With
the United States on the brink of default, Congress finally negotiated an end to
the 16-day government shutdown and agreed to raise the debt ceiling until
February. As the video of Rep. Grayson of Florida we watched in class
demonstrates, the shutdown debacle has left the American people thoroughly fed
up and frustrated with Congress. The situation has thrust members of Congress
into a pressing, uncomfortable position; they have been forced to mediate a
pronounced tension between their respective roles in the “two Congresses.” This
incident was one in which the legislative prerogative of partisanship directly
impacted the prerogative of MC’s as representatives of their constituencies.
Arguably,
members of the GOP will feel more compelled to alter the methods they use to
balance their dual roles. A pew poll released this past week indicates that the
tea party’s approval rating is spiraling downwards among Republican voters.
(Politico) Intense partisanship allowed the Tea Party fringe in Congress to
garner the support of the rest of the Republican Party, and partisan-voting
trends provided an impetus for the shutdown to occur. Given the current
animosity towards the Tea Party manifest in the American public and moderate
Republican voters, some MC’s from the GOP will try to demonstrate distance from
the Tea Party to their electoral constituencies.
It
is clear that over the past week, Mr. Frelinghuysen has made some moves to
appease his voters and to present himself as independent of the GOP’s Tea Party
faction. The most important and telling example of this was his vote on H.R.
2775 The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014. This is the piece of legislation
that effectively ended the shutdown and raised the debt ceiling. The bill
passed the House by a margin of 285-144. Obviously, it passed the Democratic
Party without opposition. The measure was able to pass the House because the
Republican Party voted 87-144 to end the shutdown. Frelinghuysen, in a
monumental shift from his usual tendency to vote along the majority line of the
GOP, was one of the 87 Republicans in the House to vote “Yea” on the measure.
(govtrack.us)
This vote seems to
indicate that he has allowed this pressure to end the shutdown to alter his
normative legislative stance. A group of demonstrators protested outside of his
regional office this past Tuesday, demanding an end to the shutdown and urging
Mr. Frelinghuysen to stop standing with the “radical element of his party” and
to “demand a vote from their speaker.” (Long Valley Patch) His weekly e-news
letter also reflects some PR tactics aimed to appease his constituents and
distance himself from the Tea Party fringe of the Republican Party. In a short,
three paragraph subsection of the newsletter titled “The Week Just Passed: Time
to Attack our Debt Crisis” used the term “bi-partisan” multiple times. This
arguably indicates that he is trying to impress on the public a sense that he involved
with the GOP’s radical right fringe, and will work across the aisle in effort
to improve our nation’s fiscal situation. (Frelinghuysen e-news letter
10/18/2013)
So, in so far as
one critical vote and a newsletter can be indicative of political strategy, it
seems that Frelinghuysen has caved to the public disdain for Congress, and
particularly the public animosity towards the Tea Party.
On a side note,
Rodney posted two tweets on Friday 10/18 mourning the passing of Rep. Bill
Young (R-FL 13). The first tweet read “deeply saddened by the loss of Chairman
Bill Young. Congress has lost a true leader and our Armed Forces have lost a
valuable partner.” The second read, “With the passing of Rep. Bill Young, our
troops and their families have lost of the best friends they ever had! We all
will miss him!” As I have mentioned in previous posts, Frelinghuysen has always
been a staunch supporter of veterans, and has in large measure staked his
reputation on being a true supporter of veteran causes. These tweets are
reflective of this priority and his prerogative to demonstrate his support for
veterans to the public.
Works Consulted:
5)
https://twitter.com/USRepRodney
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