Opinion piece on Republican party unity and Anthony Weiner scandal

OPINIONS. Monday, July 29, 2013 Luring elephants into big tent Republican national chairman Reince C. Priebus could take a lesson from history in his efforts to herd his fellow elephants into a big tent. Nobody did a better job of coaxing feuding Republicans to cooperate than Ray C. Bliss, the Akron, Ohio, insurance man who chaired the national committee from 1965 to 1969. His success is worth remembering. When Bliss became chairman in 1965, the Republicans. were in much worse shape than in 2013: President Lyndon Johnson had won a Jand- slide re-election over Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, and the Democrats held large majorities in both houses of Congress and the statehouses. The party was deeply divided between “moder- ates,” such as New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller; and “conservatives,” like Goldwater. The latter appeared to bless strident voices when he famously proclaimed; “Let me remind you that extremism in defénse of liberty is no vice. And let me remind . you also that moderation i in pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Although best known as a “nuts-and-bolts” party mechanic, Bliss used a two-step approach to address these ideological rifts. The first step was to challenge voices that made Republicans look extreme to voters. On Nov. 5, 1965, he issued _n even-handed critique of “radicals” on the leftand night, singling out a stamchly anti-communist firebrand Robert Welch: “One of my major concems in the matter of extrem- ism of the radical right is that honest, patriotic andcon- scientious conservatives may be misjudged because of itesponsible radicals such as Robert Welch, who has accused President Eisenhower of being 4 ‘dedicated, conscious agent of the Communist conspiracy.” “We've got to get this (party) in the middle of the road,” Bliss explained, “Eisenhower and his people have takenenough.” ‘There was a sharp badkdash, One letter writer called Bliss “sneaky” and fisther: “You recently asked all Republicans to get out of the William Hershey & John C. Green strongest and most effective anti-Communist orpaniza- tion in the United States. I question your motives.” Bliss wasn’t bothered by the criticism. “I don’t have the fixation I have all the answers,” he told reporters, “everything is compromise.” His second step was leading Republicans to com- mon ground. The means was the Republican Coordinating Committee. Its members were a cross-section of the party: Eisenhower and four former presidential candidates — Goldwater, Richard Nixon, Alfred Landon and Thomas Dewey —~ as well as gover- nors, members of Congress, state legislators, and party leaders. Eisenhower was a key to the committee’s work. “He backed me up in the earlyd ys of my chair- manship,” Bliss reported, “He had the respect of all factions.” The method was face-to-face dialogue. “You don’t say anything nasty, at least not pub- ticly, about somebody you're going to dinner with tonight,” Bliss said. The committee eventually produced 48 policy proposals, offering an alternative to President Johnson’s “Great Society” program. In the end, Bliss got the results he wanted: the GOP made a huge comeback in the 1966 elections, and in 1968, it won back the White House. Of course, 2013 is not 1965, Mitt Romney i is no Barry Goldwater, nor is the party division identical. Andthe GOP may lack an Eisenhower to rally around. Still, Chairman Priebus could take a lesson from Chairman Bliss’ success in herding the elephants into a big tent. — William Hershey is a former Knight-Ridder Washington corres pondent and Columbus bureau chief Jor the Alron Beacon Journal and Dayton Daily News. John Green is director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Alvon. A Nau SURVEY SUSGESTS ARE LIVING IN A\NORLD com VENISIGN, cea ih ts THAT 172 OF AMERICANS: | tee ‘iM if i)" The Virgin Islands Daily News 31 ‘Time to hard-delete Carlos Danger When you puzzle over why the ele- gant Huma Abedin ‘is propping up the eel-like Anthony Weiner, you must remember one thing: Huma was raised in Saudi Arabia, where women are treated worse by men than anywhere else on the planet. , Comparatively speaking, the pol from Queens probably seems like a prince. Even though he’s a punk. After he got caught sexting and flashing women online in 2011, he promised to “never, ever” do that to his family again and slouched away from Congress..He cyber-creeped other young women in a. pervy