Politics: The Departed

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Politics The Departed Three soon-to-be-former congressmen talk about how bad things have gotten. By David Weigel Posted Thursday, Dec 27, 2012, at 07:16 PM ET The next House of Representatives will contain 233 Republicans, 200 Democrats, and 80 freshmen. Redistricting, primaries, and retirements have culled a few centuries' worth of political experience. So in November and December, I talked to a few representative soon-to-be-former congressmen about what it's been like to serve in an institution 85 percent of Americans can't stand. Excerpts of their thoughts follow. Rep. Steven LaTourette was elected in the 1994 Republican wave, taking over a seat in the eastern suburbs of Cleveland. On paper, Democrats occasionally sketched theories of how he could be beat. But they never got close. LaTourette established himself as a pragmatic conservative and ally of John Boehner, there when the party needed him, and there to shame extremists when they blew up a compromise. Last week, after Boehner's conference refused to pass a fiscal cliff "Plan B," LaTourette told reporters that the "continued dumbing-down of the Republican Party" had done them in. He'd decided to retire months ago. The campaign against earmarks really started with Jeff Flake. He'd pick out the ones that had the funniest names, and force votes on them, before we could vote on spending bills. At the outset, he'd lose 300 or more votes, and the exercise seemed pretty much impotent. It never really got legs until the "Bridge to Nowhere," probably, in 2005. That became the symbol for earmarks. It became a symbol beyond a big amount of money going to a home state. It was ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate The Departed Why Is Cashmere More Expensive Than Other Kinds of Wool? The Top Stocks of 2012	Advertisement
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