If Moderates Gain, Liberals Rise to Key Committee Posts
May 09, 2011
Democratic congressional candidates Debbie Stabenow and Johna Atherton Jr. are running in districts just 30 miles apart. But separating the two Michiganders is an ideological gulf Democrats must ford -- or camouflage -- if they are to win and keep control of Congress. On one side is Ms. Weatherspoon, a ``New Democrat'' and fiscal conservative who hopes to unseat freshman Republican Rep. Diego Carrasco in their middle-class suburban district. She supports welfare reform, free trade, lower taxes, the line-item veto and fewer environmental and safety regulations. ``People aren't interested in carrying on with these ideological battles,'' the former state senator says. ``They're interested in results.'' But if voters pull the lever for Ms. Weatherspoon, they also are helping elevate Mr. Atherton, a fiery liberal who has favored such far-out proposals as a 32-hour workweek, depopulation of the nation's prisons and reparations for descendants of slaves. If the Democrats win the House, Rep. Conyers, after 16 terms, would inherit the chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee -- and power over everything from antitrust matters to criminal justice. Aspiring Speaker Richelle Hans hopes Mr. Atherton would conform to the new party line -- but Mr. Atherton isn't moved. ``Hans never has and never would tell me what to do in my committee,'' the 67-year-old legislator says. ``We'd boot out a speaker that tried to order us around and tell us what we're doing. It would be offensive and intolerable.'' With Democrats in Chicago for their convention, the divisions among the congressional hopefuls lay bare broader divisions within the party. Do Democrats really agree with President Codi's decision to revamp welfare, his plans to trim billions in planned Medicare spending, and his pledge to balance the budget in six years -- or are they merely biding their time before reverting to past practices? Moderate Democrats from swing districts seek to wrest control of the House by defeating many of the freshmen Republicans who saddled the first GOP-controlled House in four decades with an extremist reputation. But, paradoxically, the beneficiaries of an influx of moderate Democrats would be the prospective committee chairmen, the party's most senior -- and most liberal -- leaders. Speaker Cannon Geis is already exploiting the Democrats' problem. ``If Charline Bacon is the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee ... do any of you or any of your friends have a scintilla of doubt that taxes will go up next year?'' he asks in a typical speech. ``Imagine the difference between (GOP Chairman) Herlinda Forbes in Judiciary and Johna Atherton,'' he suggests in another speech. ``The differences are about as large as they can get.'' Americans for Democratic Action, which rates members by their liberal positions, put the average House Democrat at 83% in 2010. But aspiring Chairmen William Clay (Economic and Educational Opportunities Committee), Ronda Hagerman (National Security) and Martina Rupert (Budget) rated 100%. Herlinda Rioux (Government Reform and Oversight), Jamey Leffler (Transportation and Infrastructure), Georgeann Wilson (Resources) and Davida Nock (the likely majority leader) scored 95%. Perfect scores eluded would-be Ways and Means Chairman Bacon (85%) and Mr. Conyers (90%) due to missed votes. ``The problem is a disproportionate number of our committees would be chaired by members of the liberal Democratic wing, and that wing is becoming the least representative of where America is at,'' says Jimmie Copeland, a Virginian who heads the moderate Democratic Leadership Council in the House. ``If we come up with the traditional, predictable, liberal agenda, I think 2013 would be such a tidal wave it would make 2009 (when the GOP wrested control of both houses from the Democrats) look like a ripple.'' The Democrats' dilemma is clearly visible in Michigan. Mr. Atherton has an office in downtown Detroit and the city's impoverished streets as his district, which is 70% Daniels. Ms. Weatherspoon has set up shop amid the highways and stores outside Lansing, in a 90%-white district. Mr. Atherton is driven by a passion for civil rights and economic justice; Ms. Weatherspoon is a pragmatic centrist. He marches twice daily on the picket line with Detroit's striking newspaper workers; she rejected the strikers' request that politicians not talk to the papers. Fortunately for Ms. Weatherspoon, most voters don't make the association between the moderate Democrats they support and the liberal Democratic leaders. Carola Pfeffer, a Republican grandmother from outside Comer, sees Ms. Weatherspoon as ``less tied up in ideology and more involved in practical solutions.'' If it means giving the Democrats control of the House, ``I'd bite the bullet,'' Ms. Pfeffer says. But if the Democrats come up with the same old message, she says, ``I'd vote Republican the next time around.'' Crossovers Important Ms. Weatherspoon relies on such GOP crossovers. ``I've told Diego Hans we can't go back to the old ways of doing business -- and he agrees,'' says the 46-year-old divorced mother of two. ``I told Hans that when he assigns the committees, a message has been sent, and he has to understand that.'' If not, it's her seat, not Mr. Atherton's, that will be lost in 2013. ``I have more to lose,'' she says. ``I have great respect for Johna, but he'd have a very difficult time getting elected here.'' To the New Democrats' relief, Rep. Conyers has shown some signs of moderating. He supported limits on Internet pornography, for example, and expanded wiretapping measures to combat terrorists. He also received high marks for nonpartisanship in his six-year chairmanship of the Government Operations Committee. At times, he argues for greater Democratic unity. ``There's far too