Nov 30, 2005

Congressional Hypocrisy

by Cliopatria

It turns out that Congresswoman Jean Schmidt's infamous attack on John Murtha was only her second address on the House floor. Norman Ornstein in yesterday's Roll Call has an excerpt from her maiden House speech, from 9/6:

This House has much work to do. On that we can all agree. We will not always agree on the details of that work. Honorable people can certainly agree to disagree. However, here today I accept a second oath. I pledge to walk in the shoes of my colleagues and refrain from name-calling or the questioning of character. It is easy to quickly sink to the lowest form of political debate. Harsh words often lead to headlines, but walking this path is not a victimless crime. This great House pays the price.

It's worth remembering that Schmidt is a fluke member of Congress. In a four-way GOP primary for a special election occasioned by Rob Portman's resignation, the top two candidates killed each other with negative ads, and Schmidt prevailed by (remarkably) casting herself as the more moderate of the remaining two choices.

Given that she was able to beat a Dem dream candidate, Paul Hackett, it's hard to see her losing in a general election--this is an overwhelmingly Republican district. But if I were an ambitious Republican in Cincinatti, a primary challenge would be awfully tempting.

More Comments:

Greg James Robinson - 12/4/2005

I apologize if this was out of bounds. It was meant in a spirit of fun, given the context of talking about political gamesmanship, not as a put-down of a piece I said I liked or of my CLIOPATRIA colleague.

Ralph E. Luker - 12/3/2005

Greg, Isn't noting typos a little snippy among colleagues? I usually send an e-mail to the person suggesting that they correct them. In this case, I forgot to do it.

Greg James Robinson - 12/3/2005

Very interesting post, which reveals just how ready Schmidt is to ingratiate herself with the President or the Republican leadership, at any price. Of course, I suspect that if you were an ambitious Republican out to topple Schmidt, you would make sure you spelled "Cincinnati" correctly.