Gregg’s Bailout Negotiations Earn Him Bipartisan Kudos
GREGG
New Hampshire Union Leader
Jenny Paul
Boston University Washington News Service
10/9/08
WASHINGTON– New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg is not accustomed to the glare of the national spotlight. The third-term Republican usually flew under the radar of the national media until last month, when party leaders appointed him lead negotiator for the Senate Republicans on the $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan that went into effect last week.
That’s when Gregg began making the rounds of cable news talks shows and holding near-daily press conferences to promote the contentious plan, which underwent numerous revisions as lawmakers tried to assure its passage after its initial defeat in the House on Sept. 29.
Gregg said he felt obligated to “sell the ideas” in the bailout plan to counterbalance the “disinformation and hyperbole” he thought the public was hearing about the plan, which authorizes the federal government to use up to $700 billion in taxpayer money to purchase troubled mortgage-backed securities in an effort to free up the nation’s credit market.
“I’ve never tried to seek a lot of public attention,” he said. “I felt it was important for me to be aggressive in pointing out what was really happening here and how important it was to everyday Americans to get something done and to do it quickly.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he chose Gregg to be the party’s negotiator because he believed Gregg understood the financial and economic nuances involved in crafting the plan and would be able to stand up and represent the Republicans’ position in negotiations with Democratic leaders. He said Gregg also had the courage to stand firmly behind the bailout – even as members of Congress and everyday Americans questioned the plan.
“This was thought to be a pretty dicey issue politically, as you well know, and created a lot of heartburn among various members,” McConnell said.
Gregg’s work on the plan has earned him praise from not only his Republican cohorts, but also from his Democratic counterparts. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Gregg fought for Republicans on policy disputes during bailout negotiations but was constructive about accommodating other views to make sure the package would “make a difference for the country and have a chance of passing.”
Conrad, who chairs the Budget Committee, on which Gregg is the top Republican, said he thinks senators from both parties hold Gregg in high regard because he is always well-prepared and respectful during discussions.
“Judd is no shrinking violet,” Conrad said with a laugh. “He pushes very, very hard for his position, but he does it in a way that people respect. Some of our colleagues are aggressive, but they put everybody off. Judd is aggressive, but people respect him for it because it’s done in a respectful way.”
But the bipartisan back-patting hasn’t translated to New Hampshire, where some constituents have questioned the necessity of the plan or whether it was a wise use of taxpayer money. And Gregg could endure more fallout as the effects of the bailout plan become clearer. After the plan took effect, the stock market continued to bleed last week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping below 10,000 points Monday for the first time in four years.
University of New Hampshire political science professor Andrew Smith cautioned against trying to gauge constituents’ perception of the legislation because it is too soon to tell whether the bailout package will positively affect the economy.
“I think it’s way too soon to ask people whether they’re for it or against it, because I don’t think anyone is in a position to judge whether it’s effective,” said Smith, the director of the UNH Survey Center. “Nobody understands it. Nobody knows if it’s going to be effective. The people who wrote it don’t know if it’s going to be effective.”
Even as he pushed the plan to his colleagues in Congress and the American people, Gregg made it clear that the bailout wouldn’t be a quick fix, or even a long-term solution to the country’s economic woes. It only part of the solution – a tourniquet to stave off economic bleeding, he told the Union Leader Oct. 1.
“Even if we do act, we’re still going to be in a very slow economy, but it’s going to be something we can manage, hopefully,” he said before the plan passed.
Joel Maiola, who served as Gregg’s chief of staff until April, said he wasn’t surprised that Gregg supported the bailout even when it wasn’t politically prudent to do so.
“He has always taken positions that he feels strongly are the right positions for New Hampshire and the people he represents, and he’ll let the politics play out,” Maiola, who now runs a consulting firm in Concord, said. “He is more concerned with doing the right thing.”
Tom Rath, a Concord attorney and longtime friend of Gregg’s, said he thought Gregg tried to find common ground between Democrats and Republicans during the bailout negotiations. Although Gregg is a conservative Republican, he was able to work with members of both parties because he didn’t enter negotiations with the idea of scoring a partisan victory, Rath said.
“You can be partisan but still act in a nonpartisan way when the good of the country or the good of your state is at stake,” he said. “He’s had that almost from day one.”
Rath said Gregg’s respectful attitude helped him to create political capital with his Senate colleagues, especially the Democratic leadership, that he can use in the future to benefit his New Hampshire constituents.
“It’s been very visible the level of respect and admiration his colleagues have for him,” Rath said. “He has the ability to make sure that his concerns about New Hampshire are heard by any member of that body, and I think that’s a great thing for us.”
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