Pennsylvania Avenue: Profiles in Backroom Power

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), July, 2008 by Raymond L. Fischer

PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE

Profiles in Backroom Power

BY JOHN HARWOOD AND GERALD F. SEIB

RANDOM HOUSE

2008, $26.00, 247 PAGES

Almost every important event in American history has "played out" in one way or another on Pennsylvania Avenue, the nation's most celebrated mile. Here, where the most important people in government have created moments of glory, they now confront fear, mistrust, and simple disagreement, thus producing confrontation and gridlock. Starling with Ronald Reagan's conservative sweep in 1980, followed by Newt Gingrich's revolution in the House of Representatives in 1994, and the Democratic comeback in 2006, the old establishment in Washington "has been pushed aside." Congress has become divided by party, ideology, money, and technology to the extent that work on Pennsylvania Avenue does not go well these days. Politicians have extreme difficulty getting things done in the nation's capital, as it is easier "to stop something from happening than to make something happen."

Power in Congress is so evenly divided that neither party has sufficient control to accomplish compromise or move beyond gridlock between the uniformly conservative Republicans and "unambiguously" liberal Democrats. In the past, conservative Southern democrats and liberal northeastern Republicans constituted within the political spectrum a strong middle from which to bridge the extremes. At present, maintain the authors, few politicians relate to "the center," and so gridlock grinds on.

Various changes have made compromise difficult. Thanks to the new media age, news oftentimes is "laced with opinions and attitudes." The explosion of cable-news outlets, radio talk shows, e-mall communications, blogs, and Intemet chat rooms have "fragmented" communications and produced more "insular" dialogues. The availability of niche media enables both parties to talk to only their own members and constituents. Moreover, close elections in 2000 and 2004 and war in Iraq have caused bitter divisions.

Many members of Congress who commute to their home states no longer meet and confer over dinner or cocktails, and spouses no longer meet socially. In the past, Washington had social affairs that brought rival politicians together. Such events have all but disappeared--closing the door on socially initiated compromises.

Expanded production of television news has fostered divisiveness. In the past, important Washingtonians watched the nightly newscasts between 6:30 and 7:30 on CBS, NBC, and ABC--their monopoly of mass communication made them the "most important megaphone" for every political leader. At present, cable-news outlets and Internet news sites largely have supplemented network news. Only a few years ago, 75% of TV viewers got their news from one of the three major networks--that number has decreased to 37%, Most political news outlets feed one party or the other, point out the authors, with news "to fit preconceived ideologies." Subsequently, successful politicians tend to rouse partisan passions rather than soothe them. According to Ken Duberstein, Pres. Reagan's former chief-of-staff, "If you say something moderate and reasonable, you do not get on the TV show."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The way things get done on Pennsylvania Avenue has been "turned upside down." Instead of working through the political center, presidential aides and legislative leaders attempt to win by organizing their own partisans. Primary underwriters of the increasing costs of party agendas and campaigns, lobbyists have created a brand of "new politics" that further divides the two parties. In the last eight years, the number of individuals registered to influence the Executive or Legislative branches has more then doubled to 34,000. The amount of companies establishing a presence in Washington has grown "exponentially," along with funds available to influence government. This "upheaval" has brought new faces and much more money to D.C.

Although it has been more difficult to get things done in Washington, some politicians, whom the authors call "backroom power brokers," have discovered the secret for action. They "make their voices heard" by finding ways to "break the traffic patterns" that cause the gridlock. The authors identify some of the movers and shakers who are "rarely seen [and] often unknown." Among those who "work the system," the book profiles 27, many of whom are lobbyists, former lobbyists, and lawyers; most have been in government in some capacity, and all have influential friends.

The book begins with a profile of Duberstein, who created "a new model for wielding influence" to provide "service-for-hire" from outside the government. He has become the new "all-purpose man." The book closes with a biography of Robert Strauss, the Democratic Party's national chairman in the 1970s. Then "the man to see," Strauss now runs a "wildly successful" law firm. He partners with Ken Mehlman, former Republican Party chairman. If these two can cooperate, why can't the rest of Washington do so as well?