Grab Bag

Some little observations from the day (tending toward a theme):

- A couple great quotes from Chris Shays, Republican congressman from Connecticut (and one of five who voted against the Schiavo bill early Monday morning). From his floor statement on the legislation: "Sanctity of life, sanctity of marriage, sanctity of an individual to decide for themselves what should happen to their own life, I find myself wondering why is there so much focus on this life when we ignore the countless lives throughout the world who die minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day from hunger and disease that this Congress could address and this Congress could prevent? Why only Terri when there are others like her in our country?"

And from the excellent Adam Nagourney piece in today's Times about how the weekend's Congressional action has divided Republicans in and out of government, "My party is demonstrating that they are for states' rights unless they don't like what states are doing. This couldn't be a more classic case of a state responsibility. This Republican Party of Lincoln has become a party of theocracy. There are going to be repercussions from this vote. There are a number of people who feel that the government is getting involved in their personal lives in a way that scares them." [emphasis mine] I couldn't agree more. Chris Shays is the kind of Republican who should be leading the party, not standing practically alone for its core principles.

- If you're a "West Wing" fan, you know by now that a moderate Republican (Sen. Arnold Vinick from CA) is going to be the GOP candidate in the upcoming campaign [fictional, sadly]. Vinick, played by the excellently-cast Alan Alda, was the main character in tonight's episode, which centered around the question of how he would deal with his pro-choice position on abortion and his lack of recent and regular church attendance. He was urged by a strategist to "stop using politics to divide this country", to "show us how much we agree, not how much we disagree" on issues like abortion. This is something that moderate candidates have been trying to do for years, and the position has even been expressed recently by Senator Clinton. It is good advice for any candidate out to secure moderate votes from across party lines, fictional or no.

Of course Vinick isn't going to get off easily. He feels he has to "try to unite the party" by finding a pro-life running mate. The first possibility, a former opponent and Falwell-esque demagogue, tells Vinick there's no way he could join a ticket with a pro-choice candidate, and then urges Vinick to come to his church and "pray with him." That opens the next can of worms, in which the presumptive nominee comes under fire from the media for not going to church. At the end of the show, in a very powerful statement to the press, Vinick offers up an excellent quote: "If you demand expressions of religious faith from politicians, you're just begging them to lie to you." He declines the invitation to his former rival's church, saying that it would be an act of "political phonyism," and says that over the course of the campaign, he'll be happy to take any questions about government, "but if you want answers about religion, go to church."

Sure is too bad he's fictional.

- Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) announced today that he will not run against moderate Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee next year. Chafee, the son of former senator John Chafee, will try for a second full term next fall. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, the son of Sen. Ted Kennedy, will now face intense pressure from Democrats in Rhode Island and Washington to make the race; Kennedy said he's not yet decided. The loss of Chafee would be a tremendous blow to moderate Republicanism nationwide, as he often provides crucial votes on important issues (as he did earlier this month on Bush's poorly-named 'Clear Skies' initiative).

Democrats would be much better off focusing their energies on Pennsylvania's Senate race, where state treasurer Bob Casey Jr. has a real shot in his race against ultra-conservative Rick Santorum. Casey is more conservative than national Democrats, just as Chafee is more liberal than national Republicans, and his victory would provide another centrist vote in the Senate (much needed these days). New RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman has said that keeping Santorum in the Senate is the Republican Party's number one priority for the '06 elections. I say, let's keep Chafee instead.