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Assistant Leader and Whip
……But first:…The Speaker is the leader of the majority party in Congress. That will be Nancy Pelosi. She may have opposition. Tim Ryan, OH 13 age 45, may or may not have announced. There are reports that enough Members of Congress have signed on to oppose Pelosi in the January vote. Color me skeptical. Nancy Pelosi CA 08 age 78 will almost certainly be Speaker……The Speaker’s principal associate is the Majority Leader. Steny Hoyer, MD 05 age 79 is the only candidate. He is a long time friend and long time rival of Nancy Pelosi. Like Hoyer, Pelosi grew up in Maryland. Both were members of Maryland Senator Daniel Brewster’s staff in the early 1960s. They were already rivals then.
……What do we need from the Leadership?……Leaders who can maximize respect and minimize defections on votes. No easy task from a membership that ranges, in ideology, from the social conservative, pro-labor Dan Lipinski IL 03 (who successfully escaped a primary challenge from a progressive) to Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez NY 14 (who succeeded in defeating the moderate Chair of the Democratic caucus in a primary). Let’s look at these Leadership candidates with that quality in mind. And with one other characteristic. How old are these Leadership candidates are.
……Majority Whip — The third most important post…Jim Clyburn SC 06, 78 years old, was elected to Congress in 1992. He has been a central figure in South Carolina and among South Carolina African-Americans since 1968. In 1968, state police shot and killed three protesters on campus at South Carolina Sate and injured twenty four — protestors objected o being kept out of a local bowling alley because of their race. Those killings were a catalyst for increased political activity by African Americans. ……A graduate of South Carolina State College, a teacher in Charleston, Clyburn lost a run for the state General Assembly. He was appointed to the governor’s staff in 1971 (a first for an African-American) and was appointed the state’s human affairs commissioner.
……Clyburn left the position of human affairs commissioner in 1992 to run for Congress. He ran for a seat redistricted after a US Supreme Court decision. South Carolina redrew districts that had small minorities of African-Americans in each district so that one district had a majority of African Americans — Clyburn’s SC 06.
……Clyburn has had a few departures from mainstream progressive views. He was particularly strong in supporting health care. Generally considered pro-choice, he opposed so-called partial-birth abortions. Generally identified as pro-environment, he has supported the nuclear energy industry. He has also supported expanding South Carolina ports to welcome larger ships. He had a quarrel with Bill Clinton over Hillary Clinton’s loss in the 2008 South Carolina primary. Neutral in the primary, Bill Clinton took that as ingratitude. Clyburn acknowledged voting for Obama — asked how could he not?
……In the unlikely event that Nancy Pelosi does not get 218 votes, Jim Clyburn would run for Speaker. He would have lost to Hoyer in 2010 in a contest for Minority Whip when Democrats lost the House. Instead, the Assistant Leader position was created for him. There are more African-Americans in Congress now, a lot more non-whites in Congress now, and the Congressional Black Caucus would vote as a block in his support.
……At age 61, Diane DeGette CO 01, might be considered the leader of a middle-aged movement. Elected to replace Pat Schroeder in Congress. DeGette is admirable and impressive. She is co-chair of the pro-choice caucus and vice-chair of the LGBT equality caucus. She led the House effort to lift GW Bush’s ban on funding embryonic stem cell research. It passed the House and Senate only to be vetoed.. She cosponsored the successful effort to create a national Renewable Energy Standard. She cosponsored an effort to get Washington DC a voting representative. She supported Hillary Clinton in 2016. Admirable and impressive, she doesn’t make a case for removing Clyburn from his position as third most influential Democrat.…
…Assistant Leader — This job becomes what the elected makes of it.…Ben Ray Lujan NM 03 is celebrating, at age 46, a success. Head of the DCCC, he can lay claim for flipping a net of almost 40 Republican seats. At a time when new Members of Congress are in their twenties or thirties, Lujan can claim to be part of a youth movement. Son of a former Speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives and a cousin of Members of Congress who have graduated to bigger things. His Republican cousin was Secretary of the Interior. His Democratic cousin has just been elected Governor of New Mexico. Lujan is not exactly conventional. Before going to college, he took a gap year. As a black jack dealer.
……In Congress, Lujan has focused on renewable energy, advocated a public option for the Affordable Care Act, and sought an exit strategy from Afghanistan. He has supported Native Americans in various ways including increased funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. His biggest success is the number of Republican seats flipped during the 2018 mid-terms. He describes another success in the midterms. The number of minority voters more than doubled from the 2014 midterms. The black vote increased by more than 150%. The Hispanic vote by just under 175%. He looks like one more successful Lujan.
