When a Politician Goes Too Far
April 15, 2013 - by
Republicans and Democrats over in the legislature have been battling hammer and tongs but, still, it raised eyebrows last week when the News & Observer reported Republicans have declared war on the cities.
House Speaker Thom Tillis explained the new conflagration philosophically, saying ‘Part of the conflict is due to a different world view of the role of government.’ Other legislators were blunter, saying ‘Cities are getting too big and too powerful’ and ‘Cities are too arrogant.’
The mayors (who’re mostly Democrats) tried to fight back but the legislators (who’re mostly Republicans) had them over a barrel: The General Assembly had the power – legally – so it rolled happily forward redrawing school board districts, rewriting local housing regulations, and taking the airport from Charlotte, the water system from Asheville and Dix Park from Raleigh.
But, a year from now, this war may take a turn that surprises the General Assembly: Years ago, when Jesse Helms first ran for Senate, most of the voters lived in small towns and rural crossroads not big enough to be called towns. But those days have long-since vanished. Cities are now the political dynamos and cities and suburbs decide elections and mayors (like Raleigh’s Mayor Nancy McFarlane) are popular – more popular than, say, a Republican legislator from Raleigh.
So what began as a legal fight may spiral into a political fight and, next election, if Mayor McFarlane decides to lead one of those independent Super PAC campaigns, Republican legislators in swing districts in Wake County could become casualties.
There’s also another more nuanced problem. Legislators changing government policies – like cutting spending or reforming the tax code – is one thing. But Republican legislators passing laws to weaken Democratic mayors is another thing entirely. Voters are pretty tolerant of politicians’ foibles and clay feet and hardly a soul believes anymore American Democracy is an exercise in selflessness or clean hands – but sometimes when a politician goes too far he runs afoul of a political current that runs bone-deep – then the wind changes and tolerance ends and a bedrock American spirit (that cannot abide a politician who grabs for too much power) breaks loose and wreaks havoc.
When a Politician Goes Too Far
April 15, 2013/
Republicans and Democrats over in the legislature have been battling hammer and tongs but, still, it raised eyebrows last week when the News & Observer reported Republicans have declared war on the cities.
House Speaker Thom Tillis explained the new conflagration philosophically, saying ‘Part of the conflict is due to a different world view of the role of government.’ Other legislators were blunter, saying ‘Cities are getting too big and too powerful’ and ‘Cities are too arrogant.’
The mayors (who’re mostly Democrats) tried to fight back but the legislators (who’re mostly Republicans) had them over a barrel: The General Assembly had the power – legally – so it rolled happily forward redrawing school board districts, rewriting local housing regulations, and taking the airport from Charlotte, the water system from Asheville and Dix Park from Raleigh.
But, a year from now, this war may take a turn that surprises the General Assembly: Years ago, when Jesse Helms first ran for Senate, most of the voters lived in small towns and rural crossroads not big enough to be called towns. But those days have long-since vanished. Cities are now the political dynamos and cities and suburbs decide elections and mayors (like Raleigh’s Mayor Nancy McFarlane) are popular – more popular than, say, a Republican legislator from Raleigh.
So what began as a legal fight may spiral into a political fight and, next election, if Mayor McFarlane decides to lead one of those independent Super PAC campaigns, Republican legislators in swing districts in Wake County could become casualties.
There’s also another more nuanced problem. Legislators changing government policies – like cutting spending or reforming the tax code – is one thing. But Republican legislators passing laws to weaken Democratic mayors is another thing entirely. Voters are pretty tolerant of politicians’ foibles and clay feet and hardly a soul believes anymore American Democracy is an exercise in selflessness or clean hands – but sometimes when a politician goes too far he runs afoul of a political current that runs bone-deep – then the wind changes and tolerance ends and a bedrock American spirit (that cannot abide a politician who grabs for too much power) breaks loose and wreaks havoc.