(From the diaries – promoted by James L.)
[First, a cheap plug for my blog Senate 2008 Guru: Following the Races.]
Chris Shays is miffed at the House GOP Leadership for somehow forgetting to reward the lone New England House Republican left standing:
And now [Rep. Shays is] threatening to not run again – he’s already a top Democratic target – if the House GOP leadership doesn’t make him the head Republican on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. If they do promise him the top spot but then renege in 2009, he says he’ll resign.
“I’m 61 years old. I’ve been in Congress 20 years,” Shays told the Hartford Courant. “If I have to fight to become chairman of a committee, given the job I’ve done, I need to move on.”
While I’m not at all surprised that the far-right-wing conservative GOP Leadership in both the House and Senate are not so quick to reward their less far-right-wing membership, I am shocked that more so-called “moderates” aren’t more vocal in demanding leadership roles, especially members in blue states whose seats would likely be an easy pick-up for Democrats if not for the current incumbents, like Shays. Eh. Oh well.
Race Tracker: CT-04
With the small margins that the Republicans enjoyed when they controlled the House, one would have thought that the moderates had some leverage, but Republicans have been ignoring the seniority of moderates for years without consequence.
When Don Young accepted the Chairmanship of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Jim Saxton ((NJ) should have been in line for his old chairmanship of the Resources Committee. He was passed over as not being conservative enough. His lifetime rating from the ADA was around 16 out of 100. Not a peep from the moderates.
Billy Tauzin (LA) received the chairmanship of Energy & Commerce as a bribe for changing parties. To accommodate Mike Oxley (OH), who had been in line, they appointed him Chairman of the Banking Committee, which was rechristened Financial Services. That meant dislodging moderate Marge Roukema (NJ). Not only was she denied the chairmanship when she had more seniority, they did not even let her keep her old subcommittee. This despite the fact that Marge Roukema never voted against any Republican tax cut in her entire life.
The closeness of their majorities during the 12 years that the Republicans controlled the House, means that anything that occurred during that period was with the sufferance or connivance of moderates. One reason that moderates such as Jim Leach (IA), Charlie Bass (NH), Nancy Johnson (CT) and Rob Simmons lost in 2006 was that their constituents got tired of their having no impact on the policies of the Republican Party.
Aren’t chairs done by seniority?
If so, which I think is true, then Shays must have switched what committee’s he’s been in if he isn’t over Davis. Seeing as he has been in the House longer. I’m guessing Davis will run for VA and this will be a non-issue in a month or so.