Editor’s note: Jon Margolis is VTDigger’s political columnist.
[T]he Speaker of the House is running for governor.
Sound the alarm. Batten down the hatches. Man (or ought one say “person” these days?) the barricades. The Vermont Legislature is in danger of contamination by politics.
Such at least was the response of a few Republican legislators, who warned that a “conflict of interest” loomed if the speaker ran for governor. He might, they worried, let his own political ambition influence his legislative leadership.
“There is potential for him to orchestrate a campaign from the podium,” said House Minority Leader Don Turner of Milton. For instance, Turner noted, Smith could try to engineer a tax reduction to please the voters instead of “because it’s right.”
Hmmm. A Republican official acknowledging that cutting taxes might not be “right.” Very interesting.
Don Turner is an intelligent and responsible public official, and the leaders of Party A usually take any chance given them to take a shot at Party B.
But let’s not get carried away here. First of all, there’s nothing unusual about a legislative leader running for governor. One need not look far for an example. The guy who’s governor now, Peter Shumlin, was Senate president pro tem (the equivalent of the speaker) when he ran and won in 2010. Nobody at the time suggested that he step down as pro tem.
Higher office is usually sought by those holding lower office, and they are often tempted to do something in that lower office that could help them win the higher one. That’s how the system works. Shumlin’s predecessor, Republican Jim Douglas, was state treasurer when he ran for governor in 2002. There isn’t much that a treasurer can do to endear himself to the electorate. But there’s a little, and it should surprise no one if Douglas did it.
Rarely do office-holders quit their positions as they seek another office. Yes, Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas not only quit being majority leader but resigned from the Senate altogether to run for president in 1996. But Dole didn’t even pretend he did this to avoid a “conflict of interest” or for any other “good government” motive. He just wanted to devote all his time and energy to the presidential race, which he lost to Bill Clinton.
Besides, there is no way to keep politics out of the Legislature. Nor should there be. Legislatures were designed to be political. Politics is not a sin. In a democracy, it’s a necessity and a virtue. It is the mechanism by which free people govern themselves. If it is often messy and undignified, that’s because free people are often messy and undignified. (as are un-free people; they just don’t get to demonstrate it).
Haters of politics might consider relocating to Cuba, China, Saudi Arabia or other spots where there may be court intrigue (who is the top guy’s favorite this week?), but no real politics. It’s less messy. It may even be less undignified. It isn’t democracy.
Like any other elected official, Smith will be tempted to please the electorate by passing bills most people want passed, or scuttling bills most voters oppose.
Uhhh, isn’t this what government is supposed to do in a democracy?
Yes, the Founders created a representative democracy precisely so that lawmakers could exercise their own judgments rather than always following the popular whim of the moment. Legislators who do what Don Turner would call “right,” even if it is unpopular, are often (though usually much later) honored for their courage.
But elected officials who regularly flout the public will don’t stay in office very long, and probably shouldn’t.
Granted, there is a difference between pleasing the public and pleasing organized segments of it. Might Smith be tempted to do the bidding of the Vermont State Employees Association or the National Education Association, whose endorsements can be helpful in a Democratic primary (and whose favorite he right now is not)? Might he think about being extra nice to the most leftward fringes of the body politic in hopes that the Progressive Party does not run a candidate for governor?
Sure, but he will succumb to these temptations at his peril, and he knows it. Republicans will run right to the cameras and microphones in the Statehouse corridors at the first sign of what they see as “pandering” by the speaker to any interest group, especially a liberal interest group. So, for that matter, will supporters of Smith’s Democratic primary opponents, and he is all but certain to have at least one.
Should Republicans or other opponents somehow miss a signal, they need not worry. A reporter will find it for them. Throughout the legislative session, a corps of journalists prowl the Statehouse, many of them energetic and at least adequately cynical. (Actually, they shouldn’t be cynical at all; they should be skeptical. But that’s a discussion for another day).
There’s nothing some reporters like better than catching a legislative leader in political chicanery. In fact, one of Smith’s challenges next year might be making sure that when he really agrees with an organized constituency – be it the VSEA or the Chamber of Commerce – his concurrence is not misinterpreted as caving in to the demands of a pressure group.
He knows it.
“I think that the ability to work effectively in the Legislature will be determinative of how successful the candidacy is,” he said the day he announced. “If I do my work well, Vermonters will appreciate it, and we’ll go forward.”
So the best thing Speaker Smith can do for candidate Smith is to preside over an effective, productive, and (at least reasonably) harmonious 2016 session. Playing political games would be politically foolish.
The remedy for political contamination in the Legislature is more politics.
