Editorial: Departure of seismic magnitude

Friday, May 25, 2001 | 10:16 a.m.

Vermont Sen. James Jeffords' stunning decision to leave the Republican Party -- ending the GOP's control of the 50-50 divided Senate -- will have profound implications. While Republicans are in charge of the House, Democratic control of the Senate will make it that much harder for President Bush to get his conservative agenda enacted. For that matter, it is encouraging that some popular legislation that previously has been blocked by the Republican Senate leadership, such as a patient's bill of rights, now have a better chance of success.

Importantly for Nevadans, Jeffords' bolt from the GOP ranks also will mean Sen. Harry Reid will become assistant majority leader, giving him clout that no other U.S. senator from Nevada ever has had. Indeed, Reid spent several weeks consulting with Jeffords before he announced his decision Thursday. The Nevada Democrat was instrumental in getting Jeffords to leave his party, which was an agonizing decision. Reid made a significant concession to Jeffords, agreeing to forgo the chairmanship of the Environment and Public Works Committee so that Jeffords could have that key post instead. Reid's actions will earn him even more respect from his Democratic colleagues.

It's difficult to gauge this soon, though, how much this seismic transformation in party power -- and the role Reid played in it -- will benefit Nevadans on key issues now before Congress. The gaming industry currently is battling efforts to place a ban on college sports betting, but the issue largely has been bereft of partisanship. So Reid's elevation to the majority party may not be as essential in defeating this legislation -- although it can't hurt.

It certainly will help that the Senate's chief advocate of sending nuclear waste to Nevada -- Frank Murkowski, the Alaska Republican -- no longer will be chairman of the committee that has oversight of nuclear waste storage. Instead that chairmanship will be in the hands of Sen. Jeff Bingaman, the New Mexico Democrat who has opposed previous efforts by Murkowski that would make it easier to send this deadly waste to Nevada. In recent years, nuclear waste storage has become more partisan, but no one should feel a false sense of security from either Reid's elevation or Democratic control of the Senate. There still are plenty of Senate Democrats who share the views of many Republicans that the deadly waste should be buried in Nevada. But the bottom line is that it was the Republican leadership that has been aggressively trying to push this legislation throu gh at the behest of one of the party's influential backers, the nuclear power lobby. So Democratic control certainly is bet! ter on this issue.

So what lessons should be learned from Jeffords' departure?

For the president, who campaigned as a "uniter, not a divider," he should reassess his hard-edged conservative policies, which obviously are alienating the moderate wing of his party. For Senate Democrats, they obviously will want to move their agenda forward, but they need to be careful not to run roughshod over their Republican colleagues. After all, in the Senate it only takes 40 members to block legislation -- a point the Democrats know well themselves since they used this parliamentary maneuver at times to tie Republicans in knots. But South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle, who will be the new majority leader, has the even-tempered demeanor necessary to forge the required compromises to get legislation passed.

It is crucial now for the White House, the Senate and the House to work together on those issues where there is common ground, passing legislation that benefits the interests of all Americans. The reality is that a sizable portion of the public is moderate and looks down on excessive partisanship. The party that understands that notion will succeed.