A pliable boom

Spectator, The, Jun 2, 2001 by Steyn, Mark

That the least surprising self-outing since George Michael declared he was gay should cause such havoc is principally the fault of Republican leaders going back 15 years. Not for the first time, the GOP's Senate backslappers called it wrong, and the fellows on the ground got it right. On 24 April 1984, the Republican Town Caucus of Kirby, Vt (population 347) unanimously adopted the following resolution:

`Whereas Congressman James M. Jeffords has compiled a voting record of the sort one would expect from a fellow who can't pour maple sap out of a boot, even with the instructions printed on the heel,' they began, `therefore be it resolved by the Kirby Town Caucus that the true Republicans of this town would cross hell on a rotten rail before they would vote for him again.'

But clubby Washington knew better. In 1988, when Congressman Jeffords decided to run for the Senate, Bob Dole and stiffnecked Mormon Orrin Hatch endorsed him in the primary, even though it was already clear that, whatever his other charms, Jeffords was no Republican, and never would be. And, as no incumbent senator has ever been defeated in Vermont, that's all the more reason for not giving the seat to an obvious time bomb. LBJ used to say of J. Edgar Hoover and others that it was better to have them inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in. But the Senate Republicans let Jeffords in the tent and he still wound up pissing all over them. Last year the GOP establishment assured disgusted party volunteers that no matter how offensive Jim's votes were - he voted with Clinton 80 per cent of the time - the only vote that mattered was the one he cast to keep the Republicans in the Senate leadership. In the last of many disservices to the Vermont GOP, Jeffords last week nullified that vote, too. 'A POLITICIAN WITH A CONSCIENCE,' read one sign in Burlington. `HONOR IS NOT DEAD,' said another. A vain pliable boob who repudiated even his last residual pledge to his party for the most frivolous reasons is hailed as a giant of political integrity. God help us if that's true.

The Republicans are now deep in recriminations over `Who lost Jeffords?' But the real question is: `Who cares?' As Lott, Hatch et al. have demonstrated, the GOP isn't cut out to run the Senate so it's for the best they no longer have to pretend they can. We'll see how deftly Tom Daschle manages the transition from Senate Obstruction Leader to Senate Majority Leader. Bush now has someone to blame, which could work for him in next year's elections. And, even if it doesn't, after all the billions they blew trying to keep Jeffords nominally in line over the years, surely even those dopey Republican Senate big shots must have learned an important lesson about letting the Trojan horse hang around to become one of the biggest nags in the stable.