bout of tweet du seigneur as his wife traveled the world with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state. Yet, while married to the claSsy, gor-- geous mother of his infant son-and planning a redemptive run for mayor, he told a Facebook friend and phone- sex partner he had never met that he “loved her. Then he told her to “hard- delete” all their correspondence — if that is what you call it. Aside from his zany Zorro-like nom de pom, Carlos Danger, Weiner h s been called many things. His‘digital girlfriend and fellow extreme exhibitionist, Sydney Leathers (whose n me sounds like anom de porn), said that Weiner described him- selfto her accurately as “an argumenta- tive, perpetually homy middle-aged map.” : But Weiner’s Goyaesque grotesquerie eams him another name: the “Rosemary’s Baby” of the Clintons. Bill nd Hillary Clinton transf ormed the way we look at sex scandals. They plowed through the: ridicule, refused to slink away in'shame like Gary Hart, said it was old news, and argued that if Hillary "didn’t object, why should voters? Poppy Bush thought Amerigans would reject Bill Clinton ii 1992 because of his lascivious ways, but he learned that vot- efs are more concerned with how their ‘<own lives will be changed than they are with politicians’ duplicitous private lives. Americans keep moving the marker of cceptable behavior, partly as a reflection of the coarsening of society and partly as a public acknowledgment that many pols with complicated personal lives have been good public servants. Now, defining deviancy downward, Seiior and Seiiora Danger are using the Cimton playbook. The difference is, there’s nothing i in Weiner’s public life that is redeeming. In 12 years in Congress, he m naged to get only one minor bill passed, on behalf ofa donor, and he doesn’t werk well with people. He knows how to be loud on cable and wave his Zorro sword in our faces Some sex scandals, like Mark Sanford’s, fall into the realm of flawed human nature, nd some, like Weiner’s, . fall into the realm of “Seriously, what is Py Maureen Dowd wrong with you?” Huma gained renown, movie star suit- ors and a Vogue spread as the stylish Muslim Garbo silently and efficiently parting the waves for Hillary. She had to be resilient to work her way up from intern to consigliere in ‘tough Hillaryworld, and she saw firsthand how the Clintons beat back foes. They love Huma, but the Clintons, now showcasing philanthropy and public service preparatory to Hillary’s 2016 run, are not happy about getting dragged into the lewd spectacle that is a low-budget movie version of their masterpiece. The former president is distancing himself, one associate said, noting, “He’s not getting anywhere near that grenade.” Huma’s friends are “slappmg-my-fore- head astounded,” as one put it, that Weiner would get in the race knowing the online land mines that would rock Huma’s world again and torpedo the Weiner wooed Huma assiduously, showing up at the Westchester airport in the wee hours to pick her up when she came back from trips with Hillary. “They were two hyperdrive young brains that just clicked,” said a friend. “She liked his Borscht Belt humor.” Her circle understands that “you love who you love,” as one put it, marveling at Weiner’s “madonna-whore” com- plex played out online. But that doesn’t méan that you ask people to vote for someone who’s dreadfully flawed for a major office, just because you love him. : They are wortied that Huma’s deci- sion to vouch for her husband i is-start- ing to hurt her, the one person they all assumed woiild: never bé-ensnared m anything weird or bad. “The hard stink of this one is going to get ou everyone involved,” said one friend: Another agreed: “As soon as she stood up to. say those words she changed her- self from a sophisticated, mysterious guiding intelligence and beauty next to Hillary Clinton to the wife of a tamished Anthony Weiner.” ; They fear Huma learned the wrong lesson from Hillary, given that Bill was a roguish genius while Weiner’s a creepy loser. “Bill Clinton was the greatest political and policy mind of a generation,” said one. “Anthony is behaving similarly without the chops or résumé.” - As often as Bill apologized, he didn’t premise he would “never, ever” do it again, s Weiner did. “What people won’t forgive is lying in the apology,” said the Clinton pal. “It has to be sincere, and it sure as hell has to be accurate,”’ — Maureen Dowd is a New York Times columnist. 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