More And More Republicans Are Running For The Exits-- Not For Reelection

I liked Deirdre Shesgreen's style at a USAToday piece this week, House Republicans are retiring in droves. What's pushing them out?. Great line to describe congressional Republicans in the Trump Era: "Forget running for re-election. House Republicans are running for the exits instead." [I wonder if Señor Trumpanzee thinks he can appoint Kushner-in-law to full all of those congressional seats. A congressional GOP staffer told me his knowledge of how the American government works has increased over the last year from that of a third grader to that of a fifth grader. "Paul," in reference to Speaker Ryan, "is tutoring him," he told me with a straight face.]

Not counting the Republicans forced out by scandal-- Tim Murphy (PA), Trent Franks (AZ), Blake Farenthold (TX) , Joe Barton (TX) and Pat Meehan (PA) and the ones who left for jobs in Trumpville or to take other jobs of run for senator-- Evan Jenkins (WV), Lou Barletta (PA), Jim Renacci (OH), Luke Messer (IN), Todd Rokita (IN), Martha McSally (AZ), Marsha Blackburn (TN) or governor-- Diane Black (TN), Steve Pearce (NM), Ron DeSantis (FL), Kristi Noem (SD), Raul Labrador(ID)-- there are 19 Republicans heading for the hills, including 9 committee chairs (asterisks):

• Trey Gowdy* (SC)
• Bill Shuster* (PA)
• Bob Goodlatte* (VA)
• Rodney Frelinghuysen* (NJ)
• Lamar Smith* (TX)
• Ed Royce* (CA)
• Gregg Harper* (MS)
• Jeb Hensarling* (TX)
• Sam Johnson* (TX)
• Charlie Dent (PA
• Darrell Issa (CA)
• Dave Reichert (WA)
• Dave Trott (MI)
• Lynn Jenkins (KS)
• Ted Poe (TX)
• Jim Bridenstine (OK)
• John Duncan (TN)
• Ileana Ros-Lehtnen (FL)
• Frank LoBiondo (NJ)

Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.



Shesgreen wrote that "all told, 41 Republican House members have said they will either retire or seek another office"-- almost 4 times the number of Democrats... and it's not all members who got caught screwing their staffers. "[N]ine are influential committee chairmen who, like Gowdy, are leaving with no scandal afoot. So what’s pushing these gavel-wielding lawmakers out the House door?"

A toxic stew of congressional dysfunction, perilous electoral prospects, term limits on committee chairmen and an increasingly rightward tilting party with a president widely seen as erratic at its helm.

“Washington’s not a very pleasant place for anybody,” said former representative Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican who retired in 2008 after 14 years in the House. “The polarization and all the gamesmanship” can be grinding, Davis said, and the rewards aren’t very sweet these days.

“The public hates you,” he said. “It doesn’t mean you don’t get re-elected, but you’re not getting great outcomes.”

Just look at Congress’ legislative plate right now: a spending standoff that threatens a second government shutdown in a matter of weeks, an explosive immigration debate with no clear solution and a presidential infrastructure proposal that appears dead on arrival.

Another helping, anyone?

“There is a time to come and a time to go,” Gowdy tweeted Wednesday. The former federal prosecutor said he wanted to leave politics and return to the justice system.

“Whatever skills I may have are better utilized in a courtroom than in Congress, and I enjoy our justice system more than our political system,” he said in a statement.

Gowdy’s announcement came on the heels of two others: Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Pat Meehan  said he would not run for re-election last week after news emerged that a former aide had accused him of sexual harassment. And on Monday, New Jersey Republican Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen announced that he would also retire rather than seek another term in November. Frelinghuysen last year became chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, once considered the most powerful perch in Congress.

But with earmarks banned-- making it nearly impossible to bring home pet projects or use the promise of them as leverage in negotiations-- and spending bills mired in the legislative mud, the committee has lost some of its luster. And Frelinghuysen’s decision was at least in part a nod to the electoral landscape.

Democrats are hoping to ride a wave of anti-Trump anger to regain the House majority in November. Frelinghuysen would have faced a tough re-election in his swing New Jersey district, where several Democrats were already lining up to challenge him.

The party that controls the White House generally loses seats in the midterm elections, and several nonpartisan political analysts believe that President Trump’s dismal approval ratings will be a significant added drag on Republican congressional candidates.

