RogerRabbit
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Joined: 05 Sep 2004
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Location: Oregon
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 Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2005 7:43 pm Post subject: Conservative Democrats disappearing in party's once-solid So |
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http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/050423/democrats.shtml
| Quote: | By Jeffrey McMurray
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON — In consecutive days last month, Alabama lost two legends from a disappearing movement — Southern Democrats powerful in Washington because of their party's majority and powerful back home because of their tendency to buck it.
Look around Congress these days and you'll find few conservative Democrats in the mold of the late Sen. Howell Heflin or Rep. Tom Bevill. Those who remain are almost as likely to represent the Midwest or Great Plains as the once-solid South.
According to Congressional Observer Publications, only one current member of the U.S. House voted against his party at least a third of the time last year. That was Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota.
In 1998, there were 13 in that category — including eight Southerners — and three of them opposed Democratic leaders more than half the time.
"The Southern Democratic wing of the party has been dying since the 1960s," said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist. "It's not comatose. It's dead. It's buried."
Virtually all those maverick-more-than-not lawmakers have either joined the Republican Party or retired. Most dramatic of all was retired Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia, the keynote speaker at the 2004 Republican National Convention, who voted with President Bush's party a staggering 94 percent of the time last year.
Remaining Southern Democrats with the most conservative voting record would argue that the movement made famous by Heflin and Bevill and resurrected by Miller is alive and well. But even they acknowledge times are different.
For one thing, Republicans have ruled the chamber for more than a decade. Thus, some conservative Democrats in search of majority clout have found it through switching parties. Others scoff at the idea.
"I'd rather be in the minority the rest of my life than sell my convictions down the river," said Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark.
If Democrats really want to broaden their base in the South, Arkansas provides a perfect model. In 2000, the state's six-member congressional delegation was split — three Republicans and three Democrats. But Ross and Sen. Mark Pryor upset Republican incumbents, giving Democrats their current 5-to-1 majority from that state.
Arkansas and West Virginia are now the only Southern states where congressional delegations aren't dominated by Republicans.
Now in their ninth terms, John Tanner of Tennessee and Gene Taylor of Mississippi are two of the longest-serving conservative Democrats from Southern states. But by the numbers, even their voting records seem to be trending less conservative. Taylor bucked his party about 32 percent of the time last year, compared to 53 percent in 1998.
Tanner explains the change in his voting record, less dramatic than Taylor's, is because Democrats have heeded the wisdom of successful Southerners and moved to the right, particularly on financial matters.
"The party has shifted — I haven't," Tanner said. "You have liberals now talking about balancing the budget. They're not doing it for the same reasons I am, but the vote looks the same on paper."
One vote, however, will always separate conservative Democrats and Republicans: the vote for speaker. Many Southern Democrats complain their party hurts its chances of expanding their ranks in the South by electing more liberal leaders such as Nancy Pelosi of California.
Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., a leader among the new breed of conservative Democrats, challenged Pelosi for the party's top job in 2002. Despite that defeat, Ford says it's not the leaders who are the problem but the failure of Southern Democrats to adequately make the case that they're not in lockstep with those leaders.
"The national image of the Democratic Party does not sell well in the South," Ford said. "However, the position of national Democrats on fiscal matters, ironically, is more in line with where voters are. We have to do a better job of telling that story."
To do that, contends Rep. Bud Cramer, party leaders need to loosen the reins on Southern Democrats and allow them to vote their conscience.
"Sometimes I don't think my leadership gets it," said Cramer, D-Huntsville. "If they're to really stand the chance to take the House back, they've got to leave those members plenty of room to vote where their district is coming from rather than where the national party is coming from."
Cramer's Alabama colleague, Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, has nudged him for years to follow in his footsteps and switch parties. However, Cramer says he's not uncomfortable enough with his party right now to take that drastic leap. |
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