I have to admit to some surprise: After hearing for months about how great bipartisanship is and how important it is for the parties to put aside their squabbling and how great it would be if Republicans and Democrats would just cross the aisle to work together, I’ve yet to hear anyone publicly rejoice at the bipartisan spirit shown in the Senate yesterday.
After all, we had senators put aside petty partisan differences and work together to defeat a bill that the grassroots had opposed. I speak, of course, of the brave stance taken by Democrats Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Max Baucus (Mont.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), and Mark Begich (Ak.), who stepped across the aisle and joined Republicans in shooting down a meaningless bill that would do nothing to stop the scourge of school shootings.
These bipartisan warriors ignored the petulant footstampings of a liberal president who hails from a city where violence runs rampant despite its strict gun laws. Instead, they put the needs of their largely rural, mostly conservative constituents first. Were I one of these senators I would wear as a badge of honor that Barack Obama’s dark money advocacy group that has violated its pledge to renounce lobbying is planning on targeting them. It’d make great material for their reelection campaigns: "Hey, conservatives, you know who hates me? That weasel-looking loser Jim Messina."
Heitkamp et al understand that the lure of filthy lucre from the likes of media moguls means little in the face of outrage from a grassroots organization that counts some 4.5 million Americans as members. Mayor Michael Bloomberg might be able to buy his way into the hearts of New Yorkers. But the imperious little gun-grabber is unlikely to do the same in North Dakota. In states like North Dakota, the senators fear the people, not the leering disapproval of northeastern barons.
Strangely, though, we hear little praise for these champions of nonpartisan thinking. The media’s editorial pages did not proclaim it a happy day. There was no fanfare, no triumphal boasting about the parties setting aside their differences and coming together.
Instead, we get foot stamping from the Jonathan Chaits of the world, who mutter darkly that democracy simply doesn’t work. Instead, we get bloggers simply arguing from emotion, more content to cry "won’t someone please think of the children!" than suggest legislation that would, you know, actually prevent something like Sandy Hook from happening in the future. Instead, we have the auteurs of overrated HBO programs lamenting that senators want to get reelected. Instead, we have flights of fancy in which television hosts suggest the grassroots organization that helped send the bill to defeat are somehow responsible for blocking the FBI’s investigation into the Boston Marathon bombing.
Strange, that. It seems that only a certain type of bipartisanship is valued these days. Wonder why that is...