Dear Ms. Pelosi,
I want to say congratulations to a job well done by all. For the first time in a number of years, the Democrats--both the party and the voters--campaigned in a way that was coordinated and aggressive. You, Rahm Emanuel, Chuck Schumer, Howard Dean, the candidates who won, those who lost, the gubernatorial winners and losers, even the state representatives worked together more coherently than they ever had in the past.
Sure there were screaming matches and backbiting, but in the end, with the help of the Bush administration's hubris and incompetence and the Republican Congress's enabling of both, you managed to overcome an enormous number of obstacles: the mainstream media's pro-Republican spin in exchange for "access" to political elites, lobbyist dependence on and purchase of the Republicans, wealthy millionaires and billionaires acquisition of judgeships, state representatives, and federal offices, a President with a bully pulpit who--no matter how we feel about his competence as an administrator--knew how to use it during midterm election like few others, an opposing party that has for over a decade been better staying on message and had (and perhaps still has) a more sophisticated GOTV operation than the Democrats. You won as a result of luck, opportunity, and hard work. More power to you.
But where do you go from here? What change can you really effect? Our combative president's noises about bipartisanship are...well...noise. No doubt just as yours are.
I think we are all in agreement that the next two years will be one of gridlock--and to be honest, this is not a bad thing. Not until the next presidential election cycle. So there is time--time to keep building through the Democratic National Committee an ever better ground game for GOTV efforts, for developing new candidates, and for relaunching previous candidates who lost this election cycle but now stand a better chance the next time around because they have already gone through Hell and back again and now have the added bonus of campaigning experience, fundraising contacts, former volunteer staff to turn to for the next go around, and so much more. Don't lose sight of these folks. In fact, don't lost them at all.
So with gridlock on the agenda, what should Congressional Democrats do? Ms. Pelosi, if I may be so bold, let me offer a few suggestions:
1)Work with Gridlock: At a minimum, if Democrats can't win on legislative progress--which you won't get because Bush will veto any House initiatives. Any initiatives that you do propose will therefore be votes for the record, which in my view, is perfectly OK by me if your goal is to place Republicans in embarrassing situations in the next campaign cycle. Since I don't expect anything to get passed anyway, I say go for it. You have nothing to lose, but they do. Stem cell initiatives, minimum wage hikes, bankruptcy reform, medicare reform--doesn't matter. You may not get much done, but at least you keep getting them on record.
2) Win on Ethics: There is one area, Ms. Pelosi, where you don't need Senate or White House or Supreme Court approval, and that is cleaning your own house. Take a page from Connecticut's gubernatorial election. As insipid and unimaginative as she is, Republican Jodi Rell cleaned John DeStefano's clock--and mind you, I voted for the guy. But why? Why is she one of the most popular governors in the country? My own theory is that Connecticut was so traumatized by the Rowland administration's corruption that it was grateful to have a governor who, with no obligations to Rowland's cronies, was able to clean house and keep her own nose clean without consequences. Connecticut kept her out of a sense of relief: finally a governor with an ethical backbone, albeit an utter lack of vision. In time, we may pay for that, but for now, Connecticut is grateful to have a clean statehouse after the previous 12 years of cronyism. Feel free to do the same with the Congress. It is time to investigate the conflicts of interest in the Foley scandal; it is time to uncover government spending (especially earmarks) that have enriched Congressional representatives without their constituents knowing it; it is time to change necessary House rules on ethics so that there is no eviscerating investigations into these conflicts.
3) Show No Mercy: I realize you have to make bipartisan noises. I strongly recommend you keep making them. But I don't recommend you actually follow them. Republicans treated Democrats shoddily, especially under Tom DeLay's rule, and I see no reason not to return the favor. Your former colleagues "across the aisle" even changed Congressional rules in order to lock out Democrats from deliberations on policy issues. Please don't bother going soft and revamping those rules to restore some sort of level playing field. Remember that the playing field is still not equal for you with a reactionary President, Supreme Court, and MSM. No, you need to be merciless in exacting justice and rectifying wrongs done not to the Democrats but to the citizens of the United States. If the Republicans were foolish enough to set precedent by shutting out Democrats through bad behavior and Congressional regulation, then surely they must reap what they have sown. Indeed, it may well be that the Republicans have provided you with the tools and the rationale for saying something as simple as: "Republicans saw no need to consult Democrats when it came to considering the budget, Medicare policy, and other critical matters. We see no need to consult Republicans in our efforts to investigate conflicts of interest affecting both parties, curtailing and exposing inappropriate lobbying behavior, and having up-or-down votes to censure or expel violators."
. Only after you've cleaned house ought the spirit and practice of bipartisanship reign.
4) Unraveling the Imperial Presidency: I think we can all agree that this President is...well...out of control. There are so many things to investigate, where does one even start? Let me suggest the following. It will be difficult to investigate the President if you don't start cleaning house. Before the first investigation of this administration can start, you must first fix Congress, otherwise you simply will not have the moral standing to take on the presidency. Remember, too many voters still paint both parties with one brush--they're all corrupt. You have a chance to change that. We know this presidency is corrupt. You can convince the American people, however, that Congress is not. Once you have started investigating Congress, then you can take on the presidency. But, again, where to start? There are so many possibilities. Let me recommend just three because they are so gross in their obviousness:
a. Wartime Intelligence prior to the Iraq War: Who knew what and why wasn't the Congress and Senate fully informed of both sides of the debate before agreeing to this war of choice? Now is the time to give the skeptics from the very beginning a public voice.
b. Surveillance without Warrants: This was obviously illegal, and it may even be impeachable. However, I see no real benefit in going through an impeachment process, as much as I would like to see it happen. It seems to me that would just cloud the whole process of making the administration explain its behavior and hurting Republican policies over the long term, which is the ultimate goal.
c. Releasing Nuclear Secrets: If either of these issues seem too "faded" to merit investigation (since we know how fickle the public's attention is, generally speaking), at least you have a live issue here and now. In fact, the administration's decision to release nuclear bomb-making secrets on the Web because of pressure from right-wing special interests is a natural extension of the wartime intelligence investigation, so you may have a two-for-one deal right here.
Well, I'll stop here. You've been too kind to listen to a mere voter. Hopefully what I say has some merit. Or perhaps you already know all this. Or perhaps I am sadly misled about what can or cannot be done. On the other hand, I am a voter; you are an insider, and what I see from the outside in may be a bit more meaningful than what you think may be right looking from the inside out. Personally, I think this election has in essence delivered the message that I'm writing. I hope you and your Democratic colleagues think the same.
Yours,
ThinkTank