David Wasserman, a political analyst with the non-partisan Cook Political Report, said a wave election dissent may already be forming, giving lawmakers a heads up to get out of the way.

“In past cycles when the House has changed parities, members haven’t seen it coming until a couple months out,” Wasserman said. “The difference is now Republicans have a choice between filing for re-election or retiring or running for other office. And many of them are deciding that it’s not worth trying to ride this out.”

Even those in safe House seats aren’t sure they want to stay in office if it means being in the minority, Wasserman said. In the House, the minority has almost no power to influence legislation or set the agenda.

Davis agreed and said some Republicans have become “uncomfortable” with the party, as it has shifted rightward and now is led by Trump.

“This is not the party that they grew up with,” Davis said. “The Republican base had kind of rotated from the country club to the country.”

Jesse Hunt, a spokesman for the House Republican campaign committee, rejected the suggestion that Republicans were leaving because their party was about to be out of power.

“The vast majority of retirements are term-limited chairmen who hail from deeply Republican districts,” Hunt said. [Trump has made lying fashionable in the GOP. 9 is not the vast majority of 41.]

In the House, Republicans operate under rules that limit committee chairman to six years no matter how long they serve in Congress. Wasserman and others agree that dynamic is playing a role in driving even powerful and safely ensconced lawmakers out.

“Many members spend years in Congress climbing up the ranks to become a committee chair, but if you’re termed out after a couple cycles, you can suddenly find yourself with less power,” said Wasserman. “Upward mobility is essential to many members.”

Davis said that rule was imposed in the 1990s because committee chairman had become too powerful. But it inadvertently made congressional leaders too powerful, and the legislative process has suffered as a result.

Add the gridlock and partisanship, Davis said, and the job just isn’t appealing anymore.

“You wait, sitting around all day, waiting for the deal and then I vote yes or no. That’s it,” he said. “That’s why I left. You look at this and you say, 'Geez, what am I doing here?'"

Devin Nunes is not retiring. Neither is, for example, Matt Gaetz (R-FL), another unaccomplished crackpot. That's what we're going to be stuck with when all the mainstream conservatives leave: Nunes and Gaetz-- and that really will be the end of the United States of America. And Putin will have won... entirely. Right-wing former congressman, Joe Walsh (R-IL): "The Nunes I knew was a purely partisan animal. When it comes to exercising good judgment and discharging his duties in service of the Constitution, he’s just not up to the task... My former colleague doesn't seem to grasp what his job in Congress is." Jimmy Kimmel had a perspective on this last night, at least on the Nunes part.



I was in Germany visiting the Warner affiliate there. The greatest boxer in the country, Henry Maske, was retiring and Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman performed "Time To Say Goodbye" at his last fight. OK, the song went to #1 and started selling like hotcakes... but that doesn't even give you more than a clue about what happened. How about this? The biggest-selling song in the history of Belgium? Within 2 months of the match the song broke the all-time sales record in Germany and was eventually certified 11 times platinum. It quickly went to #1 in Switzerland, Austria, France and Ireland. Anyway, our German company offered it to me (free) for the U.S. I brought it back to Warner Bros and the promotion department and A&R department all gave it a thumbs down. I thought they were crazy, but they said Americans would never listen to something so strange-- foreign languages, opera... German boxer. I went on KSCA, a triple A station near my office (where Nicole Sandler was working), and did a guest slot for a couple of hours. I started the show with "Time To Say Goodbye." The rest of the show was people calling up and asking me to play it again, some of them tearfully. By the very end of the show they were still calling. I did play it at the end of the show. Here it is-- for Paul Ryan, who is trying to decide when he'll announce that he's headed for the hills as well. (Oh-- and my promotion department was technically correct. Another company put it out and had only moderate success with it, although Donna Summer covered stand it hit #1 on the dance charts. It was also used on Madagascar 3 and was sung on several episodes of America's Got Talent, several times on The Sopranos and once each on Sesame Street and The Simpsons. Also Mixed Martial Arts fighter Yoshihiro Akiyama uses the song as his entrance music.

Years later I was flying to Europe and some guy was singing behind me late at night when I was trying to sleep. I called the attendant over to shut him up. And, yes, it was Andrea Bocelli.

