Election
Leaves N.E.
Feeling Very
Blue
By
Evan Lehmann
The Sun, Lowell,
Mass.
Nov.
19--WASHINGTON
-- U.S. Sen.
Lincoln Chafee
moved quietly
through the
Capitol on
Thursday for one
of the last
times, accepting
condolences and
grappling with
his Election Day
defeat.
Chafee, a
moderate
Republican from
Rhode Island who
questioned the
war in Iraq
before the
invasion and who
still clashes
with the White
House on
conservative
appointees, is a
measurement of
New England's
transition away
from a
transforming
Republican
Party.
"We're in danger
of the
Republican Party
losing balance,"
Chafee said
outside the
Senate chamber
navigated by his
father, John
Chafee, until
his death in
1999. "Hopefully
the pendulum
will swing back
and the party
agenda won't
have such an
edge to it."
That
conservative
edge prompted
New England
voters to purge
Republican
lawmakers from
Congress two
weeks ago,
leaving just one
GOP House member
in the six-state
region. Election
Day marked the
near-completion
of a
decades-long
transition that
experts believe
will soon
extinguish
Republican
politicians in
the Northeast.
When Republicans
swept into power
in 1994, the
party was at its
highest point in
40 years. In New
England,
Republicans were
still the
minority, but
were able to
defend a
smattering of
House seats in
New Hampshire,
Connecticut,
Maine and
Massachusetts.
There also were
six GOP
senators.
Twelve years
later, there are
seven fewer
Republicans from
the region in
Congress. U.S.
Rep. Christopher
Shays of
Connecticut is
the only
representative
to survive the
latest
elections. The
four Republican
senators in New
Hampshire and
Maine will
likely be
replaced by
Democrats in the
future, experts
predict.
"New England has
basically
declared its
independence
from this
present
incarnation of
the Republican
Party," said
Garrison Nelson,
a political
science
professor at the
University of
Vermont. "New
England is now
far and away the
bluest region in
the nation."
The Republican
Party began to
shift under
President Ronald
Reagan, building
support among
social
conservatives in
the South and
reflecting the
values of its
new base rather
than its
traditional
fiscal platform.
Controversial
proposals such
as
constitutional
amendments
against flag
burning and gay
marriage, and
legislation
aimed at eroding
abortion rights
are now pursued
aggressively.
Flag burning is
"a wedge issue
and it hurts
us," Chafee
said.
Those issues
left centrist
Republicans --
those most
likely to rebuff
the party's new
priorities --
vulnerable to
voters who don't
like the party's
reshaped
outlook.
President Bush's
unpopularity and
the Iraq war
compounded the
Republican
dilemma this
year.
"People in the
Northeast just
don't see the
Republican Party
speaking to
their needs and
values anymore,"
said Eric Davis,
a political
science
professor at
Middlebury
College in
Vermont.
The party's
change was
exemplified, he
recalled, when
Vermont Sen.
James Jeffords,
a lifelong
moderate
Republican,
described his
reasons for
becoming an
independent in
2001.
"He said he
didn't change;
the national
party changed,"
Davis said.
Aside from
Chafee,
moderates such
as Connecticut
Reps.
Nancy Johnson
and Rob Simmons
were defeated in
this year's
landmark
elections that
handed control
of the House and
Senate to
Democrats.
New Hampshire
Reps. Charles
Bass and Jeb
Bradley, both
Republicans,
also were
ousted, a sweep
in the Granite
State's House
races.
"To have only
one member in
all of New
England is a sad
commentary for
our party,"
Shays said in an
interview. It's
"simply not
enough," he
added.
"We have to
remind
Republicans that
to be a relevant
party you need
your candidate
to represent the
constituency
that exists in
that area," he
added. "I
represent a very
moderate
district."
The influence
wielded by
Democrats -- and
in turn, New
England -- will
be vaulted to
prominence in
January when
they take
control of both
chambers.
Democrats will
assume powerful
committee
chairmanships,
from which
agendas are made
and legislation
steered.
But several
Republicans said
a balanced mix
of lawmakers in
the region would
ensure continued
influence in
Washington, a
city that sees
regular power
shifts between
the parties.
"It's a smart
region that has
both (parties)
who will do the
best in the
future," said
Peter Blute of
Worcester, one
of the Bay
State's last
Republican
congressmen.
"Depending on
what happens,
(one-party rule)
can leave you
out in the
cold."
Chafee offered a
similar argument
for having both
parties on
Capitol Hill:
"It's covering
your bets."
That view was
dismissed by
prominent
Democrats,
emboldened by
their electoral
victories this
month.
"I think we're
going to pick up
(seats) in other
parts of the
country as
well," Sen.
Edward Kennedy,
D-Mass., said
outside the
Capitol. "I
think we're on
the right path,
talking about
working
families, their
interests, their
hopes, their
dreams."
Kennedy, who
will chair the
Health,
Education, Labor
and Pension
Committee,
expects to
quickly raise
the minimum wage
and cut interest
rates on student
loans early next
year.
Sen. Patrick
Leahy, a Vermont
Democrat who
will control the
Judiciary
Committee,
expressed
concern that
moderate
Republicans are
losing seats in
Congress.
"I come from a
state where more
people identify
themselves as
Republicans or
independents,"
he said. "The
Northeast has
been the last
bastion of
moderate
Republicans."
But their
absence won't
diminish the
region's ability
to pass
legislation,
send federal
funding back
home and
generally flex
New England's
muscle in
Congress, he
said.
Leahy said
influence in the
Senate is gained
by developing
personal
relationships
between members,
including those
in the other
party.
Kennedy and Rep.
Marty Meehan,
D-Lowell, both
said their
relationships
with New England
Republicans are
beneficial,
members who
could one day be
replaced by
Democrats.
"I have always
reached across
the aisle and
found
Republicans I
can work with on
major issues
that are
important to the
country, and
will continue to
do so in the
next Congress,"
Meehan said in a
statement.
Shays, who
partnered with
Meehan to pass
the sweeping
campaign-finance
reform law that
vaulted them
both into the
national
spotlight, said
the landmark
legislation
would "never
have passed"
without a
bipartisan
effort.
"It's not a
healthy thing
for Democrats to
be the only
party," Shays
said. "The
competitive
process makes
the parties more
responsive. If
they don't have
to worry about
losing an
election or
worry about if
someone is
looking at what
they're doing,
they tend to be
lethargic, not
as sharp, and
tend not to do
as good a job."
But with the
Republican Party
focused on
pleasing its
southern
constituents,
Shays
acknowledged the
difficulty in
re-establishing
a beachhead in
the Northeast.
Asked how it
might be done,
Shays admitted,
"I honestly
don't know."
