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Thank A Politician Today

Thank A Politician Today

WASHINGTON — It’s a mistake to be nostalgic for some golden age in politics when everyone was nice to each other. Such a time never existed.

Still, this is a particularly rotten moment to be an elected official, and especially a member of Congress, a body whose ratings are even lower than those of journalists. If you run for office these days, all your mistakes (and some you never made) are broadcast widely in some horrible TV spot.

So this Thanksgiving, let’s all express gratitude to our fellow Americans who dare to run for the House and Senate. By way of offering mine, I want to thank a few good people we’re losing to retirement or electoral defeat.

Progressives will miss Reps. George Miller and Henry Waxman, both California Democrats. I wrote about Miller when he announced his retirement at the beginning of the year, singling him out as a fearless liberal who’d fight the Republicans at every step, but also work with them happily if something useful could get done.

Waxman is one of the smartest members of Congress, and you never wanted to be at the wrong end of a Henry Waxman hearing. My colleague Harold Meyerson listed just some of the things Waxman bills accomplished: They made our air cleaner and our drinking water safer, put nutritional labeling on food, got medical care to people with AIDS and increased safety standards for food. Former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson called Waxman “tougher than a boiled owl,” probably not something you want to think about at your Thanksgiving table.

Miller and Waxman (like the late Ted Kennedy) spent their careers championing universal health care. So did Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA). It’s fitting that all of them got to help Obamacare pass.

During budget skirmishes, politicians found it easy to stand up for Medicare, but Rockefeller stood up for Medicaid, which isn’t as popular. He also tried to get a public option into the Affordable Care Act. Harkin is a wonderfully outspoken populist, and I particularly admire the message he sent when he ended his 1992 presidential campaign. A lifelong battler for the disabled whose brother is deaf, Harkin made his announcement at Gallaudet University, which is geared to deaf and hearing-impaired students — and started his speech in sign language. How many presidential candidates have made such a personal moment about people other than themselves?

Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) is one of the nicest people in Congress — that’s how they seem to make them in the Midwest — and is best known for the detailed tax reform proposal he offered earlier this year.

But I also owe Camp an apology. He has devoted a lot of energy to adoption and foster care reform. I wrote about a successful bipartisan bill in that area back in 1997 and mentioned the roles of Rockefeller and the late John Chafee (R-RI). Camp should have received credit, too, and being Catholic, I knew I’d feel guilty until I got that fact in print.

Candor demands that I note I was rooting for my friend and former Georgetown dean Judy Feder when she twice ran against Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA). I honor her public service, too, and still think she belongs in Congress. But I respect Wolf, who is retiring, for the exceptional work he has done on behalf of religious liberty around the world, and he was very early among politicians in seeing danger in the spread of gambling throughout the country.

A quick thanks to Rep. Thomas Petri (R-WI) for trying to remember his roots in the progressive Republicanism of the old Ripon Society; to Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) for her personal witness against the horrors of gun violence; to Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) for being brave and prophetic on the Iraq War in 2002; and to Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) for casting a courageous vote for background checks.

Thanks also to editors, who saved me from many stupid blunders in columns like this — particularly my friend James Hill, whose retirement means I will miss enormously enlightening, twice-a-week conversations.

These folks, and others I wish I could mention, no doubt identify with Teddy Roosevelt’s tribute to the person in the arena “whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.”

“If he fails,” TR told us, “at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

E.J. Dionne’s email address is ejdionne@washpost.com. Twitter: @EJDionne.

Photo: John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV via Flickr

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Hillary Clinton Returns To Iowa, Drops Hints About 2016 Intentions

Hillary Clinton Returns To Iowa, Drops Hints About 2016 Intentions

By Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times

INDIANOLA, Iowa — Hillary Rodham Clinton returned Sunday to Iowa for the first time since her devastating loss in the state’s 2008 presidential caucuses and dropped a few hints but nothing definite about her intentions regarding another run in 2016.

“I’m back,” the former secretary of State said as she greeted an audience of several thousand Democratic activists gathered on a sodden hot-air-balloon field outside Des Moines for the annual steak fry hosted by retiring U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin.

“It is true. I am thinking about it,” Clinton said, without saying exactly what she meant by “it.” The crowd knew, however, and roared.

“But for today, that is not why I’m here,” Clinton went on, as the audience groaned. “I’m here for the steak.”

When last seen in Iowa, Clinton had just finished a humiliating third in the caucuses, the kickoff event of the presidential nominating season; the debacle helped sink her front-running campaign.