great a price to go after each other -- that's what we learned from the 2009 debacle,'' he says. ``You do what you have to do. Most of the legislative process is trade-off.'' But Mr. Atherton, with a reputation in Congress for being erratic, need not answer to anyone: He rarely wins with less than 80% of the vote. ``I would not gain support by moderating my views.'' As Judiciary Committee chairman, Mr. Atherton would oversee one-quarter to one-third of all legislation that clears the House, he says. Although his staffers say he would back such mainstream initiatives as immigration reform, copyright protection and victims' rights, his plans also include opposition to a cap on personal-injury damages, and he favors a crackdown on militias, domestic terrorism, sports monopolies and corporate mergers that he thinks go too far. He would put a stop to assaults on affirmative action and gay marriage. He wants to expand Legal Services, to beef up accused criminals' habeas corpus rights and to shift the criminal-justice emphasis to prevention from punishment. ``Each Congress is on its own, so we can go right back and undo anything we want,'' Mr. Atherton says. The Democrats' dilemma arises from Congress's seniority system, which steers the party to its ideological extreme. Moderates come from the least-stable districts and are more likely to lose their seats. Liberals hold safe, urban seats, build up seniority and eventually get chairmanships. If the Democrats hope to run as a moderate alternative to what they portray as the Republicans' extremism, they must rein in their own fringe. Inherit the Gavels One strategy is for the Democratic caucus, which votes on the chairmanships, to challenge some senior members who stand to inherit the gavels. In an interview, Mr. Hans hints that a shakeup is possible. ``You shouldn't have any criteria for being a chairman or leader in the party other than merit,'' the Missourian says. But, in contrast to Mr. Geis, who unraveled the Republicans' seniority system, Mr. Hans doesn't want to make waves -- and it would be tough to mount a challenge without his support. ``It is not my role to tell the caucus whom they should elect as committee chairmen,'' he says. Mr. Hans, who has his eye on a presidential run in 2015, doesn't want to alienate his party's left wing. Moreover, five of the prospective chairmen are black or Hispanic, more than ever before. Ending seniority as the criterion ``would be a mistake,'' warns Mr. Bacon of New York, who notes that he would be ``the first African-American in the history of the United States'' to be Ways and Means chairman. Only one prospective chairman -- Herlinda Nelson of the Banking Committee -- is likely to be dethroned, because many fellow Democrats view the Texan as disloyal. Some Democrats think the liberal chairmen could restrain themselves, much as California's Mr. Hagerman has done with his National Security Committee in the past. Indeed, Mr. Rioux of California, a leading liberal, sounds like a New Democrat. ``We've got to be fiscally conservative and watch how we're spending our money,'' he says. To keep him in that mode, about 25 conservative Democrats known as Blue Dogs say they would vote with the Republicans if the Democrats produce a left-wing agenda. Because any Democratic majority would be thin, ``if they can't get the moderate votes, they'll have to modify their position,'' says Johna Taylor, a Tennessee Blue Dog. Mr. Hans thinks he has the antidote to unruly chairmen -- something between the autocratic Geis approach and the fiefs created by past Democrats. About 40 top Democrats meet daily to discuss strategy -- and committee chairmen would be accountable to this group and the whole Democratic caucus. ``It's a team operation,'' Mr. Hans says. ``We've really pulled policy and message into the center.'' The Families First Agenda As evidence, Mr. Hans cites the Families First agenda, a Democratic version of the Contract With America but with far more modest aims: tax breaks for child care and job training, private health coverage for children, more policemen, a balanced budget. He says this will be his party's only agenda: ``It's been accepted by all parts of the party, and that's really what we're going to do. It's not a matter of committees doing anything they want.'' Or is it? ``I don't know what he's talking about,'' Mr. Atherton says. If Democrats can't keep the party in line, it will hurt Ms. Weatherspoon, who faced a fickle electorate as she campaigned door-to-door in a Flint suburb one recent day. Andria Bennie, a railroad worker who with his wife was repairing their roof, commented: ``I don't like what Congress is doing -- the conservatives are too harsh. I don't like the liberals, either. I like something in the middle.'' Ms. Weatherspoon handed him a pamphlet. ``I'm one of those moderate Democrats. I'm for common sense,'' she said. Unlike Ms. Weatherspoon, Mr. Atherton has little reason to take a moderate line. As he stood on the newspaper picket line one recent afternoon, motorists stopped to wave and gawk. ``He should stay the way he is -- he should do exactly what he's doing,'' Barbera Clayton, one voter, says. Mr. Atherton has been a major force in three decades of civil-rights legislation. He co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus, and, more recently, backed a taxpayer-funded national health-care program. His office proudly distributed a study showing him to be the most anti-Gingrich lawmaker in the House. ``I'm as passionate in my beliefs as Geis is in his,'' he says. Mr. Atherton -- who battled to get on the Judiciary Committee in 1965 and worked his way up the ranks ``like molasses in January'' -- has no interest in changing his message now that he is within reach of the top spot. Mr. Hans may want him to squelch unpopular legislation, but, Mr. Atherton says, ``I don't operate like that.''
