November 12, 2006 [LINK / comment]
As a matter of principle, Iowa Rep. Jim Leach refused to accept negative TV advertisements sponsored by the National Republican Congressional Committee and disavowed mailings from the state Republican Party that attacked his opponent David Loebsack. He stated, "Negative campaigning is a cancer on the body politic. We are all obligated to do better by being better." jimleach.com. He paid very dearly for this noble stand, however, losing his bid for reelection by a narrow 51%-49% margin. In politics, as in life, "no good deed goes unpunished." In Saturday's Washington Post (no permalink), Mark Shields paid tribute to Leach as a "class act caught in the landslide." As with the case of (defeated) Rep. Ann Northup in Kentucky, most voters paid more attention to the Iraq war and the questionable conduct of certain Republicans in Washington than to their own representatives. Unlike some other independent-minded Republicans (or former Republicans) such as Lincoln Chafee or Jim Jeffords, Leach was never a publicity hound. He simply spoke his mind and obeyed his conscience. It is an enormous pity that the Congress has lost a voice of moderation who resisted the forces of polarization.
This isn't very encouraging: Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi has written a letter in support of Rep. John Murtha for the position of Majority Leader in the 110th Congress. Steny Hoyer has been considered the favorite, closer to the mainstream, and the choice of outspoken war critic Murtha may suggest that Pelosi may be disregarding advice to hew toward the center as she takes the helm. Or it may be nothing more than a matter of personal friendships, since she did not explicitly urge her colleagues to vote for Murtha. See washingtonpost.com