This appearance, at which Clinton was accompanied by her husband, the former president, was her most overt political outing since she stepped down as secretary of State in early 2013. If her remarks were a preview of a presidential stump speech, her second White House bid will sound much like Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign.

The former first lady even used a line — championing hard-pressed Americans who “work hard and play by the rules” — that was a Bill Clinton signature. “We Democrats are for raising the minimum wage, equal pay, making college affordable, growing the economy to benefit everyone,” Hillary Clinton said.

She was careful to cant her statements toward the midterm election in November, endorsing Iowa’s Democratic ticket and urging the audience to take the contest as seriously as the next presidential race.

Each generation of Americans has done better than the one before, Clinton said, in remarks greeted politely but without terrific enthusiasm. “That’s what our country must be again,” she said. “That’s what this election is really about.”

In his speech, which clocked in just short of his wife’s 20-minute-plus remarks, the former president praised Harkin, spoke at length about his own accomplishments, and cast Republicans as standing in the way of the nation’s progress. “We’ve got to pull this country together to push this country forward,” Bill Clinton said.

Hillary Clinton’s appearance drew a small army of political journalists from around the world and an even larger contingent of Clinton supporters, rallying beneath the banner of “Ready for Hillary,” the name of a national group taking names, raising money and serving as a sort of campaign organization-in-waiting.

Although the day was supposed to be a tribute to Harkin, the Democrat who is stepping down after 40 years in Washington, it became, in effect, a gigantic pro-Clinton rally. Surrounding roads and the perimeter fence were papered with white-and-blue signs that said simply “Ready” — a message clearly understood by all in attendance.

For some, it was a reunion of sorts, albeit distant. Clair Celsi, a Clinton precinct captain in 2008, showed up in a T-shirt from that unsuccessful campaign, her chest plastered with Hillary stickers. Her hope, Celsi said, was that Clinton would look out on a sea of blue and fluorescent green “Ready” T-shirts and “take comfort knowing we’re more ready for her at the grass roots” than the last time she ran.

That said, Celsi cautioned that Clinton would need to conduct a different sort of Iowa campaign than the last, which suffered from a distinct whiff of entitlement. “She can’t swoop in again, D.C.-style,” Celsi said, noting voters here expect to meet presidential candidates up close and often.

There’s no choice, Celsi said. “After losing the last time she probably never wanted to come back to Iowa, but we’re still in the No. 1 spot. You have to play in Iowa.”

As if to answer Celsi’s criticism, Hillary Clinton spent a good half-hour after Sunday’s event shaking hands, taking pictures and signing placards for guests. She gave no further insight into her 2016 plans, but played along with those who urged her into the race.

“We’re so ready!” one fan told her.

“Thank you very much!” Clinton replied happily.

“Can I call you Madam President yet?” a man asked. “No,” Clinton replied good-naturedly. “No, no, no.”

Sunday’s cookout, on a field of brilliant emerald green, offered an Iowa restart of sorts, even if it was Clinton’s second steak fry — she spoke in 2007 — and her husband’s fourth. But she hinted the stop would not be her last.

“It’s really great to be back,” Clinton said in concluding her speech. “Let’s not let another seven years go by.”

Before speaking, the Clintons took their obligatory turns wrangling steaks as dozens of cameras recorded the moment and the couple ignored shouted questions from reporters behind a metal barricade: How’s it feel to be back in Iowa? Can she win this time, Mr. President?

Though bright, Hillary Clinton’s solo turn in the 2016 Iowa spotlight is likely to be brief.

On Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden is planning to visit Des Moines, where he is expected to address a group of nuns launching a cross-country voter-registration bus tour. Also Sunday, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a far-left independent who mainly votes with Democrats in Congress, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was contemplating a 2016 bid for president.

He also appeared in Iowa over the weekend, but his visit drew only a small fraction of the attention devoted to the Clintons.

Times staff writers Cathleen Decker and Maeve Reston contributed to this report.

AFP Photo/Thomas Samson

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Bill And Hillary Clinton To Headline Harkin’s Iowa Steak Fry

Bill And Hillary Clinton To Headline Harkin’s Iowa Steak Fry

By Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times

Returning to Iowa in grand fashion, Hillary Rodham Clinton will appear next month at Sen. Tom Harkin’s annual steak fry, accompanied by her husband in a double bill that will close out a decades-long Iowa tradition.

Harkin, who is retiring after 40 years in the Senate, has long used his giant barbecue outside Des Moines as a showcase and testing ground for Democratic presidential aspirants. The event typically draws thousands of party donors and activists from throughout the state, as well political reporters from across the country.

