WASHINGTON – Back in 1985 the Alaska State Senate was in the process of impeaching its Democratic governor, Bill Sheffield, an episode that caught the attention of Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Mike Royko.
The rationale for the ouster attempt was remarkably low rent – literally. It seems Sheffield, or an aide, arranged to lease office space to a group that included an individual who supported the governor during his campaign.
Writing through his alter ego, Slats Grobnik, Royko was taken aback.
“I don’t understand,’’ Royko said. “Who do they expect him to do a favor for – an enemy? Or a stranger?’’
Apparently U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, expects the political game to be played in a way that understandably stupefied Royko and anyone else who has ever held elective office for even a short period of time. The more you prove yourself unreliable and downright hostile to your party’s leadership, Massie seems to think, the more support you should expect from it in return.
The issue was raised in a recent Associated Press article written by Alan Fram noting that Massie’s fundraising effort for his anticipated 2016 re-election campaign has encountered a bit of a snag. After rolling in corporate dough in 2013, Massie raised a piddling $1,000 from political action committees during the first three months of this year.
Massie lays this lack of success not on his own bewildering legislative record but at the door of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, whose heart would undoubtedly not be broken if Massie’s effort for a third term on Capitol Hill dried up and blew away.
“Those who don’t go along to get along aren’t going to get as many PAC checks,” Massie told the AP.
Aw, want a cookie?
So what exactly has Massie done to earn the sort of animus that would lead the House GOP leadership to mangle his re-election effort?
Well, let’s start with the fact that the lawmaker from the northeastern part of the state has had two opportunities to support Boehner’s election as speaker. In each instance he voted for someone else, fully realizing in each case that his revolt was doomed. In actuality, he was the ringleader in the unsuccessful revolt to keep Boehner out of the chair earlier this year.
And he did it in a rather nasty, in-your-face fashion.
“For years I watched Washington from afar and suspected that something was broken,” said in announcing he would oppose Boehner. ”During my first two years as a congressman I discovered a significant source of the dysfunction. I watched the House leadership.”
In addition to accusing Boehner of leading the congressional dysfunction, Massie said Boehner, among other things, “misled members’’ on a spending bill and opined that “America deserves better.’’
Now that all by itself would lead a rational human being to conclude that Boehner is unlikely to lead his re-election campaign. But Massie has taken his pique quite a bit further. Politico, a Washington-based publication of political affairs, has dubbed him “Mr. No’’ for his propensity to vote against even the most saccharine of bills presented by the Republican leadership.
In some ways Massie is fortunate. Boehner is a relatively weak House leader. Under a more powerful speaker, Massie would find himself buried so deep beneath the back bench it would take a coal shovel big enough to reach the center of the earth to haul him out.
Some of the measures he opposed came at a time when the leadership needed all the support it could corral. The federal government essentially shutdown in January 2013 because lawmakers reached what was termed a “fiscal cliff,” unable to reach a deal on a spending package. Massie opposed the compromise, thus voting to keep the government’s door closed, a position Boehner found untenable and tried to rectify.
And then there are things that are just silly like disrupting legislative functions. A lot of bills handled on the House floor of little or no consequence are handled via voice vote without a quorum. It’s usually done after consultation with the Republican whip team and the Democratic leadership to ease any potential problem. Massie is in the habit of rushing to the chamber and demanding a roll call on a lot of these petty matters, wasting the time of members who have other important matters to tend to.
Keep in mind it’s not the minority Democrats objecting and demanding voice votes on issues majority Republicans are trying to steamroll – it’s Massie, and he’s quite proud of what he calls the “500-yard dash’’ from his suite in the Cannon House Office Building to the floor.
“It only takes one congressman to stand up and say ‘Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote’ — and I’ve done that a lot,” Massie recently told the Young Americans for Liberty, a conservative student group at the University of Cincinnati.
And what kind of bills does Massie force to a roll call?
Well, last May he bolted to the floor and demanded the yeas and nays on a measure conferring the Congressional Gold Medal on pro golfer Jack Nicklaus, who was being recognized for his “service to the nation,” which involved promoting good sportsmanship and philanthropy. It ultimately passed 371-10.
It’s worth noting here that Nicklaus is a loyal Republican – he campaigned with GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012 – a rabid golfer – like Boehner – and a Buckeye – like Boehner. The speaker, in fact, gave a presentation when Nicklaus eventually received the medal.
Note a pattern here? That’s called in-your-face politics, something the speaker is unlikely to forget.
Let’s face it – Boehner would be nuts if he didn’t try to dump Massie. It would, in fact, be political malpractice. Massie shouldn’t be at all surprised if the Cincinnati native is making phone calls now trying to line up primary opposition to challenge him with the promise of helping fund a campaign with his own deep pockets and money from business interests who remain fans of Mr. Speaker.
In some ways Massie is fortunate. Boehner is a relatively weak House leader. Under a more powerful speaker, Massie would find himself buried so deep beneath the back bench it would take a coal shovel big enough to reach the center of the earth to haul him out.
But don’t think Boehner knows nothing about political retribution. In July 1997 he and several other members of leadership became embroiled in an attempt to oust then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Georgia Republican, because of his poor public image. It failed. From then on, Boehner was a marked man. He was booted from his post as House Republican Conference chairman in the next leadership election.
Now Boehner is holding some pretty good cards. Dumping Massie could be a delicate proposition if the possibility existed that he would be replaced by a Democrat. Fat chance. Osama bin Laden could be elected congressman from the 4th Congressional District if he managed to wrangle the GOP nomination.
The fact that he’s dead wouldn’t prove to be a detriment.
A clarification: In last week’s column, “GOP candidates’ promise to kill Kynect shortsighted at best, insane at worst,’’ I wrote that Gov. Steve Beshear released a study showing that that “Medicaid expansion will add almost $1 billion to Kentucky’s perennially drained coffers.’’ A reader, Justin Tapp, correctly wrote to point out that could be misleading. I agree. It should have said the expansion would result in $1 billion in greater overall economic activity. Thank you Mr. Tapp.
Washington correspondent Bill Straub served 11 years as the Frankfort Bureau chief for The Kentucky Post. He also is the former White House/political correspondent for Scripps Howard News Service. He currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, and writes frequently about the federal government and politics. Email him at williamgstraub@gmail.com.