“It’s very clear to me that the one-party rule has caused this party — and the people who vote for it — to be suspect by many, many Americans,” National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions (Texas) said. “Those who sustain that agenda will not be able to go around the country and to tout their successes. ... We’re going to give them credit for their agenda.”
Democrats’ agenda has included votes on health care and climate change, both of which went through the Energy and Commerce Committee. The Ways and Means panel also considered the health care bill, repeal of which is at the center of some Republican candidates’ platforms.
Still, many Democrats, including Murphy and Boyd, say they’d prefer to sit on a powerful committee — and perhaps draw more fire — than not. “Anytime we have a chance to be involved in issues that are profoundly important, like health care and energy, that is beneficial to my constituents,” said Rep. Zack Space, an Energy and Commerce member who supported both the climate change bill the House passed in July and the original health care bill that the House passed in November.
However, the Ohio Democrat later changed his vote to “no” when the health care bill came back from the Senate in March, while Boyd — facing attacks from Lawson over his earlier opposition — switched positions to vote for it.
Space, who faces a potentially tough path to a third term in a district that Republican candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) won in 2008, added: “If the only focus I had was on my political future, that’d be a little different. But it’s not. I’m trying to make an impact in a positive way back home, and these committees give me the avenue to do that. ... It’s no secret that there’s a lot of resentment right now towards the institution of Congress. ... But the bottom line is if my constituents feel that I’m working hard for them and my intentions are well-placed ... then they’ll send me back.”
Democratic leaders, for their part, disputed the notion that high-profile committee assignments might in any way hinder their colleagues’ efforts to keep their seats.
“I don’t think there’s any difference in the stature or ability for Members to deliver on the high-profile committees this session differently from any other session,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s vice chairwoman for incumbent retention.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) dismissed Mollohan’s and Bennett’s losses as local aberrations but acknowledged that incumbency brings challenges this campaign cycle.
“There’s no question there is at this moment an anti-incumbent mood,” Pelosi told reporters late last week. “But I have confidence that my Members know how to speak and communicate with their districts, and I wouldn’t tell them to do anything less than work as hard as they possibly can, assume nothing, but don’t be dragged down by assumptions that may or may not apply to them.”
Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), who is in line to replace retiring Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.), also downplayed the idea that Mollohan’s loss signified diminishing draw of the panel.
“It’s all on a Member-by-Member basis,” Dicks said. “I think they evaluate everybody in an election context based on their record.”
Lois Lerner, director of exempt organizations for the IRS, arrives for a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the investigation of the IRS' targeting of political groups. Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not testify and caused a protest from some committee members when she offered an opening statement and engaged in dialogue with members before invoking the right.
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