While Alexander is the most senior of its House members, the state
loses little clout with his departure. Rep. Steve Scalise already
has eclipsed him terms of power wielded by his leadership of the Republican Study Group, the most
influential policy-making organization of the party and therefore in the House.
Seats on the Appropriations Committee such as Alexander enjoys are few, but
Scalise is in a position to get on it and to get like-minded delegation
colleagues on other important committees, such as Energy and Commerce that he
would have to give up if he made that move. And by next term he and Reps. Charles Boustany (who is in
line to be the delegation’s most senior member and already sits on the even
more prestigious Ways and Means Committee) and John Fleming will be in the
upper half of both chamber and party seniority. Plus, the reason he gave for
his departure shows he didn’t promise to have much influence even within his
own party going forward.
The Republican said he was hanging it up because “partisan posturing
has created a legislative standstill” that was preventing “producing tangible
solutions to better this nation.” Translation: he lacked confidence that the
principles of conservatism reflect superior understanding of the human
condition and thereby was willing to sacrifice some of them for government to
do something, but majorities in his chamber’s party would not go so far.
How else can one explain this statement unless he was frustrated with
the GOP, given his majority party in the House showed every sign of continuing
control in 2014 and beyond? Problems are real, but bad solutions are worse than
none at all, and that’s the only kind you would get if you started capitulating
to the most insanely and intransigent set of liberals among Democrats in
government in the country’s history. If he had thought that party’s intransigence
and wrong-headedness was sabotaging “solutions” and his party had the answers
as currently being articulated by its leaders, he would not have phrased his
statement as globally as he did. For those interested in optimal solutions, not
just in buckling to get any solution, good riddance to Alexander.
He didn’t vote badly for conservatives while in Congress; his career
American Conservative Union score was over
77. But clearly he did not as staunchly embrace their principles if what he
stated he really meant. That clearly disqualifies him for serving in times
where his opponents have gone to greater lengths than ever to enact statist
policy that degrades individual freedom. With this attitude, a new Republican almost
can’t help but do better.
And chances are almost certain it will be a new Republican. In a district
currently the proportion of registrants of which is over three-fifths whites
and where white Republicans slightly outnumber black Democrats, only the most
moderate and slick Democrat can win here. And that’s assuming there would be a such
a white Democrat somewhere that could promise to hold the majority of white
Democrats and independents in his column in an election, because no black
Democrat in the state can do that and among others there are no prominent state
elected Democrats in that district …
… now, but there was one a month ago. Then, state Rep. Jim Fannin switched
to the GOP. At the time he said it was a divergence of the reality of his
party and his principles. Kind of what state Sens. Elbert
Guillory and Rick
Ward said when they did the same, but now Ward has announced
for the House and Guillory seems
to have a plethora of options for higher office if he doesn’t choose to
stay in the Senate or to retire.
It was thought at the time that Fannin might be gunning for a state
Senate seat in 2015. Instead, just as he followed Alexander into his state
House seat in 2004, he might now try to follow him into his U.S. House seat in
2014. Yet tempering any hopes he might have is that he is just three years
younger than Alexander, and voters may hesitate to elect someone as a rookie
who will be on the cusp of drawing Social Security at the time of his taking
the oath of office. Other state-elected Republicans deemed interested, from a
potentially large field since the district is one of the largest in land area among
districted states in the country thus covers a lot of officials, include state
Sens. Neil Riser and Mike Walsworth.
All three have voted more often for conservative and reform ideas, with
Riser perhaps the favorite among conservatives, but if Fannin and Walsworth
were to get in the race that might create an interesting problem for both
and/or Gov. Bobby
Jindal. That’s because Fannin has carried water exceptionally well for
Jindal for the past six years as chairman of the House Appropriations
Committee, but Walsworth
is probably Jindal’s closest friend and ally in the Legislature. Jindal’s
support, even as a lame duck governor, would be helpful to anyone However, with
his
own future in mind he may deem it more prudent to sit that one out rather
than choosing one, or having to disappoint another.
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