game.
Every time we have a new administration there is a strong inclination to keep a forward looking focus and to forgive the sins of the past. It’s good politics. But there are good, solid reasons of good governance why we should not give a pass to lawbreaking. And there is a whole world out there that doesn’t forget our sins even if we do our best to make sure we do.
Charlie Rangel needs to step down as chairman of the Ways & Means committee. And the Democrats need to find a way to hold the Bush administration accountable for their crimes.
