Re: Senate Op/Ed

Number 2: Role of the U.S. Senate - Maryland Desperate for Leaders

By Richard J. Douglas

Richard Douglas, a candidate for the U.S. Senate from Maryland, recently announced a series of commentaries he will be making over the next few weeks on the role of the U.S Senate. This second installment is about the importance of leadership in the U.S. Senate.

What is it like to witness genuine leadership? Whether a teenaged rifleman at Fallujah, Joshua Chamberlain at Little Round Top, or a single mother battling drug pushers at her door, the reply is the same: Inspiring. Often tragic. Moving. Even majestic.

Leadership can save lives. The absence of leadership can destroy nations. True leaders are a small minority in today's Senate. Great Senate leaders of the Cold War like Democrat Henry 'Scoop' Jackson did their duty to state and nation and passed into the mists of history. We must find new Jacksons.

What do authentic Senate leaders look like?

A Senate leader respects federalism but speaks out when his state government acts unwisely.

It is vital for a dutiful Senator to try to influence his state's governor and assembly in good directions (e.g., avoiding harmful taxation). It is possible to do this without injuring the boundary between state and federal responsibilities. A dutiful Senator comprehends that he is a leader in his state as well as in Washington. He is not a distant bystander peering through a spyglass.  A genuine Senate leader speaks up before the shipwreck. Not after.

A Senate leader uses moral authority and Senate tools to deter a President from harmful policy.

Moral authority can change a President's mind. But more often than not, forceful use of Senate procedural tools is required to deter or correct a presidential act or omission (e.g., attacks on the Bill of Rights, and failure to end Alan Gross's imprisonment in Cuba). A genuine Senate leader forthrightly uses such tools even with a President of his own party. A weak Senator, like Ben Cardin, is neither seen nor heard.

A Senate leader puts nation and state before party.

A Senate leader never forgets that his first loyalty must be to his state and nation - not to his party or ambitions. A Senator who sacrifices state or nation to party (e.g., by meekly following disastrous political dictates of Senate party bosses, the White House, or the Governor) is a burden. Maryland's situation is all too common: today in the Senate, Maryland needs a work horse to defend her interests. Instead, Maryland is burdened with a Trojan Horse who defends party interests.

A Senate leader knows when to step down.

For most Americans, longevity brings wisdom. In Congress, longevity brings isolation. Isolation from the people invites tyranny. Such isolation is visible in Baghdad's fortified 'Green Zone,' whose original architect was Saddam Hussein, not the American soldier. America must not tolerate creation of a Green Zone around Congress by politicians-for-life. A Senate leader who is truly concerned about the interests of his state and nation knows this. Like General Washington, he understands the critical value to the nation of a Farewell Address. He leaves on a warhorse, not a gurney.

Ben Cardin has held elected office since 1967. His time is up.

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Jim Pettit
Richard Douglas for U.S. Senate
P.O. Box 586
Battlefield Station
Bladensburg, MD 20710
301-653-7796
301-704-1363 cell
www.DouglasforSenate2012.com