If the Republicans on the Foreign Relations Committee wanted to make trouble for Hillary Clinton, they could unearth any number of skeletons (or just use today’s Associated Press reporting). But the GOP isn’t doing that. Ranking Member Richard Lugar opened the hearing with praise and his questions were all substantive and related to his areas of policy interest. I can imagine that Republican partisans, who are familiar with every potentially damaging bullet point in Hillary’s long life (dating back to her time as an undergrad at Wellesley), are pulling their hair out and asking why the Republicans are so obsequious and spineless. I think we all know how they feel. After all, we sat through confirmation hearings for Condi Rice at State, Alberto Gonzales at Justice, and Sam Alito for the Supreme Court. We know what it’s like to see our senators lie down and act like doormats.
As I have long argued, the behavior of politicians is driven far more by the dynamics of power structures than by ideology. The Democrats were not uniquely spineless during the Bush years. They behaved the way they did largely because their cost/benefit analysis led them to limit their fire in battles they knew they could not win. This isn’t an apology for the Democrats, it’s just an observation about human nature. If the Republicans had the votes to kill Hillary Clinton’s appointment, they might very well go after her with everything from today’s AP piece to the ‘murder’ of Vince Foster. But, without the votes, it’s all about how great she is, how smart she is, and how fantastic it will be to work with her.
This is just a small example of a larger point. The sheer numbers of Democrats on the Hill creates a power dynamic that it is impossible for the old GOP to navigate using their old tactics. They cannot maintain unity and discipline while in the minority, nor can they bully through the terms of the debate. For the foreseeable future they will be weak and ineffective.
They cannot maintain unity and discipline while in the minority, nor can they bully through the terms of the debate. For the foreseeable future they will be weak and ineffective.
I wouldn’t count on the GOP remaining weak and undisciplined. In the minority, they’ve demonstrated more discipline than Dems.
Take a look at McClatchy’s piece –
we’ll see how long Clinton will parrot Obama’s speaking style and vocabulary ..”this defining moment in history”
Ego gridlock ahead.
Example A: Michelle Malkin:
Is that a pen or a knife at the top of her page?
They cannot maintain unity and discipline while in the minority, nor can they bully through the terms of the debate.
Agreed.
For the foreseeable future they will be weak and ineffective.
Disagree. They will figure out pretty quickly that bullying, whining, and strict party unity aren’t going to work in the new Congress. I give them 6 months tops (Senators will probably figure it out faster than Reps because of “institutional memory” and the general structure of the Senate).
At that point the game shifts to maneuvers that will peel off conservative Dems from cloture votes in the Senate in order to embarrass the President or the Congressional leadership (or both, if possible). The House GOPers will also be trying to peel off conservative Dem votes, but it sheer numbers will make it more of an uphill battle for them and, frankly, Pelosi is better at this sort of rear-guard defense than Reid is.
They’ll also be working to find ways to slip poison pills into legislation that they know the Progressive elements of the Democratic Party won’t want to vote for. Again, getting conservative Dems to side with them will be the main tactic for this (and they will probably be able to be more successful in the House at this than with trying to kill legislation outright).
My hope is that the last couple of decades of hyper-partisan Republican action has galvanized enough of the members of the House to make these tactics ineffective, and that sheer numbers in the House will prove to be enough to foil Republicans at this game. I have no hope for the Senate, except that maybe the Republicans will overstep with their obstruction and manage to lose even more seats in two years.
The first thing Pelosi did was take away the ability of the GOP to use the Motion to Recommit process to place poison pills in bills and kill them off. In the House, the Rules Committee (led by progressive Louis Slaughter) controls how many amendments the GOP can introduce, and they can streamroll anything they want now.
In the Senate, the rules allow for amendments (the number of which are negotiated between the Majority and Minority Leader) and it is far easier for Republicans to create poison pill situations. However, the Dems stand one vote short of passing cloture on bills, and that’s important when it comes to preventing a senator from using his failure to ‘consent’ to force bad amendments into the process. For the Republicans to be effective, they need to peel off Democrats on a case by case basis. And they can do this.
On reproductive choice, they can go after Ben Nelson and Bob Casey. On coal-fired plants, they can go after Rockefeller and Byrd and other coal-staters. On national security they can look to Lieberman and some others on certain issues. Whenever there is some provincial issue, the GOP can take advantage.
But the Dems can do the same in reverse. Since the Dems only need a few votes (often as few as one) to achieve cloture, it’s relatively easy to cherry-pick. There are a variety of ways to do this. Allowing a Republican to have some input in committee, inviting them to co-sponsor bills that will help their state, throwing them a little pork, taking care of a pet project, etc.
The real weakness for the Senate GOP is that they cannot do anything for their constituents unless they are a part of passing bills. Republicans are not going to go to committee meetings and sit on their collective hands, refusing to participate, and maintaining a determination to oppose whatever product emerges as a bill. It will not happen. And no amount of huffing and puffing by Sean Hannity et al is going to change that.
Why would Republicans want to kill her nomination?
Over the last few years she has adopted many Republican positions and has reached out to ingratiate herself to the right wing. Look how she goes out of her way to show how tough she is and how she makes it a point to emphasize the U.S. will still quickly resort to military force (Just today saw Hillary threaten nuclear war against Iran).
Hillary has became a right-winger in many respects. Or at least she is more friendly with them than she is with the “left wing”.
So of course Republicans are going to be less hostile.
Republicans have won. They have moved everyone to the right. Including you. Including her.
Well, you have a point. But it won’t be different for any of the other nominees, with the possible exception of Eric Holder.
And don’t forget that Republicans will love having Obama’s main rival front and center in his administration. They will quickly jump on any perceived difference between Obama and Clinton to exploit it.
They will love it if Obama takes a dovish approach to an issue and Hillary leaks (or it is widely assumed) that she wants a more hawkish approach. Hillary might not be able to stop herself from taking political advantage and further buttressing her hawkish bona fides.
She will. Hillary is Israel’s go-to girl in the Obama Administration. The reason the GOP aren’t specifically going after Hillary is because she assures Obama’s policy on Israel will be Bush’s policy on Israel.
“Hillary is Israel’s go-to girl in the Obama Administration.”
don’t expect any change. Look at the O Team’s makeup:
With AIPAC’s co-founder on board Obama’s team, the entire Clinton III administration has the AIPAC brand stamped on their asses – a reminder to toe the line. On Sunday, Obama regurgitated that “Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons.” Guess he has not read the NIE debunking that lie.
Any wonder John Bolton and wingnuts are pleased.
I’ll give a dozen donuts, we’ll surge into a wider Middle East war; just in time to pull us out of this depression.
For the lady has ‘smart power’ on her side! She just couldn’t resist using her ‘smart power’ to cast the Gaza war in stone.
I guess you can’t cast something in stone. So it must be dumb power.