THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 16, 1996 TAG: 9601160011
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Much has been written about the new Republicans who mobbed the U.S. House of Representatives a year ago. They are a hardheaded bunch. They're overwhelmingly conservative. More than two-thirds enjoyed Christian Coalition support in '94.
Their success gave the GOP control of the chamber for the first time in 40 years. And they have asserted themselves shamelessly, ignoring the unwritten House rule that freshmen stay seated and silent. Sometimes they trouble even their equally combative speaker.
Writing about these 73 first-termers in the Richmond Times-Dispatch the other day, columnist Charles McDowell shared some particulars: They are, for example, what many Americans say they want: nonpoliticians conducting the nation's political business. Only 26 had had any previous legislative experience.
They represent something else that people say they want: Fewer than half are lawyers.
Among these 62 men and 11 women, McDowell found ``four physicians and a dentist, a caterer, a vintner, a tax accountant, a restaurant owner, a former policeman, a Chamber of Commerce manager, four teachers, three famous college football players from the South and an entertainer named Sonny Bono who first registered to vote in 1987 at the age of 51 and was elected mayor of Palm Springs the next year.''
They are a monument to voter discontent that runs so deep all politicians are suspect. Yet we wouldn't want nonsurgeons operating on us or nondentists filling our teeth. We'd want someone versed in accounting and savvy about the IRS doing our taxes. We'd certainly insist that our teachers be prepared academically for the subjects they teach.
We're not campaigning here for more lawyers, or saying people shouldn't be sent to Capitol Hill until they have served on a city council or in a state legislature. But the hard truth of public office is that government historically has worked best when there's been give and take. Compromise is something attorneys must constantly do in trying to best represent their clients' interests. It's also what effective politicians do in trying to best serve the national interest.
The rowdy rookies of the right may view all this as ``weak and sleazy'' - as McDowell reports - but compromise offers the best chance for those who represent us to solve the budget crisis before they embarrass themselves further and screw up our country even more. by CNB