Looking Beyond Pelosi, Hoyer And Clyburn For A New Generation Of House Leaders

The video above was recorded one decade ago at the Teatro del Silenzio, in Lajatico, Tuscany, Andrea Bocelli's hometown. Pelosi had just become Speaker of the House here in America.

That was an angry and horrific comment Sunday under the post about how the clueless and dysfunctional DCCC-- and Pelosi in particular-- are mucking up Doug Applegate's race to defeat Darrell Issa in a district he nearly one in 2016. It was a real slam on Pelosi: "2 years ago I was on a Capital tour when the group was asked to 'make a hole' so that Pelosi could get from one side to the other... She was almost literally carried through by 2 male aides. She was babbling incoherently (what I heard of it, anyway) and looked and walked like Keith Richards on a 3-day bender... only not that good. And let me also opine that Pelosi may once have been an able rep for her SF district... but she could never have become the speaker nor the biggest fundraiser among the democraps if she wasn't utterly, completely, enthusiastically corrupt. She will be reviled by historians for that and her "impeachment is off the table" gamble that did win a presidency and a big house majority... for a short while. But leaving cheney in the presidency (yeah... I mean that) made us a nation of torturers and war criminals..." Harsh!

These are the ages of the top House leaders in each party:

REPUBLICANS

Paul Ryan, Speaker- 47
Kevin McCarthy, Majority Leader- 52
Steve Scalise, Majority Whip- 51

DEMOCRATS

Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader- 76
Steny Hoyer, Minority Whip- 77
Jim Clyburn, Assistant Minority Leader- 76

That's more than a 2 decade age disparity. Take it from someone in his 60s... it makes a difference-- bigly. Politico, of course, would rather focus on discontent inside the Democratic Party than the way all factions are pulling together behind Tom Perez's election as DNC Chair, but their story yesterday about the desire among activists and rank-and-file members of Congress for real change isn't unwarranted.

The party-officer elections here over the weekend turned into a mini-convention of up-and-coming politicians, activists, and operatives straining to envision the opening days of Donald Trump’s administration and Republican domination of Washington as a moment of Democratic revitalization, not reason to sink further into the party’s roiling existential crisis.

Quietly-- and pointedly refusing to attach their names to the musings-- they talk about starting to look past the all over-70-years-old leadership team of Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Jim Clyburn in the House of Representatives. Some hope, wistfully, the three will step aside before the 2018 midterms to help send a message and generate new ideas. And as much as they like the idea of Chuck Schumer’s expanded Senate leadership team, they can’t help noticing how few of the body’s younger rising stars are included. They’re tired of Capitol Hill denizens staking their claim as the only leaders in the party, particularly as Trump’s political upheaval continues to echo throughout their ranks.

“We have to prepare a farm team within Congress, in our states, in local races. I don’t know when we became the party only of people who have been there for decades,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the 46-year-old running for re-election who flew here to help nominate Perez and two other officer candidates. “We have to be aware of the energy that is all around us right now, not just on Facebook, but on our streets.

" ...Milling through the hallways of the Atlanta Westin Peachtree Plaza, the party operatives were far more blunt about the need for a broader change in direction.

“Absolutely, the fact that Nancy has held on forever and stifled a younger age group, it’s a thing, it’s absolutely a thing,” said one longtime state party official, pointing to the new crop of elected officials that includes four new vice chairs under the age of 50 as evidence that a new wave is coming. “That’s what you’re seeing here, it’s a new push."

“There’s been no movement for 10 years, maybe more,” he said. “It’s got people frustrated."

“Politics and time have a way of resolving a bunch of issues on their own,” added former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, advocating a turn to leaders with the luxury of years’ worth of work ahead of them.

The party’s three-day meeting here, accordingly, was a demonstration of the membership’s eagerness to move on, not only from an election cycle that saw a 68-year-old candidate defeat a 74-year-old candidate in their presidential primary-- only to lose to a 70-year-old Republican-- but from an entire era.

Donna Brazile, a veteran of Democratic fights from the 1990s and earlier-- and the party’s interim chairwoman until Perez took over on Saturday-- peppered the proceedings with reminders of how eager she was to get on with the election, insisting it’s time for a fresh face and perspective to take the reins.

And few of the party’s entrenched leaders showed up in Atlanta: none of the House or Senate leadership team came, and even hometown civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis, 77, was a no-show.

