Moderate Republican wing fears extinction at the polls
Moderate Republican wing fears extinction at the polls
By Holly Yeager in Avon, Connecticut
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Published: September 28 2006 03:00 | Last updated: September 28 2006 03:00
Like many people in north-western Connecticut, Irene Loretto just says "Nancy" when she is talking about Nancy Johnson, the moderate Republican first elected to Congress in 1982.
"I voted for her all these years," the pensioner said - and she was not alone. Mrs Johnson won her last election by a 60 per cent to 38 per cent margin; in 2002, she won by 11 percentage points.
But Ms Loretto, angry that two of the three medicines she takes are not covered by her insurance under the prescription drug programme Mrs Johnson helped craft, is not voting for her in the midterm elections on November 7. And, again, she does not appear to be alone.
Mrs Johnson is locked in an unexpectedly tough contest with Chris Murphy, a Democratic state senator. More worrying for Republicans, she is just one of three moderate Republicans in the state who are struggling to hold on to their seats in the House of Representatives.
President George W. Bush was in Greenwich, a wealthy enclave just north of New York City, on Monday for a private fundraiser that generated more than $500,000 (€393,000, £263,400) for Republican candidates in the state, including Mrs Johnson and two colleagues, Chris Shays and Rob Simmons.
The outcome of their races - among the most competitive this year - will help determine whether Republicans are able to hold on to their majority in the House. These and a handful of other contests in the north-eastern US could also mark the end of the moderate wing of the Republican party, an ideological shift akin to the decline of the Democratic party in the south.
Democrats in the area say their races are so close because voters have finally come to see that while these "Rockefeller Republicans" - fiscally conservative but less interested in social issues - may talk like moderates at home, when they get to Washington they vote with the Republican majority.
"There are moments when people realise that they just aren't who they say they are," said Mr Murphy. "The issues are so big this year, they can't disguise it." At a campaign talk at the gated community where Ms Loretto lives, Mr Murphy hammered away at Mrs Johnson's support for tax cuts for the wealthy, and a Republican budget that cut spending on children's health and student loans.
In the district to the south, which Mr Shays has represented for 19 years, the top issue is Iraq. Despite the advice of party leaders, who fear deepening disapproval of the war could hurt Republicans at the polls, Mr Shays has been an outspoken supporter of Mr Bush's policy.
He appeared to shift his stance on the war in August, after his 14th visit to Iraq, when he said it was time to warn the Iraqi government that US forces would be forced to withdraw if it did not make progress on unifying the country.
Diane Farrell, his Democratic opponent, said Mr Shays made the change after Ned Lamont, an opponent of the war, defeated Joseph Lieberman, the state's three-term senator, in a Democratic primary that was largely seen as a referendum on the war. Mr Shays has since tried to clarify his position, insisting that he continues to believe the war is a "noble mission".
Speaking to students and faculty members at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield last week, Mrs Farrell acknowledged that she had voted for Mr Shays in the past. She ran against him two years ago and, this time around, has wasted no time going after his record, offering a critique of the war, the absence of an exit strategy and the "blank cheque" she said Congress gave Mr Bush to fight the war.
But, like Mr Murphy, she also underscored the broader role Mr Shays has played in supporting Mr Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress. "Chris has been entirely too supportive of the president's agenda."
Gary Rose, a politics professor at the university who attended Mrs Farrell's talk, said she and other Democrats faced an uphill battle to convince people in Connecticut that the independent-minded Republicans they had supported in the past were closely allied with party leaders in Washington.
Mrs Johnson broke with her party and voted to expand federal funding of stem cell research, while Mr Shays has backed bipartisan legislation on campaign finance reform and the environment. "Voters in Connec-ticut still see many of these Republicans as not in line with the Republican maj-ority on a range of issues."
But the Democrats are still trying to make their case. "If you send Chris Shays back to Washington, you've just cast your vote for the same leadership who have brought us to where we are today," said Mrs Farrell. "If you send me to Washington, we have the opportunity for new leadership and, for the first time in six years, you have checks and balances between the White House and at least one house of Congress."
