Tacking Hard To Starboard
by digby
Has there ever been a more slimy, lugubrious piece of work than Orrin Hatch? The man has no center at all — he’s filled with some kind of toxic oleaginous substance. He has always portrayed himself as one of the “reasonable” Republicans, fashioning his image as a mediator, if not a moderate. And every time, when called upon to fulfill that role, he’s ended up being a dick.
For instance, during the Lewinsky affair, Hatch ran himself ragged rushing from one TV camera to the next as the lead “more than sorrow in anger” Republican hand wringer, insisting that all the American people wanted was for the president to apologize for his behavior so the nation could finally forgive and carry on. He was omnipresent for weeks going on and on about how nobody wanted to persecute the president, it’s just a matter of him coming forward and admitting what he did and saying he was sorry. So the president finally did that in a national address following his (recorded!) grand jury testimony. The cameras rushed to Hatch, the leading “judge” for the thumbs up or thumbs down and his answer was — “what a jerk.”
So this comes a no surprise to me:
Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch sees fewer prospects for bipartisanship in the next Congress and says he’s more conservative than fellow Utah Sen. Robert Bennett, who lost his renomination to tea party opposition.
Hatch, who will be seeking a seventh term in 2012, said he’s reaching out to activists in the political movement and is more closely aligned with their views than Bennett was.
“I’m no Bob Bennett,” Hatch said in an interview on “Political Capital with Al Hunt” over the weekend on Bloomberg Television. “I’m meeting with these folks, the tea party people and others, and I’m holding extensive town hall meetings.” Bennett lost his renomination bid in May at the state Republican convention.
Hatch is in line to be chairman of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee if Republicans win control of the chamber in the Nov. 2 elections — an outcome that he said is unlikely. He has a reputation for working with Democrats, particularly the late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, on matters such as health care and civil-rights legislation.
Still, Hatch said Democrats have dampened his enthusiasm for bipartisan deals. He said Democrats have created strains by expanding government during the past two years, particularly taking power from states under a health-care program he helped establish for lower-income children.
“I’ve got to say, that was almost the final straw to me,” he said.
“But I’ll work with any Democrat that’s willing to work in good faith on good issues in the right way and do it in a fiscally responsible way.”
What a jerk.
He is a good indication of how the establishment Republicans are going to react to the tea party victories. They are going to continue to move as hard right as humanly possible, seeing these elections as a mandate from their voters to do so.
The Democrats, you may have noticed, do things a little bit differently. When they win huge in a couple of big elections with strong progressive support, they do everything they can to prove that they aren’t beholden to those voters. It’s a slightly different dynamic.
The results, of course, are that we either move to the right or the far right. If Hatch is any example, we’re moving far right. He’s the perfect bellweather.
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