Republican Votes Won’t Be Enough : The ‘revolution’ will need Democratic support, too

When the 104th Congress convenes today, Newt Gingrich is expected to become the 50th Speaker of the House, the first Republican in the post in four decades. No stranger to hardball politics, the Georgian stands to dominate the legislative agenda. He can boast a largely unified Republican membership, one with a well-defined mission (something the Democratic majority lacked in the last session). But that’s not enough. As long as Bill Clinton is in the White House, the Speaker will need the votes of more than a handful of House and Senate Democrats to veto-proof the Republicans’ “contract with America.”

Welfare reform, tax cuts, spending cuts, more defense spending, term limits, a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget, an end to unfunded federal mandates, privatization of some government services and crime bills will dominate the GOP agenda. Approval isn’t a given. Although the new GOP dominance in both chambers has changed the political climate, the Republican majorities of 53-47 in the Senate and 230-204 in the House, where there is one independent, are not inviolate.

Gingrich and Bob Dole (R-Kansas), the new Senate majority leader, will ask members to tackle congressional reform on the session’s first day, typically marked by ceremony only. In the House, Gingrich will ask members to vote today to require a three-fifths majority to raise taxes. That pace is unusual, and to the degree it signals that this Congress is not up to business-as-usual, it’s good. Normally when a new session begins, members are sworn in and then take a two-week break to decide who will get which plum office and committee assignments. These are just the sort of misplaced priorities that so infuriate voters.

The first 100 days of this new session are critical because Gingrich has promised speedy passage of much of the GOP “contract with America.” Clearly, a new way of doing business should be encouraged in a town that has become synonymous with the phrase “but we’ve always done it that way.” Another round of gridlock would surely make voters angry enough to “throw the bums out”--again. While Gingrich may have no desire to become Speaker-for-life as others did, he does want to pass his agenda. Success, however, will require compromise.

The Democrats should not expect any favors. When they ran the House, even their most collegial Speakers frustrated the will of the minority Republicans. Long accustomed to being in charge, the Democrats aren’t expected to play dead, but they may have to compromise as they have not in many years. Compromise is nothing new in Washington--nor should it be--but it’s how far the Democrats will have to go to meet the Republicans that will be interesting. And if the GOP allows its extremists to rule, moderate Republicans may actually find they have more in common with the remaining moderate Democrats. That has to be President Clinton’s hope. Gingrich needs to remember that it wasn’t him the nation’s voters elected in November. Americans voted for shaking things up. He’s doing that, and that’s fine. But if he really wants to advance not merely the GOP agenda but an agenda for America, he needs to lose the bully-boy image. Turning off voters will only put brakes on this revolution.

Bipartisanship won’t come easy in the 104th Congress. But plain old give-and-take compromise is the best contract with America.