Moderates Find Breathing Room as Rift in GOP Grows More Visible
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17- New Hampshire’s Republican Rep. Charles Bass is at the center of a battle now raging over what direction Republicans in Washington should take, how much influence moderates within the party should have and just who should lead the House GOP as it heads into congressional elections next year.
Last week, Bass led two dozen moderate Republicans, including Jeb Bradley (R-N.H.), in an effort to prevent the exploration and drilling for oil and natural gas in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The measure was included in a deficit reduction bill that was stalled in the House.
But even after the drilling measure was removed, a vote on the bill was postponed for nearly a week because some moderates still opposed reductions in funding for other items like Medicaid and food stamps.
Bass was in the news again this week when he called for a clarification of the status of the House leadership. He said he considers the current arrangement to be “awkward.” and thinks new elections for House leaders should be held in January. Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) is serving as acting majority leader in the stead of Tom DeLay (R-Texas) who has at least temporarily stepped down because he is under investigation in Texas for money laundering but remains active in setting the party agenda.
“It is time to speak about these issues honestly and publicly,” Bass said in an interview with the Union Leader. “Not to criticize Roy Blunt; he has worked as hard as anybody. Tom DeLay has his issues with the Texas judiciary system. His problems should not be the main agenda item for the Republican Conference. It should be the agenda we want to pursue.”
Bass’ stance on Arctic drilling puts him in opposition not only to the GOP leadership and the White House, but also to his Senate counterparts Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and John Sununu (R-N.H.). Political analysts observe Bass’ newfound boldness to be evidence of a crack in the normally well-kept GOP façade. (See sidebar.)
Other New England Republicans like Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine) and Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut also have been vocal about more moderate positions on the budget and proposed tax cuts.
“The Republican apparatus in Washington has been highly disciplined,” said Sarah Sewall, a political scientist at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. “The combination of the leadership scandal with Tom DeLay and the larger political climate changing gives moderates a chance to be themselves without getting their heads chopped off.”
But New Hampshire Democrats see Bass’ latest efforts and those of other moderate Republicans as a ploy designed to distance themselves from GOP conservatives in time for next year’s midterm elections, according to state party chairwoman Kathy Sullivan.
Even though Bass is in his sixth term and won his last election with 58 percent of the vote, he still represents a vulnerable district that was carried in the past two presidential elections by Democrats Al Gore and John Kerry.
“This is about the fact that Congressman Bass is scared of plummeting Republican poll numbers, plain and simple,” Sullivan said in press release. “Sorry, Charlie. You dance with the one that brung ya, and you’ve been in Washington too long if you think New Hampshire voters are going to fall for this.”
Sewall acknowledged that President Bush’s growing unpopularity also may be a factor.
“We are seeing the kind of backpedaling and political distancing that accompanies an unpopular president when congressmen are going into an election cycle,” she said. “This creates the political space for moderates to regain a toehold in Congress.”
DeLay’s preoccupation with his own legal problems, which forced him to step down from the House leadership, also may have given moderates in the House more breathing room, according to Peter Roff of the conservative Free Enterprise Fund, since DeLay was known for maintaining tight control over House Republicans and their votes.
“Tom DeLay’s current status leaves something of a vacuum, and nature abhors a vacuum,” he said. “There are some fissures and issues that need to be worked out.”
Meanwhile, powerful conservative political action committees like the Club for Growth have been railing against moderates they have labeled R.I.N.O.s -Republicans in Name Only-and threatening to run conservative candidates against them in the primary elections.
“If these moderates get their way, they’re going to do enormous damage,” said Pat Toomey, chairman of the Club for Growth. “I think that Republicans will pay a price at the polls.”
Bass says he remains unmoved by threats from interest groups.
“I’m not here to worry about special-interest groups and their influence,” he said. “I’m here to make policy. I think this is good policy.”
But Toomey said that for the 2006 primaries, the Club for Growth may be shopping around for more conservative Republican candidates to challenge some moderates.
He did not say if Bass would be targeted, but he implied that group was unhappy with the congressman’s recent efforts and would have to examine the his record further.
“We have to look race by race for someone who is willing to run against some of these incumbents,” he said. “Right now, it appears that Charlie Bass is one of the problems.”
Earlier this week the organization decided to endorse Tim Walberg in the Michigan Republican primary over Rep. Joe Schwarz, who, along with Bass, is a member of the moderate Main Street Partnership and also worked to strip Arctic drilling from the budget bill.
Schwarz has never been endorsed by the Club for Growth, although Toomey said more challenges are sure to come for other moderates.
“This is the first,” he said, “But it wouldn’t be wise to say that it was the last.”
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