Nethercutt Part Of Delicate Balance
In his book “Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms,” political consultant Ed Rollins said this about George Nethercutt: “He is a friendly, articulate guy, well liked by his friends and neighbors.”
That’s George.
In 1994 Nethercutt made a bit of history.
Thanks to a national voter rebellion, the brain of Ed Rollins and more than $500,000 in negative advertising, Nethercutt become the first man since the Civil War to unseat the Speaker of the House.
He hasn’t made much history since. As a freshman Republican, Nethercutt’s most significant contribution was to be a safe vote for Newt Gingrich’s House of Representatives.
This year, the choice is between one-term Nethercutt and a worthy opponent, Judy Olson.
Olson shares much of the down-to-earth appeal of Nethercutt. She is a farm wife, a fiscal moderate, someone who seeks a middle ground in reining in the cost of federal entitlement programs. As a former president of the National Association of Wheat Growers, Olson can speak for rural interests to a national audience.
The choice isn’t easy.
The decision turns on the issue of which candidate best fits into the nation’s larger political debate.
On this point, George Nethercutt has the advantage.
Because President Clinton appears on the verge of being re-elected, the best hope for genuine progress in the country over the next two years will be to keep a Republican Congress.
Even Democrats need to recall what happened when Tom Foley led a Democratic Congress with a Democratic President. It didn’t work.
In contrast, a Democrat in the White House and a Republican Congress actually produced some results since 1994: the reshaping of welfare, a new farm bill, incremental health-care reform, deficit reduction.
Next, Congress and the President need to wrestle with containing the costs of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and federal pensions.
Quiet voices and cooler heads from both parties will be crucial as the politicians search for common ground. George Nethercutt can be an important vote during this tumultuous period ahead.
His civility and willingness to listen give Nethercutt some valuable tools our political process sorely needs to employ.
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