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OUR LAME DUCK SENATOR By Carl Lindemann (An edited version was published in the Portland (Maine) Press Herald on October 7, 2002.) Term limits continue to cripple the Maine State legislature’s ability to function effectively. This year, 7 Senators and 28 House Representatives are out regardless of their skill, accomplishments or commitment to serve the people of Maine. Worse could be coming. Though there’s no law on the books dictating term limits for our national representatives, we may soon have our first “lame duck” U.S. Senator. Six years ago, term limits were a defining issue in Maine’s U.S. Senate race. Sue Collins gained a decisive advantage over opponents with her vow, if elected, to serve a maximum of two terms. Now that the issue has faded away, Collin’s continuing commitment hasn’t been highlighted in the current campaign. It is commendable that she intends to keep her word. But, if re-elected, this has grave consequences for her ability to represent the people of Maine effectively. Term limits came into vogue as a rallying cry behind the so-called “Republican Revolution” in 1994. Newt Gingrich and his followers promoted term limits as a way to inoculate our national representatives from becoming “Washington insiders” and “career politicians”. The problem, they claimed, lay in the tremendous advantage incumbents enjoy over challengers. Getting re-elected was easy. Something had to be done to level the playing field for challengers. Why not do something to do away with incumbency altogether? Though advancing their issue helped unseat the Democratic majority in the House, it failed as legislation. In 1995, the Supreme Court found that laws passed to codify this rhetoric for congressional offices were unconstitutional. Unfortunately, this national political ploy spilled over into the states. Since the Maine term limits law took effect in November 1996, unintended consequences have turned the intent of the law upside-down. Rather than bring insider politics to heel, it has increased the influence of lobbyists. Public servants with the long-term perspective needed to check such special interest are ousted automatically. The public’s good intentions in supporting term limits have been perverted. Term limits poison Sue Collins for different reasons. She received an enormous political benefit from her personal pledge to what now must seem like an ill-considered, outdated fad. Unfortunately for her, keeping your word is not a matter of fashion. She must acknowledge her obligation to supporting term limits and affirm her vow. Of course, voters can’t really know her faithfulness unless she is re-elected and must demonstrate it. But taking her at her word now is far more problematic. It is hard enough for Collins to be taken seriously by her Republican colleagues. As a pro-choice candidate seeking to represent us as “Our Senator” she is fundamentally at odds with her party’s far right establishment. When President Bush took the stage with her in August to raise cash for her re-election, he had to be reminded just what her views were. He took them to be something of a joke. “She’s kind of an independent thinker, heh-heh,” he giggled. This is no joke to Maine voters considering the political realities of electing a short-timer to the U.S. Senate. What happens when the Republican Establishment knows that their problematic junior senator won’t ever attain seniority? Her views, as they deviate from the party line, are ignored. The entrenched far right Republican mainstream can laugh at their “independent thinker” certain they won’t have to tolerate her for long. In the end, “Our Senator” must vote the party line even though it is a far cry from the views she has been sent to represent. Collin’s outstanding debt for supporting term limits forces her into a no-win situation. She is a contemptible hypocrite if she violates her vow. If she does not, she is doomed to irrelevance. We all may lose given the importance of federal support to the state - sums that dwarf the dollars debated in the Maine legislature. We face the disastrous consequences of being saddled with a “lame duck” U.S. Senator. This catastrophic liability from Collin’s roots in the Gingrich Era is a haunting reminder that those married to the spirit of the times are quickly widowed. It may soon give cause for mourning to all Mainers. -END- *** |
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