Seething Democrats

Democratic House members recently promised that if they take charge of the chamber after the fall elections, they'll vigorously pursue committee investigations of Bush and his cronies.

Wrong strategy!!

Guess what: to win the fall elections, Democrats will need to attract independent voters in the middle, not vindictive Democrats. And those middle road voters--clearly fed up with W and frustrated with congressional Republicans--are interested in good government, problem solving and security, not vendettas.

To be sure, there's no question that Republicans in Congress during the Clinton administration abused their committee investigatory powers, doing their utmost to disrupt the executive function. But that doesn't mean Democrats have to sink to the same level; in any event, it's certainly not something Democrats should advertise.

Democrats could take a cue from former Wyoming Republican Senator Alan Simpson, who yesterday addressed the issue of declining civility in Congress (Simpson was supposed to address his Library of Congress audience on the topic of "Humor in Public Life", but he couldn't resist the opportunity to scold his former colleagues). "Those who say 'Don't get mad, get even' are sick in my mind. They're not productive legislators; you have to learn how to compromise on an issue without compromising yourself."

Simpson has a great descriptive word for the new generation of partisan haters in Congress: "Seethers".

The Republican party is full of seethers. They are egged on by right wing pundits, who seem to view seething as a way of life. (Simpson and others think the problem is the need to raise so much money for congressional campaigns, and proposes public financing to solve the problem; I'm dubious--right wing media has turned seething into an art.)

Democrats have a few isolated seethers of their own, but they generally aren't the party's leaders. In any event, Dems should resist the temptation to sink to that level as a party. The general public, especially middle roaders, finally seeing the price they pay for the Republican politics of seething, are clearly ready for a change.

One Republican who is not a seether is Rep. Tom Davis of suburban northern Virginia, who is pushing a bipartisan bill to give the District of Columbia a vote in Congress, in exchange for an additional House seat for ultra-red state Utah.

While Davis is optimistic, count on the Republican seethers to put a stop to this one. As one "House leadership aide" (i.e., a seether--remember criminal Michael Scanlon, former communications director for Tom DeLay: "This whole thing about not kicking someone when they are down is BS - Not only do you kick him - You kick him until he passes out - then beat him over the head with a baseball bat - then roll him up in an old rug - and throw him off a cliff into the pounding surf below!!!!!"--now that's seething!) put it in the Washington Post, Davis's bill has "not a shot whatsoever" as Davis is "doing his own thing here."

Democrats, seethe the day!