The Party Caucus
March 21, 2011 - by
Once years ago at one of Jesse Helms rallies a local Republican official – one of the old-line party stalwarts Jesse used to call ‘pachyderms’ – cornered Jesse and pointing his finger started upbraiding him for not toting the party line up in the Senate and not voting the way the Republican leaders wanted him to and saying, All this talk about principles is fine but you’re a Republican now and if you want to be a Republican you need to start practicing a little party loyalty.
Jesse’s eyebrows shot up – a sure sign of trouble – and he shot back, Well, which of my principles would you like me to compromise?
Up in Washington the party caucuses have become so powerful they’ve all but quashed that brand of independent minded conservatism but Congressman Walter Jones came along at a time when folks admired Congressman and Senators who thought for themselves and didn’t ‘tote the party line’ and he proved it last week twice.
First, he was one of 54 Republicans who stood up to John Boehner and Eric Cantor and voted ‘No’ to their plan to pass a ‘Continuing Resolution’ (which the House leadership hailed as a courageous spending cut but which in fact cut spending less than the interest on the debt over the next three weeks).
Then before the week was out Congressman Jones broke with the leadership again and voted – along with eight other Republicans – to pull our troops out of Afghanistan by December 31st of this year.
Last week certainly won’t help Walter Jones win any popularity contests among the Republican Establishment in Washington. Given the choice between kowtowing to his party leadership and going it alone he chose to go it alone and that may make Walter Jones a throwback to a time when conservatives admired men who put principle before party but it also makes him an example of the rarest kind of political courage – not to mention plain honesty – there is.
The Party Caucus
March 21, 2011/
Once years ago at one of Jesse Helms rallies a local Republican official – one of the old-line party stalwarts Jesse used to call ‘pachyderms’ – cornered Jesse and pointing his finger started upbraiding him for not toting the party line up in the Senate and not voting the way the Republican leaders wanted him to and saying, All this talk about principles is fine but you’re a Republican now and if you want to be a Republican you need to start practicing a little party loyalty.
Jesse’s eyebrows shot up – a sure sign of trouble – and he shot back, Well, which of my principles would you like me to compromise?
Up in Washington the party caucuses have become so powerful they’ve all but quashed that brand of independent minded conservatism but Congressman Walter Jones came along at a time when folks admired Congressman and Senators who thought for themselves and didn’t ‘tote the party line’ and he proved it last week twice.
First, he was one of 54 Republicans who stood up to John Boehner and Eric Cantor and voted ‘No’ to their plan to pass a ‘Continuing Resolution’ (which the House leadership hailed as a courageous spending cut but which in fact cut spending less than the interest on the debt over the next three weeks).
Then before the week was out Congressman Jones broke with the leadership again and voted – along with eight other Republicans – to pull our troops out of Afghanistan by December 31st of this year.
Last week certainly won’t help Walter Jones win any popularity contests among the Republican Establishment in Washington. Given the choice between kowtowing to his party leadership and going it alone he chose to go it alone and that may make Walter Jones a throwback to a time when conservatives admired men who put principle before party but it also makes him an example of the rarest kind of political courage – not to mention plain honesty – there is.