Instead, the weekend belonged to a younger crowd desperate to move beyond the doom and gloom and start talking about winning over new voters skeptical of the Democratic brand.

“Why am I here? Why am I here talking at you when you’re probably ready to vote by now? Because I am here to tell you that our party has an incredibly bright future,” said former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, 35, in his keynote address on Saturday. “I’m here to tell you that a nightmare that is a Trump presidency is just a speed bump on our journey to liberty and justice as a country."

One day earlier, the session’s main speaker was California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, 59-years-old but embarking on a new role as an anti-Trump warrior. The night before that saw Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, 43, widely regarded as a big part of the party’s future in the state, address the crowd.

Saturday’s election was punctuated by the exit from the race of South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 35, whose closing message-- to a crowd that included a crop of new party chairs from states like Washington, Iowa, Hawaii, and Nebraska, who have swept into power by replacing older rivals in the last few months-- was about the imperative of the party to move ahead.

It’s not that any of the crop of up-and-comers is secretly plotting to replace Pelosi and Co. anytime soon-- especially not after seeing Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan fail in that quest in December. Pelosi-- a major fundraiser and veteran of many midterm fights-- moved after that challenge to elevate younger faces within the House leadership structure.

No mention in Politico, of course, that many the younger people they reference-- Kander is a great example, as is Ryan-- are even more conservative and inadequate than the Pelosi era leaders. Age is a factor, not THE factor. Bernie's from the same era as the Pelosi crew but his ideas aren't. Yes, Bernie is nearly as old as Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn but his mind is more deft than any of them and his agenda is more in touch with the new century than all of them combined. Bernie is more than double the age of Jason Kander but Jason Kander's politics are based on a timid and outmoded conservative perspective that is what's gotten the Democratic Party into trouble. He could learn a lot from Bernie. Tim Ryan is at least as bad as Kander, if not worse. Even when Debenedetti and Dovere, the reporters, mention "ideas," the skip right over the whole concept, almost dismissively: "[M]any feel the imperative of facilitating the younger wind blowing through the party," they wrote. "It’s out with the old ideas that have seen the party sink to its lowest point in decades, and in with the new, even if those ideas aren’t yet fully formed." And-- boom, they were back to yammering about peoples' ages.

As for the DCCC, now that Steve Israel (age 58 but with ideas of a 158 year old) is finally gone-- he left Congress in a deal to avoid a criminal investigation-- the committee charged with electing Democrats to Congress has just decentralized a bit by electing 5 regional vice chairs:

• Joe Kennedy- 36
• Jared Polis- 41
• Ted Lieu- 47
• Don McEachin- 55
• Betty McCollum- 62

With the exception of McCollum, a sop to Pelosi, none of them are from the 1950s generation and they are all, to one degree or another somewhat progressive. Lieu is an independent-minded, free-thinking super progressive. Joe Kennedy is far more cautious and timid but has managed to accrue a 90.51 Progressive Punch crucial vote score. McCollum's is good as well-- 88.98. ProgressivePunch takes Polis a "D" but he's a mixed bag-- as good as anyone on social issues and a bit of a reactionary when it comes to bread and butter economic issues. McEachin is a freshman who joined the Progressive Caucus but hasn't taken enough votes yet to establish a discernible pattern. I need to learn more about him.

DWT and Blue America supported Keith Ellison for DNC chairman but we were concerned that his leadership in Congress would be hard to replace. Now's the time to look beyond the Pelosi era and start easing in a better crop of dedicated leaders, like Ellison. NOT like corrupt old school New Dems like Wasserman Schultz and Joe Crowley, the two who are working furiously-- backed by lobbyist scum and big donors-- to position themselves to take over. Who would we like to see move up the leadership ladder more rapidly? Based on proven leadership abilities, as well as policy vision:

• Keith Ellison
• Ted Lieu
• Pramila Jayapal
• Mark Pocan
• Barbara Lee
• Raul Grijalva
• Jamie Raskin
• Judy Chu
• Matt Cartwright
• Ruben Gallego

And ambitious conservative members essential to block from rising into top leadership: Wasserman Schultz, Joe Crowley, Jim Himes, Kyrsten Sinema, Seth Moulton, Denny Heck, Kathleen Rice, Cheri Bustos and Derek Kilmer.