The Sept. 14 event will be Hillary Clinton’s first visit to Iowa since 2008, when she finished a dismal third in the caucuses that kicked off the year’s presidential balloting. The stop also represents her most overtly political appearance since the former secretary of state began edging toward a repeat run for the White House.

Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, has appeared at the steak fry four times. Hillary Clinton appeared once before, in 2007, in the company of then Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Joe Biden of Delaware, among other contestants in a crowded Democratic field.

“What started out nearly 40 years ago as a handful of interested Iowans sitting around on hay bales, discussing politics, has grown to be an iconic gathering,” Harkin said in a written statement announcing the Clintons’ appearance. “This year’s steak fry just might be the best ever.”

Following on this summer’s extensive national book tour, Hillary Clinton is expected to step up her political activities this fall, campaigning for Democratic candidates and causes ahead of November’s midterm elections. A public announcement of her intentions regarding 2016 is not expected for several more months.

AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski

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Iowa’s Harkin Says Fundraising, Lack Of Relationships Hurt Senate

Iowa’s Harkin Says Fundraising, Lack Of Relationships Hurt Senate

By Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times

DES MOINES, Iowa — There were 500 of the truest-believing Iowa Democrats outside the ballroom doors waiting to get in, but Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) had one more story to tell, even as an aide tugged his sleeve and admonished, “Tom, you’ve got a lot of people here that want to see you.”

Harkin is retiring from the U.S. Senate after 40 years in Washington and last Friday night he was inducted into the Iowa Democratic Hall of Fame, an honor he seemed to cherish no less for the fact that many — Republicans, conservatives, Tea Party faithful — would see the moment as no crowning achievement.

After the doors opened, and the plates of chicken and mashed potatoes were cleared away, Harkin served up the kind of carnivorous rhetoric — shots at the billionaire Koch brothers, jibes at the “Neanderthals and cave men” of the far right — that is typical partisan banquet fare.

Before the doors opened, though, as the empty ballroom swam in purple and lavender and little lights twinkled overhead, Harkin was in a more reflective mood. He looked back at the Washington he knew when he arrived in 1974 as a member of the House, and what the Senate has become since he was elected 10 years later.

He was loath, Harkin said during a long conversation, to lapse into a misty reverie on better days, the way some old fogy might. But, the 74-year-old Harkin said, things were better back when.

More than anything, more than argument or intellect, “legislation, good legislation, good things where you really work things out and reach good compromises, depend more on personal relationships,” Harkin said. “And those personal relationships have broken down in the U.S. Senate.”

Small point: There used to be a room on the first floor of the Capitol where senators would gather alone for lunch — no staff, no reporters — and Republicans and Democrats would sit together and talk and swap stories and become familiar with one another on a more personal level.

Those lunches are no more, due in part to the way the Senate now operates.

Lawmakers typically convene for a few “bed-check votes” on Monday night and wrap up their Capitol workweek before sundown Thursday. Lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays are now partisan affairs, Democrats and Republicans dining separately with their party colleagues. That leaves Wednesday. “But that’s the day you have a fundraising lunch,” Harkin said.

Like the old biblical injunction, he sees money at the root of much that ails Washington, the political culture in general and the Senate in particular. The truncated schedule, he said, is a function of the constant need to raise money for the ever-increasing cost of campaigning.

“Schlepping from here to New York to L.A. to Chicago to New Orleans to Miami to, my God, I don’t know where,” Harkin said. “Ten thousand here, 20,000 there, 15,000 there.” He noted each denomination with a rap of a gnarled knuckled on the black tablecloth in front of him. “Boy. I don’t miss that.”

His solution: get back to a lengthier workweek and end the Senate’s dilatory tactics, including most especially “the damned filibuster,” by allowing lawmakers to slow down but not kill legislation by talking it to death. In return, he would give the minority the unconditional right to offer as many germane, or specifically relevant, amendments as it wished.

And, he said, he would bring back those informal, bipartisan, members-only lunches.

“It created an atmosphere of conviviality and … we’d actually go out to people’s houses and have dinner. Hell,” he said, “that hasn’t happened in the last 20 years I’ve been in the Senate, 15 years maybe.”

Regrets? Harkin, who made an unsuccessful try for the White House in 1992, paused. “You can ask me that question sometime before the election,” he said after about 10 seconds. “I don’t know yet. I don’t know yet.”

Photo: Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights via Flickr

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