By Holly Yeager in Avon, Connecticut
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Published: September 28 2006 03:00 | Last updated: September 28 2006 03:00
Like many people in north-western Connecticut, Irene Loretto just says "Nancy" when she is talking about Nancy Johnson, the moderate Republican first elected to Congress in 1982.
"I voted for her all these years," the pensioner said - and she was not alone. Mrs Johnson won her last election by a 60 per cent to 38 per cent margin; in 2002, she won by 11 percentage points.
But Ms Loretto, angry that two of the three medicines she takes are not covered by her insurance under the prescription drug programme Mrs Johnson helped craft, is not voting for her in the midterm elections on November 7. And, again, she does not appear to be alone.
Mrs Johnson is locked in an unexpectedly tough contest with Chris Murphy, a Democratic state senator. More worrying for Republicans, she is just one of three moderate Republicans in the state who are struggling to hold on to their seats in the House of Representatives.
President George W. Bush was in Greenwich, a wealthy enclave just north of New York City, on Monday for a private fundraiser that generated more than $500,000 (€393,000, £263,400) for Republican candidates in the state, including Mrs Johnson and two colleagues, Chris Shays and Rob Simmons.
The outcome of their races - among the most competitive this year - will help determine whether Republicans are able to hold on to their majority in the House. These and a handful of other contests in the north-eastern US could also mark the end of the moderate wing of the Republican party, an ideological shift akin to the decline of the Democratic party in the south.
Democrats in the area say their races are so close because voters have finally come to see that while these "Rockefeller Republicans" - fiscally conservative but less interested in social issues - may talk like moderates at home, when they get to Washington they vote with the Republican majority.
"There are moments when people realise that they just aren't who they say they are," said Mr Murphy. "The issues are so big this year, they can't disguise it." At a campaign talk at the gated community where Ms Loretto lives, Mr Murphy hammered away at Mrs Johnson's support for tax cuts for the wealthy, and a Republican budget that cut spending on children's health and student loans.
In the district to the south, which Mr Shays has represented for 19 years, the top issue is Iraq. Despite the advice of party leaders, who fear deepening disapproval of the war could hurt Republicans at the polls, Mr Shays has been an outspoken supporter of Mr Bush's policy.
He appeared to shift his stance on the war in August, after his 14th visit to Iraq, when he said it was time to warn the Iraqi government that US forces would be forced to withdraw if it did not make progress on unifying the country.
Diane Farrell, his Democratic opponent, said Mr Shays made the change after Ned Lamont, an opponent of the war, defeated Joseph Lieberman, the state's three-term senator, in a Democratic primary that was largely seen as a referendum on the war. Mr Shays has since tried to clarify his position, insisting that he continues to believe the war is a "noble mission".
Speaking to students and faculty members at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield last week, Mrs Farrell acknowledged that she had voted for Mr Shays in the past. She ran against him two years ago and, this time around, has wasted no time going after his record, offering a critique of the war, the absence of an exit strategy and the "blank cheque" she said Congress gave Mr Bush to fight the war.
But, like Mr Murphy, she also underscored the broader role Mr Shays has played in supporting Mr Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress. "Chris has been entirely too supportive of the president's agenda."
Gary Rose, a politics professor at the university who attended Mrs Farrell's talk, said she and other Democrats faced an uphill battle to convince people in Connecticut that the independent-minded Republicans they had supported in the past were closely allied with party leaders in Washington.
Mrs Johnson broke with her party and voted to expand federal funding of stem cell research, while Mr Shays has backed bipartisan legislation on campaign finance reform and the environment. "Voters in Connec-ticut still see many of these Republicans as not in line with the Republican maj-ority on a range of issues."
But the Democrats are still trying to make their case. "If you send Chris Shays back to Washington, you've just cast your vote for the same leadership who have brought us to where we are today," said Mrs Farrell. "If you send me to Washington, we have the opportunity for new leadership and, for the first time in six years, you have checks and balances between the White House and at least one house of Congress."
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