Ignore the little guy at your peril. In 2000, the only presidential candidate who bothered to visit Vermont was John McCain. Vermont was too small, only three electoral votes, too predictable, the first – and for a while the only – state won by Al Gore on election night. It just wasn’t worth anyone’s time to swing through here.
Two thousand is also the year Jim Jeffords was re-elected to the Senate, and it wasn’t pretty. Republican Jim handled his Democratic opponent easily enough, but it was the state’s Republicans, most of whom are well to the senator’s right, who caused him the most grief, some razzing him on Election Night.
But everything was going to be all right, the new president spoke of a changed political climate in Washington, about reaching across party lines to get things done. Maybe that’s why Jim Jeffords is leaving the Republican Party – he certainly wasn’t getting respect inside party lines. Now the president will have to reach across a line to speak with Senator Jeffords.
Jim Jeffords has been holding elective office as a Republican for over three decades, as state attorney general, congressman and senator and he did not leave the Republican Party. The party left him.
Jim Jeffords is the kind of Republican I grew up with. Sure they were fiscally and socially conservative, but their ideology was based on what they thought would be good for Americans. Their definition of an American was narrower than the Democrats’, but the GOP had not yet become synonymous with greed, bullying and the pillage of public resources on behalf of campaign contributors.
Senator Jeffords has been at odds with the White House since he voted to reduce the president’s tax cut from $1.6 trillion to $1.3 trillion. It started with snubs. Senator Jeffords was not invited to the White House when a Vermont woman was recognized as teacher of the year, even though Mr. Jeffords is chairman of the Senate’s Education Committee. Snubs are one thing; politicians from small states are used to snubs.
Then rumors started floating that the White House would oppose efforts to renew the northeast dairy compact. The compact helps family farmers – a constituency for old-style Republicans – compete with multinational agribusinesses – a constituency for new-style Republicans. That’s where the conservative zealots in the West Wing stepped in a cow pie. DO NOT PLAY GAMES WITH VERMONT’S MILK SUPPLY. It’s one of the best examples of how Potomac Fever and Beltway Blindness make those in power forget the lessons of Politics 101.
Mr. Jeffords has said right along that it’s not about Republican this or Democratic that, it’s about what’s good for people in Vermont and the arrogant Bush team had to stick its thumb in Vermont’s eye. Now the White House will have to give ground on the dairy compact, the Democratic-controlled Senate will see to that.
The scramble is on and the Congressional Cold War heats up. Senate Republicans will be openly courting conservative Democrat Zell Miller of Georgia to jump the fence, meanwhile trying to keep Strom Thurmond alive. The Democrats will give Mr. Jeffords a plum chairmanship, the Environment and Public Works Committee. With the Democrats in control of the upper house of Congress, Vermont’s other senator, Patrick Leahy, will chair the Senate Judiciary Committee, which puts a whole new spin on nominations to the federal bench. Just for good measure, the Democrats may be trying to lure away other moderate Republicans, like Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island.
So now national politics is back to gridlock – but after four months of unchecked Republican marauding, gridlock looks pretty good. If George W. is smart, he’ll learn his lesson – don’t cry over spilled milk.
One Man’s Milk
Ignore the little guy at your peril. In 2000, the only presidential candidate who bothered to visit Vermont was John McCain. Vermont was too small, only three electoral votes, too predictable, the first – and for a while the only – state won by Al Gore on election night. It just wasn’t worth anyone’s time to swing through here.
Two thousand is also the year Jim Jeffords was re-elected to the Senate, and it wasn’t pretty. Republican Jim handled his Democratic opponent easily enough, but it was the state’s Republicans, most of whom are well to the senator’s right, who caused him the most grief, some razzing him on Election Night.
But everything was going to be all right, the new president spoke of a changed political climate in Washington, about reaching across party lines to get things done. Maybe that’s why Jim Jeffords is leaving the Republican Party – he certainly wasn’t getting respect inside party lines. Now the president will have to reach across a line to speak with Senator Jeffords.
Jim Jeffords has been holding elective office as a Republican for over three decades, as state attorney general, congressman and senator and he did not leave the Republican Party. The party left him.
Jim Jeffords is the kind of Republican I grew up with. Sure they were fiscally and socially conservative, but their ideology was based on what they thought would be good for Americans. Their definition of an American was narrower than the Democrats’, but the GOP had not yet become synonymous with greed, bullying and the pillage of public resources on behalf of campaign contributors.
Senator Jeffords has been at odds with the White House since he voted to reduce the president’s tax cut from $1.6 trillion to $1.3 trillion. It started with snubs. Senator Jeffords was not invited to the White House when a Vermont woman was recognized as teacher of the year, even though Mr. Jeffords is chairman of the Senate’s Education Committee. Snubs are one thing; politicians from small states are used to snubs.
Then rumors started floating that the White House would oppose efforts to renew the northeast dairy compact. The compact helps family farmers – a constituency for old-style Republicans – compete with multinational agribusinesses – a constituency for new-style Republicans. That’s where the conservative zealots in the West Wing stepped in a cow pie. DO NOT PLAY GAMES WITH VERMONT’S MILK SUPPLY. It’s one of the best examples of how Potomac Fever and Beltway Blindness make those in power forget the lessons of Politics 101.
Mr. Jeffords has said right along that it’s not about Republican this or Democratic that, it’s about what’s good for people in Vermont and the arrogant Bush team had to stick its thumb in Vermont’s eye. Now the White House will have to give ground on the dairy compact, the Democratic-controlled Senate will see to that.
The scramble is on and the Congressional Cold War heats up. Senate Republicans will be openly courting conservative Democrat Zell Miller of Georgia to jump the fence, meanwhile trying to keep Strom Thurmond alive. The Democrats will give Mr. Jeffords a plum chairmanship, the Environment and Public Works Committee. With the Democrats in control of the upper house of Congress, Vermont’s other senator, Patrick Leahy, will chair the Senate Judiciary Committee, which puts a whole new spin on nominations to the federal bench. Just for good measure, the Democrats may be trying to lure away other moderate Republicans, like Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island.
So now national politics is back to gridlock – but after four months of unchecked Republican marauding, gridlock looks pretty good. If George W. is smart, he’ll learn his lesson – don’t cry over spilled milk.