Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

POLITICS:

After divisive election cycle, GOP shows unity in D.C.

Election 2010 - Republican Party

Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun

Joe Heck speaks at the Republican’s election night party early Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at the Venetian.

Like incoming high-schoolers deciding which lunch table to eat at, many Republican freshmen came to Congress for orientation last week wondering if they’d have to choose which crowd to get in with — the GOP establishment or the Tea Party.

But after a week in town, they all appear to be part of one big clique.

Although Democrats were unable to keep party divisions under wraps, the elected Republican caucus — in the House at least — sailed through its first week in Washington with nary a blip of discord, maintaining a completely unified front as it voted unanimously for leaders and certain policy platforms, such as a ban on earmark spending in the coming Congress.

That unity — and the comparative discord among Democrats and their disappearing Blue Dogs — suggests that the Tea Party may not have to expend so much strength storming into Washington as it thought it would have to in the short term. And as Congress creeps toward 2012, it’s not clear that the GOP will remain steeped in a Tea Party embrace.

It’s no secret that Democrats are looking toward rebuilding their popularity with centrist, independent voters in 2012 as a way of regaining their lost majority in the House, and clinging onto their primacy in the Senate and White House. But for Republicans, it’s bit trickier matter, as the wave of Tea Party support that brought many of them into town may not be a good predictor of what the independent wave will be in two years — especially if the economy improves.

Tea Partyers certainly have not counted themselves out. For a while, it appeared the beginning of orientation week would be characterized by a philosophical tug-of-war, when the Tea Party Patriots organization launched a public campaign against the Claremont Institute — a policy center with deep D.C. roots — for scheduling an orientation reception directly opposite Tea Party Patriots-sponsored events, teaching congressmen-elect to uphold the Constitution and fight the establishment.

“Do you want the first event your incoming freshman congressmen attend to be an event hosted by the grass-roots local coordinators of Tea Party Patriots and the congressmen and senators who are willing to support them in their drive to restore the U.S. Constitution?” organizers wrote. “Or would you rather they attend an indoctrination organized by D.C. insiders and lobbyists, members of the ruling class?”

For the most part, that tension stayed below the surface last week.

“The Tea Party group may represent the conservative wing of the Republican Party by and large, but what you have, really, is a coalition of conservatives and very-conservatives,” University of California at San Diego political science professor Gary Jacobson said. “There may be division on small things, but there are only a couple of moderates left in the party — and virtually none in the House. You’ve got a party that’s not all that rived.”

Instead, it was Democrats who appeared unable to keep their differences from boiling to the surface, in a leadership vote where some moderates staged a minirevolt against Nancy Pelosi’s bid to remain party leader.

“This point shouldn’t be lost — Democrats didn’t choose for Democrats to run the Congress and Republicans didn’t choose for Republicans to run the Congress,” said Mike Ross, a conservative Democrat from Arkansas and new co-chairman of the Blue Dog caucus. “It was the independents each time.”

Independents definitely swung toward Republicans in the last election cycle. But that doesn’t mean all independents are Tea Partyers — despite how activists for the latter have tried to champion their movement as an embodiment of the independent spirit.

For his part, Rep.-elect Joe Heck of Nevada attended neither the Tea Party function nor the Claremont sessions — he was interviewing candidates for staff positions at the time, according to a spokeswoman. That didn’t prevent several constituents from phoning and e-mailing the congressman-elect in his first week not-yet-on-the-job, warning him to stick to his promise to change.

But Heck may be freer than most to avoid the tidal pressures and labels of insider versus outsider. As one of only three freshmen elected to serve on the influential House GOP Steering Committee, he’s got a ticket to the inside — so he doesn’t have to claw his way in.

If the appointment pulls Heck too far into the establishment though, he could potentially face the consequences when he stands for re-election in two years.

“That’s how the senior folks buy their institutional support,” UNLV political scientist David Damore said. “They throw around money and positions.”

The Steering Committee is made up of 38 freshmen, senior and leadership lawmakers, who as a body, call the shots on who gets assigned to what functions, staffing committees, promoting on the basis of seniority, and seating chairs. It’s a prime forum for getting noticed as a doer, and for being groomed, eventually, for leadership.

For now, the appointment means Heck is going to be spending a lot of time in Washington after Thanksgiving — and that as the 111th Congress transitions to the 112th, he’s likely to be lobbied not just by watchdog constituents, but by other lawmakers for a favorable vote.

The first signs of where Heck’s allegiances lie may be revealed in how he casts those votes — although Heck says he’s not anticipating being swayed by ideologies; he’s just going “to pick the best man for the job.”

“I just really don’t think that influence is going to be a problem for him,” said former Nevada Republican Rep. Jon Porter, who, until two years ago, held the seat Heck will occupy next Congress. Porter said it was much better for Nevada that Heck make an early bid to play within the constitutional confines of the congressional system to his best advantage, than to make a point of refusing to participate on principle. “He’s a very independent guy. And the more people you know, the more you can get accomplished.”

Jon Porter

Jon Porter

But even if Heck is able to withstand competing pressures to fall in line with leadership or the anti-establishment sway, the Tea Party versus insider debate may not play out immediately anyway for the 40 or so new Republican congressmen with Tea Party ties.

“There were moderate Republicans in the class of 1995, yet on almost all of the first dozen or so votes, especially the votes on the Contract With America, Republicans were almost unanimous,” UCLA political science professor Timothy Groseclose said.

Heck says his allegiances are to Nevada first, although he has yet to firmly define what that means on issues such as his stance on a Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump, which previous Nevada Republican representatives have broken with their party to unequivocally oppose.

The peculiar swing nature of Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District — and the impending creation of a fourth district for the state — also help to leave the question of where Heck’s political and ideological allegiances should lie unresolved.

In Nevada, the Tea Party juggernaut was stronger than in most states, partially carrying Heck’s support and bringing Sharron Angle within striking distance of Harry Reid’s long-held Senate seat.

But Nevada Republicans tried to downplay the infighting. Political consultant Ryan Erwin, who helped Heck’s campaign, said the freshmen are too busy hiring staff and learning the ropes to bother fretting about political pull.

“It’s interesting. If you Google Joe, you find bloggers calling him a Tea Party darling and people calling him a moderate,” Erwin said. “He’s not going to get wrapped up in one side versus the other. Joe Heck is his own man and will remain that way.”

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy