JOE SKIPPER/REUTERS - U.S. Rep. Allen West (R-FL) speaks prior to property magnate and reality TV star Donald Trump's speech at a South Florida Tea Party rally in Boca Raton, Florida, April 16, 2011.
Huizenga said he e-mailed back and told his son that it is important for politicians to keep their promises to voters. But even he is frustrated with that role.
“It’s the mirage,” Huizenga said, talking about his hopes for the freshman term. “You’re hoping for palm trees and a lagoon. And you get there, and it’s a bush and a trickling spring. But it’s better than nothing.”
For now, the happiest freshmen might be those who are happy to remain political bomb-throwers.
“I still don’t know my way around the Capitol. I still don’t know how the protocol works on the [House] floor. I could care less,” said Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.). Walsh said his goals were not to legislate; he wants to continue pointing out Obama’s failings. “Of all the 87 Republican freshmen, I’ve probably gotten more media attention than any of them.”
Several said they had been frustrated with town-hall meetings. That’s been especially true after the House passed a Republican budget that would alter Medicare — shifting seniors to private insurance plans, subsidized by the government, beginning in 2022.
“In a court of law, you say it once, and you offer a piece of evidence, and that fact is no longer in dispute,” said Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), previously a prosecutor. But in town-hall meetings, Gowdy said, he’s been forced to repeatedly prove the same point: that the GOP plan would not affect seniors who are already on Medicare.
This month, 42 freshmen signed a letter to Obama, asking him to stop what they called “Mediscare” attacks from Democrats. The letter conceded that, in the past, “We have all been guilty” of playing politics with important issues.
Democrats were, of course, gleeful. They pointed out that several Republicans had accused Democrats of gutting Medicare during the last campaign.
“They’re like the classic schoolyard bullies,” said Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.), head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, “who throw punches — and then when you throw a punch back, they beg for forgiveness.”
Now comes a vote on the debt ceiling — in essence, a choice to raise the U.S. credit limit. Several freshmen said they hoped to use this must-pass bill to force sharper spending cuts on both the Senate and Obama.
“The real test is now,” said Rep. Raul R. Labrador (R-Idaho). “There’s got to be short-term and long-term demands that we have to make, before we even consider voting for the debt ceiling.”
But, in a curdled political atmosphere, can Congress really make a bipartisan deal on something this big? Would a divided public accept a bargain that requires concessions from both sides?
When Rep. Allen B. West (R-Fla.) showed up for a town-hall meeting in Pompano Beach on Tuesday, he had trouble even finding a quiet moment to explain the issue.
“Let’s move on. Let’s talk about the debt,” West said as a woman in the crowd heckled him about corporate tax breaks.
In the campaign, West had once said of his Democratic opponent, “You’ve got to make the fellow scared to come out of his house.” Now, he was pleading for calm. But the shouting continued, with others trying to shush the woman.
“All right,” West said, trying again. “Let’s talk about the debt.”
More yelling. West then took the commanding tone of the Army lieutenant colonel he used to be.
“Hey! Hey!” he said. “AT EASE!”
Finally, the room was quiet.
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