03/02/11: Power instead of governance

This op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot on the date shown.

IN NOVEMBER, the entire General Assembly will be up for election. There will be some new faces come January, when the 40 senators and 100 delegates take their seats.

On the floors of the Senate and the House throughout the just completed session, some members have announced their decisions to not seek reelection. They gave speeches and were recognized by fellow members for their service. Pretty standard fare — with one rare exception.

Del. Albert Pollard, a Democrat who represents the 99th House District, announced his retirement last week. Rather than focusing on his accomplishments or offering platitudes for the chamber, Pollard offered some history and some advice. He reminded his members that nowhere in the Constitution are political parties created, and he stated his belief that parties and caucuses are injurious to all, because “political parties and caucuses are often about gaining power as opposed to doing what is right.”

“Everyone here — including myself — has seen their caucus engineer a vote designed to embarrass, or engineer getting a bill killed so the other side doesn’t get credit, or has killed a measure as ‘retribution,’ ” Pollard said. “These are not the words of Christian charity or words that make a more perfect union. They are the words designed to help the … political parties.”

Power, instead of governance, is what we see time and again at the national level and, increasingly, the state level. Power is about who chairs the committees and, thus, who decides which bills get a fair hearing. Power is about the Republican-controlled House of Delegates killing Democratic bills, even good ones. And power is about the Democratic-controlled state Senate killing Republican bills, even good ones.

Of course, they don’t tell us all this when they are seeking our votes. They promise to work across the aisle and represent us all. The harsh reality of party politics, especially in the closed environment of Richmond or Washington, makes this very difficult. Besides , the true believers in each party are going to call them out when they do. We have names for those who do not toe the party line — DINOs and RINOs. In this way, “moderate” — a term applied to General Assembly members of all stripes in the past — has become a criticism. Is it any wonder, then, that it is so rare to see cooperation?

This is why I prefer local politics. The influence of the parties in local elections in Hampton Roads is far less. Part of the reason is that it costs a lot less to run for school board than it does to run for the House of Delegates. A hard-working candidate can overcome the advantage of money by putting in a lot of shoe leather.

Unconstrained by party, local elected representatives are free to make the choices that are best for those represented. When they don’t, it is generally not because of party politics but because of personal power — that wielded by them or those who support them. Rather than blaming their poor decisions on their being identified as a member of one party or the other, we would do better to look at who is pulling their strings — and why.

But I still keep my eye on what’s happening in Richmond because sometimes the members are actually able to put aside party politics and get something done. One of those rare events happened Sunday evening: The state budget passed both chambers on unanimous votes. No one remembers this ever having happened before.

Perhaps they were listening to Pollard after all.