Senator Evan Bayh contemplates a pork chop -- and a challenge from the Left?
Jon Chait suggests primary challenges to keep moderate Democrats toeing the party line, coming up with a rather brutal analogy:The Washington Post recently described an anonymous party strategist as being "apoplectic" over liberal advertisements targeting wavering moderates. "These are friends of ours," the strategist groused. "I would much rather see a quiet call placed by Rahm Emanuel saying this isn't helpful. Instead, we try to decimate them?"May I suggest that "decimation" offers a useful metaphor here, though one that cuts against the strategist's point. When Roman soldiers fled in battle, their entire unit would be punished with decimation--every tenth soldier pulled out of line and bludgeoned to death by his colleagues.Dianne Feinstein would probably call this practice "not productive." But it sure seemed to work for the Romans.While Chait's strategy certainly has its good points, it might be better to consider the varying approaches to leadership pressure between the two congressional chambers before endorsing primary challenges, which as the GOP has shown and Chait concedes can be unpredictable. One of the big differences between leadership in the House and the Senate is that there is much more coordination between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and campaign committee chairman Chris Van Hollen, who also has a role in leadership. For instance, Van Hollen played a big part in the vote counting for the cap-and-trade bill, figuring how who needed the vote "no" to actually keep their seat and who was merely using vulnerability as an excuse to side with special interests, a key distinction Chait draws. These latter folks had their arms twisted to vote yes. Overall, this relationship allows for a very direct connection between where members vote and how much support their campaigns get. Meanwhile, in the Senate, DSCC Chair Bob Menendez doesn't have the leadership position or even the personal clout of his predecessor, Chuck Schumer, and it doesn't seem like Majority Leader Harry Reid has ever put sanctions on anyone for straying from the party agenda. From time to time you hear that Pelosi is angry at a member who voted the wrong way, and that she even has a list of enemies (she denies it). But you never hear about Reid getting angry at anyone. Senators are not as dependent on their leadership as Representatives are, but from watching Reid, you'd think they didn't need party resources at all. If Reid wants to be effective, he should remind Senators like Bayh and Blanche Lincoln that the interests of their constituents and their donors are remarkably divergent.
-- Tim Fernholz
