Bob Schieffer Laments State of Relations in Whiny Washington, DC

When a venerated newsman greets Imus with a “Howdy!” it couldn’t possibly be anybody other than native Texan Bob Schieffer, host of Face the Nation on CBS.
 
In New York to prepare for his network’s election coverage, Schieffer, who has been covering Washington, DC for 41 years, told Imus the atmosphere has never been as rancorous as it feels now. “People tell me there were times in our history when it was this bad, or worse,” he said. “I guess when they were writing the Constitution, it was probably even more personal than it is now.”
 
In fact, Republicans and Democrats are so uncomfortable in each other’s presence that they literally don’t want to be in the same room, as Schieffer learned recently when, prior to an appearance on Face the Nation, one member of Congress requested a separate waiting room from his opponent.
 
Schieffer chalked the acrimony up to money. “They have to raise so much money, sign off with so many interest groups before they get to Congress that once they get there, their positions are set in stone,” he said. “They can’t compromise, they’re wedded to these positions, and the campaigns now are so awful, the commercials are so bad, that it’s just slopped over into the governing process.”
 
So long as money remains a driving force, Schieffer does not see how anything will ever change in Washington. “They don’t know each other anymore,” he said of the lawmakers. For instance, few if any enjoy the sort of genial relationship that existed between Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1950s.
 
“They’re strangers now,” Schieffer said of the current crop of politicians. “When the argument is among strangers, it’s a different argument than when it’s two people who know one another.”
 
The electorate has changed too, Schieffer said, into “an instant gratification society” that wants its hope and its change to have happened yesterday. Imus posited that the people hoping President Obama would bring change in 2008 will be similarly disappointed by the Tea Party in which they have invested their dreams this election cycle.
 
“If something doesn’t change in the first six months of next year, you’re going to see people say, ‘Let’s throw these guys out,’” Schieffer observed.
 
The wind is presently blowing the Republicans way, but Schieffer said it remains to be seen whether “it will be a Category 4 hurricane, or a category 5.” As indicators on election night, Schieffer will watch several key Congressional races in Florida, as well as the Kentucky Senate race, where Tea Party candidate Rand Paul’s performance is being touted as a barometer for his Party’s success or failure.
 
Though all indicators point to a Republican takeover in the House, Schieffer is thankful for one thing: “We still have an election,” he said. “It’s not like the BCS picking the best football team in the country by putting a bunch of statistics into the computer.”
 
Also something to be grateful for this election season: Bob Schieffer.
 
-Julie Kanfer


Comments

[rattleback]

Leftists like Scheiffer helped create the problem. This guy should be barred from your show.