| The article,
by reporter Erin Billings, echoes similar frustration
staffers expressed in a
RAW STORY article earlier this month. MoveOn.org
has also weighed
in on the dispute, running ads targeting the Democrats'
number two in the House, Rep. Steny Hoyer for his role
in supporting the bankruptcy bill.
"The split burst into public view last week at
a whip meeting," Roll call reports Monday. "Tensions
flared at the gathering over recent defections by moderate
Democrats on key votes, most particularly the recent
bankruptcy bill, in which 73 Members including House
Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) sided with the GOP."
Hoyer, the paper says, defended moderates; House Minority
Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) took sides with progressives
and allegedly criticized centrists.
“People are frustrated we had a
divided leadership on this bill and they were very outspoken
on the opposite sides," a Democratic staffer told
Roll Call. "Maybe that’s what helped this
meeting turn into what it turned into. It’s possible
this was the final straw for many.”
The meeting is said to have "underscored"
a wider divide between more conservative and more liberal
members of the caucus.
“There is a feeling that there is
nothing to unite this party right now,” another
anonymous Democratic staffer told the paper. “There
is Social Security, and we’re doing a good job
on that, but that’s it. There are no grand ideas
or principles for the party."
A veteran Democratic House Member told
Roll Call, “There is heavy division in the Democratic
Party over virtually every policy issue.”
One leadership aide said the divided was
"complete bullshit," saying the minority party
always struggles to maintain unity and direction when
not in control of Congress.
"Republicans, the aide said, are trying to highlight
Democratic differences on votes to try to weaken them
as they suffer through charges of ethical wrongdoing
and ill-thought-out policies like Social Security overhaul,"
Billings reports.
Excerpts follow:
Sources throughout the Caucus said that’s the
message Pelosi and Hoyer tried to deliver at the meeting
Thursday, which was described as “heated”
and “very unpleasant.” Sources said both
Pelosi and Hoyer were also visibly angry.
Sources said liberal Members at the whip meeting
were furious at moderates and accused them of selling
out to special interests on the bankruptcy bill. Pelosi
also joined in voicing her displeasure.
One source in the room said Pelosi’s comments
“picked the scab off the rift” that was
already there when she further alienated moderates,
who were already prepared to be more forceful and
outspoken in the Caucus.
“Pelosi had an obligation to pull everyone
together when it became clear a rift was developing,”
said the source. “Instead, she chose not to
do that.”
Sources suggested that the setbacks in November changed
the dynamics for House Democrats. Attendance at many
party meetings is lower, participation in House Democratic
activities is down, and Members generally appear to
be taking a more individualistic approach to legislating
this Congress, sources said. It’s perhaps not
that frustrations between the different factions of
the Caucus are higher than usual; it’s simply
that Members are focused on themselves rather than
the party itself.
“People generally feel a majority is more out
of our reach,” said one well-placed staffer.
The full article can be read at Roll Call, http://rollcall.com,
and in print format in Washington.
Article originally published Apr. 25, 2005. Original
piece published in Roll Call. |