David Ciccilline RI 01 is a little older, but young by Congressional Leadership standards — 57. And from Rhode Island, where I am from. I prepped for this Note; read Wikipedia. It turns out, I knew his mother. Not well. Who would have thought that Sabra Peskin’s son would be a national political figure? ……Back to business. Cicilline touts his toughness as an asset, toughness honed as Mayor of Providence. He spent his tenure fighting with the firefighter’s union. His tenure as mayor was mixed. Growth and prosperity in previously prosperous areas; expansion of that prosperity elsewhere in the city. It took its toll. The next mayor complained the city was on the verge of bankruptcy.
……He has been a tough talking Congressman, too. Combative. He took on Tucker Carlson. He earned an F- from the NRA. He argues the need for an entirely new immigration law to replace a “broken” one. He has been a stronger opponent than most to various American military involvements. When he was sworn into Congress, he became the fourth openly gay Member. He might be entertaining. He is a kind of sentimental favorite for me. But abrasively combative is not what we want. Not what I want. The Democrats will oppose Trump and his lackeys more effectively with Lujan as Assistant Leader.
……Here is my ticket so far: …Speaker: Nancy Pelosi CA 08 age 78…Majority Leader: Steny Hoyer MD 05 age 79…Whip: Jim Clyburn SC 06 age 78…Assistant Maj Leader Ben Ray Lujan NM 03 age 46
…Next Note: Caucus Chair and Vice Chair; then DCCC Chairs and DPCC Co-Chairs.……It doesn’t happen often. Constituents rarely contact Members of Congress about Leadership races. Do it. Tell your Member of Congress who you support for Leadership positions. Find your Representative’s web site. Call an office and let him or her know what you think. Send an email. Even a letter.
……Before we stop, there is one more election. Mississippi. For the Senate. Give Mike Espy money. (You might think about helping people with recounts, too — Senator Bill Nelson in Florida and Georgia Gubernatorial Candidate Stacy Abrams. It looks like Andrew Gillium, Florida Gubernatorial Candidate will not be able to proceed to a hand recount.)……The election is in Mississippi. The contest between Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mike Espy is a special. Senator Thad Cochran retired due to illness. Hyde-Smith, the Mississippi Secretary of Agriculture, was appointed by the governor in his place. Because this is a special election, on election day, voters chose among three candidates. The tea party Republican state senator who almost beat Cochran in 2016 came in third.
……Mike Espy was in a virtual tie with the incumbent. He had been the first African-American Member of Congress from Mississippi since Reconstruction. Appointed Secretary of Agriculture by Bill Clinton, he was indicted in what could be taken as another false accusation of an African-American. He resigned, was acquitted on all charges (although separately one company that attempted to influence him was convicted of bribery), and he returned to the private practice of law. Inspired by Doug Jones success in putting together a coalition of African-Americans and suburbanites to be elected Senator from Alabama, Espy and his allies (which might even include Cochran) saw an opportunity.
……This is an opportunity. Compare Mississippi and Alabama. In Mississippi, African-Americans are 38% of the vote or more. In Alabama, they are only 28% or slightly more. Alabama has cities with suburbs — Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile. Mississippi only has Jackson.
……Doug Jones, a white lawyer, prosecutor, and hero of the Civil Rights movement had an opponent who was a hero of the extreme right. Jones’ opponent also had an inappropriate interest in teenage girls. The black vote got out for Jones. He made inroads into the suburbs.
……In the first round in Mississippi, Hyde-Smith and Espy were in a virtual tie at 41% of the vote. Hyde-Smith appeared to be the less extreme opponent. Less extreme because she changed from Democrat to Republican only in 2008. Maybe not less extreme since she is the only Senator to have voted with Trump on 100% of her votes.
……She has done Espy one favor. Asked to attend a function, she responded that she would attend a public hanging if she were asked. She offers no apology in response to a public outcry. No state lynched more blacks than Mississippi. Her statement might ensure that African-Americans get out and vote in the run off. Her statement plus Estypounding away at the possibility of losing health care creates a chance.
……Espy’s chances are slim. They are slimmer if he does not have the resources to close out the campaign. The election in November 27. Send Mike Espy https://espyforsenate.com/some money.
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