New york Times Editorial - A Republican rara avis
A Republican rara avis
The New York Times
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2006
A little over 10 years ago, an army of conservative Republicans led by Newt Gingrich and united by a political manifesto called the Contract With America swept into Washington. Among other things, they were determined to reverse a long and honorable tradition of bipartisan cooperation on laws protecting the country's air, water and wilderness. That most of these laws had been enacted under Richard Nixon was of no consequence to Gingrich and his acolytes, who divined (incorrectly, as it turned out) a strong public appetite for deregulation.
Two people played a major role in keeping the Gingrich forces at bay. One was President Bill Clinton, who had begun to grasp the political potential of environmental issues, and who was willing to veto bills that had provisions he did not like. The other was Sherwood Boehlert, a Republican member of the House from upstate New York who took it upon himself to organize an opposing army of moderate Republicans dedicated to the stewardship principles of Theodore Roosevelt. The moderate coalition grew to about 70 members - only one-third of the Republican majority in the House, but sufficient to forestall damaging rewrites of every important environmental law.
Six years later, Boehlert again found himself at war with his fellow Republicans - only this time he clashed with a president, a vice president and the ideologues and lobbyists they had installed in nearly every key environmental post. And this time (without Clinton's veto threats), Boehlert was less successful. He helped keep the oil drillers out of the Arctic refuge. But his brave band of moderates had shrunk, and he could not reverse Bush's rollback of rules protecting the national forests, persuade his colleagues to tackle global warming by improving fuel economy standards, or prevent new threats to the Endangered Species Act.
Approaching his 70th birthday, Boehlert announced on Friday that he would not run for re-election this autumn. Democrats were pleased, hoping to pick up a potential swing seat. But Boehlert's departure can never be cause for celebration. He has been an endangered species in his own right.
The New York Times
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2006
A little over 10 years ago, an army of conservative Republicans led by Newt Gingrich and united by a political manifesto called the Contract With America swept into Washington. Among other things, they were determined to reverse a long and honorable tradition of bipartisan cooperation on laws protecting the country's air, water and wilderness. That most of these laws had been enacted under Richard Nixon was of no consequence to Gingrich and his acolytes, who divined (incorrectly, as it turned out) a strong public appetite for deregulation.
Two people played a major role in keeping the Gingrich forces at bay. One was President Bill Clinton, who had begun to grasp the political potential of environmental issues, and who was willing to veto bills that had provisions he did not like. The other was Sherwood Boehlert, a Republican member of the House from upstate New York who took it upon himself to organize an opposing army of moderate Republicans dedicated to the stewardship principles of Theodore Roosevelt. The moderate coalition grew to about 70 members - only one-third of the Republican majority in the House, but sufficient to forestall damaging rewrites of every important environmental law.
Six years later, Boehlert again found himself at war with his fellow Republicans - only this time he clashed with a president, a vice president and the ideologues and lobbyists they had installed in nearly every key environmental post. And this time (without Clinton's veto threats), Boehlert was less successful. He helped keep the oil drillers out of the Arctic refuge. But his brave band of moderates had shrunk, and he could not reverse Bush's rollback of rules protecting the national forests, persuade his colleagues to tackle global warming by improving fuel economy standards, or prevent new threats to the Endangered Species Act.
Approaching his 70th birthday, Boehlert announced on Friday that he would not run for re-election this autumn. Democrats were pleased, hoping to pick up a potential swing seat. But Boehlert's departure can never be cause for celebration. He has been an endangered species in his own right.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 3:17 AM
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