For muscular moderation

It cannot happen. It would require today’s politicians to vote with and for some in the opposing party in the interest of country over party.

That is a pitiably naïve notion in the contemporary dysfunctional state of American politics.

But the current situation in the U.S. House of Representatives gives me an opportunity to demonstrate how my pipe dream of “muscular moderation” could work.

What happened last weekend on the brink of a government shutdown was that the shifty Republican House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, did the right thing. He was in a corner with the right thing being his grudging best option.

He could not persuade a half-dozen or so disruptive kook-right members of his own caucus to do the sensible thing and vote for a simple shortterm spending resolution that would let the federal government stay open pending albeit unpromising further negotiation.

In the great American political stalemate, neither party has six votes to spare.

McCarthy threw up his arms and broke a promise he had made to those right-wingers in January to secure some of their votes to make him speaker. That promise was not to work with Democrats, because they are … pedophiles or commies or covid-vaccination advocates or something.

McCarthy settled on a short-term spending extension that was acceptable enough to Democrats that they would join with whatever number of Republicans he could hold. And he could count on plenty, but not enough to pass the measure by themselves.

Democrats filibustered against that bill for a while so that their smartest speed-readers could pore over the suddenly appearing measure. One New York Democrat pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon Office Building, apparently to lengthen the delay.

Soon Democratic experts declared the bill fine, a bit of a victory, in fact, for Democrats.

The extension passed with more Democratic votes than Republican ones, and with no hard-right Republican votes.

So, it also turned out that McCarthy, in selling his soul in January to get to be Mr. Speaker, had agreed to a kookright rule that any single member of the House could, at any time, mandate a vote within 48 hours on vacating the speakership. That meant there could be an instant motion from a singular source to throw out McCarthy as speaker if he ever sinned unforgivably, such as keeping government open with votes from Democrats.

Republican hard-righter Matt Gaetz of Florida is a lesser male imitation of Lauren Boebert or Marjorie Taylor-Greene—a grandstanding, hypocritical and pointless blowhard addicted to personal attention.

Most of the Republican caucus, an estimated 210 votes, remained with McCarthy. But 210 is not enough to pass anything, meaning Democrats could decide McCarthy’s fate.

Democrats decided not to save McCarthy through negotiation because he was not a trustworthy person. Being better than Gaetz was far from good enough.

Here is how muscular moderation would work in this circumstance: Democrats would align with the two dozen or so moderate Republicans, some of whom represent districts Joe Biden won, to elect one of those moderate Republicans speaker.

That’s only fair since Republicans hold the slim majority.

Thus, Democrats and the better Republicans would form a pragmatic, center-out ruling order in the House that would keep government funded and aid to Ukraine continuing.

There would be no “progressive” Democratic policy. There would be no disruptive Republican policy. There would be only an excellent shot at sane and responsible government functioning.

Gaetz and his hard-right friends would be marginalized on a back bench that no one needed to pay attention to. McCarthy would just be another member, trying to sell a car on an empty lot.

Gaetz would have maneuvered himself into deserved irrelevancy.

A problem with the scenario would be whether the saner, more moderate Republicans would show the nerve to go along. And the even likelier deal-killer would be on the Democrats’ progressive left and among national Democratic strategists.

Those on the left would dare not offend the liberal base by voting for any Republican, even a good one, to be speaker. Party operatives would have no idea how to raise money and fashion a re-election message out of working nicely with moderate Republicans to install a Republican speaker.

“Sensible, cooperative government for a great country.” What kind of milquetoast political message is that?

I could see an image of a firm and flexed bicep with the caption, “Moderates aren’t mushy anymore.” But how would candidates raise money and motivate turnout without something to fear and hate?

P.S.: There is another way muscular moderation would work.

It would laugh at Democrats saying their guy pulled the fire alarm accidentally. It would shame Republicans who say that pulling the fire alarm was as bad as rioting in the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Muscular moderation would find the truth where it lives anymore, in the neglected in-between.