BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Rebecca Freitag
No strangers to controversy and news headlines this summer, the Republicans have once again put themselves front and center for their strange patterns of behavior.
Tuesday, long-time Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was the only Republican on the Judiciary Committee to vote in favor of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Similarly this morning, another long-time senator, Chuck Grassley (R-IA), defended his recent healthcare reform dedication to Americans and bipartisanship, not the Republican party. Colin Powell went so far as to chastize the party for its combative behavior of late.
While these old-school GOP members have been acting civil, the newer members of the party have been less than that.
Party youngsters, take notes.
Before his vote Tuesday, Graham tried to debunk recent Sotomayor "judicial activist" accusations that have been circulating through the GOP.
"I haven't seen this activism that we all dread and think she's got," Graham said. Even though he said that some things about her speeches "bugged" him and were "unnerving," he still endorsed Sotomayor saying she was "well-qualified," has "good character" and "votes in the mainstream."
There are a few theories circulating around the Internet about why Graham voted in favor of Sotomayor, namely the growing Latino constituency in his state and in the South in general. Graham's standing back home may be more dependent on votes such as this one than on party lines.
Grassley, who is also a member of the Judiciary Committee and who voted against Sotomayor Tuesday, had a different bone to pick with the Republican Party this week. He spoke out against the politicization of healthcare reform on NPR's "Morning Edition" with co-host Steve Inskeep.
"Sen. [Max] Baucus and I are trying to work in a bipartisan way to get something that meets the president's goals and something that bends the inflation index downward," Grassley said.
He continued by saying there is great progress made every day, and they're almost there, but "we think it oughta be done right."
In response to Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) saying that Grassley doesn't speak for him when it comes to healthcare, Grassley said he doesn't pretend to speak for anybody but himself.
"I've been conferring with Republicans... since January with task force meetings that the Republican caucuses had weekly so that they know what we're thinking about doing, but you really can't tell your colleagues what you've got until you have something, and that's what negotiation is all about," Grassley said.
Grassley also counseled his fellow Republicans to think "about what you're doing right for the country and not just what's right for your political party." In other words, Grassley implored Repulicans not to use the healthcare debate to hurt President Obama politically:
I think that anything that's politically motivated when you're dealing with the life or death situation of every American -- and that's what healthcare is all about -- and you're restructuring one-sixth of the economy, you ought to be thinking about what you're doing right for the country, and not just what's right for your political party.
Even Colin Powell got in on the bipartisan action, appearing on Larry King Live. He criticized the GOP for not standing up to Rush Limbaugh. "The problem I'm having with the [Republican] Party right now is that when he says something that I consider to be completely outrageous and I respond to it, I would like to see other members of the party do likewise, but they don't," said Powell.
It seems strange that established Republican figures are straying away from party lines and are showing baffling examples of bipartisanship. They traditionally don't move toward the center of the aisle, and they especially don't cross it. However, things have been changing lately. While some of the politically-established Republicans have drifted toward the middle on recent issues, the new guys have been sticking childishly to their party line, staying far away from bipartisanship.
Recently, RNC Chairman Michael Steele and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) said the healthcare bill is going to be Obama's "Waterloo"-- a chance for the Republican Party to "break" the president politically. Steele also said without hesitation that healthcare reform represented socialism when asked at a National Press Club conference, and that Obama is playing "Russian Roulette" with the economy.
"Mr. President, you are putting your party's entire big-government wish list on America's credit card," Steele said. "But that card comes with a bill. It is more debt our children will have to pay because this reckless administration has an unrestrainable urge to splurge."
Mr. Steele, you will put your party in jeopardy of extinction if you keep making such foolish (and corny) remarks about Democrats and the president.
The GOP's behavior this summer has been like a bad rash, and the grandfathers of the party can see that. The little boys of the party have not seen it yet, though, and it might be a long time until they do. It will take a miracle for them to win any 2012 elections if they don't grow up.
These conservative newbies should take a lesson from Graham, Grassley and Powell in these cases -- sometimes it's not all about party lines. There are American lives at stake and your constituents viewpoints are more important than the judgement of your colleagues.
Most candidates don't come into the game wanting to do what's right for the party; they want to do what's right for the people they serve. Some Republicans seem to have forgotten this sentiment, and it's about time they started thinking about what America needs, instead of what will make President Obama look bad.
BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
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