THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503030004
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: PERRY MORGAN
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
When Massachusetts Gov. William Weld bowed out of contention for the GOP presidential nomination last week, he joined Dan Quayle and other non-starters in citing family considerations. Another way of looking at it is that Weld realized he lacked the ample funding and the ferocious determination that marks the campaign of Sen. Phil Gramm.
The Texan has a pile of money and doesn't shrink from soliciting more, even on Christmas Day; he intends as well not to be outdone in putting down government and much of its works - the mantra of his party and, it seems, the dominant mood of the nation. There is something in Gramm's persona - a whiff of the bully and a thirst for power - that tends to give opponents second thoughts.
All along, in any event, Gramm has confidently asserted that a lengthy list of Republican hopefuls would dwindle to three - himself, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander. It seems to be turning out that way.
Gramm, to be sure, trails Dole badly in early polling in New Hampshire. Neither he nor Alexander are well-known there, and the polls are skewed by inclusion of the popular Colin Powell who's undeclared either as a Republican or as a candidate and has announced no positions on domestic issues. But Gramm's low level of name recognition will be remedied rapidly. His energy matches his ambition; he has a record of achievement marked by decisiveness and risk-taking; and he has a message that will thrill friends and rankle foes.
The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act to restrain deficit spending bears his name. So does the defeat of the Clinton health reforms which he denounced early and made the target of organized opposition. Further back, Gramm had the foresight to oppose opening the savings-and-loan industry to the bankrupting speculation that scandalized both parties and picked the national pocket. As a ``boll weevil'' Democrat punished by his party for pushing Ronald Reagan's economic proposals, Gramm resigned his House seat, switched to the GOP, asked for a special election and won it.
Any fair reading of Gramm's record must give him high marks for brains, initiative, grit and effectiveness as a legislator. That record is the subject of keen analysis by David Frum in the March issue of The Atlantic Monthly. Frum concludes with a surprising forecast, about which more later.
The chief question about Gramm is whether his credentials will be obscured by his personality, and sharp-edged ideology. In more ways than one, he's a pill: Fairly or not, he leaves an impression of ruthlessness and rancor that, by contrast, pictures the acerbic Bob Dole as kindly and congenial. Fairness is of little concern as Gramm condemns government for robbing welfare recipients of drive, pride and (in many cases) morality, and then goes on to mock all recipients as riders in a wagon being pulled by the rest of us.
Listeners would hardly guess that Gramm was educated at federal expense. That fact alone takes nothing away from the merits of his criticism, but his rhetoric is harsh and opportunistic.
In his Atlantic Monthly piece, David Frum sees Gramm as the riskiest but, perhaps, the most likely candidate for the Republican nomination because ``it is the party of Reagan and Gingrich that is the adventuresome party, the party that thrills to political risk.'' That solid insight may prove out, but some of the thrill may fade as the so-called Contract With America is translated into reality.
When welfare programs have been reformed, they no longer can be scapegoated. If Republicans get down to the brass tacks of budget balancing, it will be seen that welfarists were not the largest contingent of freeloaders in Gramm's metaphorical ``wagon.'' There is much vaunting of the states as the closest to the people, but some with large Republican majorities also are closest to the federal trough. Anti-Washington rhetoric will be more credible when the likes of Gramm begin to say that fair-share sacrifice is required to get the nation's affairs in order.
There's nothing money or ability can do to improve Gramm's demeanor. Although he says money is the most reliable friend of a politician, Ronald Reagan's election proved that a warm smile, a genial spirit and a nonthreatening manner can also work wonders in campaigning and in governing. MEMO: Perry Morgan is a former publisher of The Virginian-Pilot and The
Ledger-Star.
by CNB