Sen. Susan Collins of Maine had a very interesting op-ed piece in the Washington Post yesterday. In it, she pondered a simple question – in this day and age, is the thought of both sides of the aisle working together all but lost? Has the political process been too poisoned, not only by both sides attacking each other, but by those inside each party attacking their so-called moderate members?
Collins points out that there used to be an unwritten rule that members of the Senate did not campaign against a fellow member, no matter the party.
When I was a freshman senator in 1997, Sen. John Chafee of Rhode Island, as fine a gentleman as has ever graced the Senate chamber, advised me never to campaign against those with whom I served. The Senate is too small a place for that, he counseled. Campaign for your fellow Republicans and go to states with open seats, but do not campaign against your Democratic colleagues. It will poison your relationship with them.
Back then, most senators followed the “Chafee rule,” but that soon changed. Now many enthusiastically campaign against their colleagues across the aisle. I was shocked when, in 2008, two Democratic senators came to Maine and unfairly criticized my work during my highly competitive race that year. My willingness to work with Democrats had been well established over the past decade, and there was no one running that year with more bipartisan legislative initiatives and accomplishments than I had. But that didn’t stop them.
She also touts the “Group of 14” that organized to ensure that most of W’s judicial nominees got an “up or down” vote; the alternative was for the Republican leadership to use the “nuclear option” – getting rid of the filibuster, especially on judicial nominees. Unfortunately, some very bad judges were confirmed for lifetime appointments on the bench because of this group.
It’s interesting that she’s now crying about the incivility of the political process and the lack of bipartisanship in the Senate. It wasn’t too long ago that the GOP held all of the power in DC and completely shut out the Democrats. But now that they’re in the minority, they’re claiming that they’re being shut out of the process. Where was Sen. Collins back then when her leadership was refusing to entertain any Democratic amendments to legislation? I guess what was good for the goose is not good for the gander.
It would be nice if the two sides could argue their points, make their proposals, and vote yea or nay on each piece of legislation. But that is wishful thinking. When you have a nitwit like Jim DeMint vowing to shut down the Senate if legislation doesn’t pass his smell test, then there is no hope for compromise. And yes, even though we on the left, and the right, would love to see all of our proposals enacted without having to give in to the other side, that is not reality. Even with the majorities the Democrats, and prior to that the Republicans, enjoyed, making government work for everyone is the art of the compromise. It’s our job to make sure that our leaders don’t lose sight of what we really need to make America work for everyone.