Bass, the Moderate

By William Aubin | Saturday, December 8, 2007

By William Aubin

Tuesday, November 13, former New Hampshire Congressman Charlie Bass ’74 discussed with students and faculty the need for reform in order to salvage both congressional efficacy and the strength of the Republican Party. Elected as part of the rising “Contract with America” tide in 1994 and ousted during the Iraq War fatigue of 2006, Congressman Bass gave the group gathered in the 1930 room a unique insight into what it means to be a moderate Republican in the polarized modern political climate, and what he believes needs to be done to bring stability and progress back to American government. A member of the Tuesday Group when in office, Congressman Bass had interesting ideas on the connection between reform and centrist positions.

Bass focused on his personal experiences and the workings of the House of Representatives. He remarked that the small margins between the two major political parties have not been the impetus for compromise, but rather fierce partisan separation and animosity. It has become the pattern that a party has the greatest success when they are in the noticeable minority, as Republicans are now, because parties with large congressional majorities unfailingly splinter.

Bass believes that the problems of Congress derive from the structure of the body itself, and from the system of electing representatives. Because the House leadership is not historically strong compared to that in the Senate, with its limited privileges, the power in the House of Representatives is borne of seniority. The more elections won, the better a representative’s position on committees and the more weight they and their party have on the bodies that determine the process of legislation. The desire to remain in power and loopholes in redistricting rules have allowed the twin threats of gerrymandering and partisanship to render the body and the party Mr. Bass worked with for twelve years to lapse into almost total impotence.

The congressman went on to explain the solution that he believes would put Congress back on respectable footing, and force representatives to tie their names to real compromises in order to be reelected. His universal redistricting model is one in which redistricting cannot be engineered in order to separate voter bases, and therefore can end the trend of incumbents being elected 98% of the time in the House of Representatives. Because by his own admission there are at most 50 moderates in favor of this reform in each party at the federal level, Bass declared that the change would have to come from at the state level. Bass seemed optimistic that steps have indeed been made in several states that could produce strict census-based redistricting in coming years. He viewed the troubles Republican Tom Delay encountered with the Texas legislature as a good sign of progress to come.

At this juncture Bass began to explain the issues on which he disagrees with the official Republican Party platform. He opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in general believes that the term “conservative” ought to extend to more aggressive conservation of natural resources. He is pro-choice and believes that the Republican Party has gone far astray by championing an invasive social agenda. Bass would not endorse a candidate for the Republican nomination, but did declare Rep. Ron Paul to be “a nut,” Rep. Tom Tancredo “crazy,” and mentioned pointedly that Rudy Giuliani was the only candidate that believed in limiting the federal government’s role on social issues, telling those attending to “draw [their] own conclusions.”

The advertised message of the event, what it means to be a moderate Republican, could only leave any who considered themselves such disheartened. Congressman Bass was treading in familiar waters with calls for transparency of legislative earmarks, reform from the system of “politics as usual”, and the problems inherent in a highly polarized political climate. The problem is that politicians like the decidedly un-moderate John Edwards call for the same things routinely as part of the “common man” campaign approach, and voters tend to side with the candidate who tells them they do not have to choose between ideology and reform over the anti-corruption candidate.

Congressman Bass told his audience that it is far harder to get funding for moderate causes than for controversial ones as explanation for the historical failings of centrist agendas, yet failed to make a compelling connection between concession of values and reform. The votes and stances that Congressman Bass has made were doubtlessly true to his values, something he strongly feels no politician should compromise. However, he did not explain how his suggestion that the party move to the center and attract independents has any more to do with reform than the plans of the crazies, nuts, and John Edwards. What may have satisfied the conscience of one reform-minded Republican does not necessarily translate into a pattern the party must follow to survive any more than a rejection of corruption translates into a rejection of partisanship.

Bass, the Moderate

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