Hoyer's Our Boy-er
November 17, 2006
On Tuesday, November 7, Americans voted overwhelmingly for a change in their leadership in Washington. The Democrats, a party all too accustomed to being in the minority, found themselves in control of the House, for the first time in 1994, as well as the Senate. After facing accusations from the GOP during the campaign season of not having an agenda, it is important that the Democrats, after a much-deserved celebration of their achievements, set about implementing the changes that they promised to voters. The first step in this process is securing strong and effective party leadership.
The Senate’s leadership has been decided, and, on the House side, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California is virtually certain to become the first female Speaker. It is the race for House Majority Leader, however, that has become competitive, with two prominent Democrats, Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania and Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, having announced their candidacies. Tensions between the two congressmen arose as early as this summer, when Murtha, best known for his controversial proposal of troop withdrawal from Iraq earlier this year, prematurely announced that should the Democrats take the House, he would challenge Hoyer, the current Minority Whip, for the Majority Leader position. Although Murtha later retracted that statement after coming under fire from other Democrats, he reaffirmed his desire to be Majority Leader after the election, announcing once again that he would compete against Hoyer in the secret-ballot party leadership elections that were scheduled for yesterday.
Although Hoyer and Murtha belong to the same political party, they are perceived as representing very different wings of the Democrats, who have in recent years struggled to unify their members in the face of controversial issues like gay marriage and the Iraq war. Vietnam veteran Murtha, after a floor speech earlier this year in which he called for a redeployment of troops from Iraq, faced severe criticism from Republicans—and was praised by the anti-war movement. Hoyer is viewed as more of a bipartisan centrist; although he takes more liberal positions than Murtha on issues like abortion, many also see him as very much pro-business.
Both men seem confident in their ability to win. It was announced last weekend that Murtha, who is a close ally of Pelosi, had the support of the future Speaker. Murtha believes that this will help him win, as well as the fact that the Iraq war he stands so strongly against was so much on voters’ minds this year. Hoyer, for his part, has said in interviews that he will certainly get the votes of the majority of the new, incoming Democratic House Members. “The majority of the members in the House, the Democratic Caucus are for me. They’ve indicated to me they’re supportive of my candidacy,” he told NBC.
The Observer would like to endorse Hoyer for the position. First of all, judging from his record, he is very much a bipartisan figure, willing to work not only with moderate members of his party, but with Republicans. This is especially important, as Pelosi and incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have continually stated that bipartisanship will be prevalent in the 110th Congress, and it is a promise that they must keep if they want to preserve their majority. Murtha, a divisive figure even in his own party, is especially unpopular among Republicans, and installing him as Majority Leader would undermine attempts at bipartisanship. Hoyer would be much more able to reach across the aisle on important issues.
The ability to reach out to more moderate and conservative Democrats will also be important for the Majority Leader in this Congress. Many of the incoming Members, from Indiana to North Carolina, won their seats by positioning themselves as centrists, avoiding the liberal label. Many of these new moderates have already announced their support for Hoyer. Again, given his moderate record, Hoyer would be much stronger and more effective at uniting his party, rather than the more divisive Murtha.
Murtha is also anti-choice, and as such, contradicts the views of the vast majority of the Democratic caucus and those of some moderate Republicans. Murtha has also been dishonest when discussing Hoyer’s position on the war, claiming that Hoyer supported President Bush’s “stay the course” strategy. Hoyer, for his part, retaliated by reminding Murtha of a letter to President Bush that he, along with Pelosi, signed earlier this year, calling for changes to the White House Iraq policy.
Finally, there are ethical issues in Murtha’s past. Although accusations against him have never been completely proven, he is widely believed, as a member of the defense subcommittee on appropriations, to have rewarded campaign contributors. Tellingly, he also opposed an ethics reform bill backed by most in his party. “Culture of Corruption” was a popular campaign slogan this year, used to describe the current Republican leadership. By appointing Murtha Majority Leader, would Democrats not be acting hypocritically? It is for these reasons that Steny Hoyer is a much better choice for Majority Leader.