Cole's interesting insights

U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, one of the country's sharpest political minds, always provides thoughtful insight about goings-on in Washington and elsewhere. He did so recently during a virtual gathering of the Ripon Society, a Republican public policy organization. Among the highlights:

The GOP's strongerthan-expected showing in the Nov. 3 elections — Republicans gained several seats in the House and are expected to retain control of the Senate — will impact how House Republicans govern in 2021.

“The fact that we have more members in our conference is going to do a couple of things,” said Cole, R-Moore. “Number one, it has really strengthened our leadership … I think members will do anything their leadership asks them to do within reason because they were so spectacularly vindicated in this particular election. So we're going to have a lot of unity and we're going to have a lot of energy.

“And, we're going to be able to have a lot of fun on the floor,” he said. “There's no question we're going to be able to put a lot of pressure on Democrats who are going to have to put vulnerable members in the position of casting tough votes.”

A post-election conference call among Democratic House members revealed a clear split in the party between the far-left faction and more moderate members. Speaker Nancy Pelosi must wrestle with that.

The contrast between the mindsets of the two parties, Cole predicted, “is going to play out over and over again on the floor.” Regardless of the direction chosen by Democrats, the GOP is “much better positioned to either legislate or fight.”

Cole said he wants to see Congress approve another coronavirus relief bill sooner rather than later.

“There are 10 million people who are not employed who were employed in February. Those people are running out of benefits and time,” he said. “We need to not leave them behind. We've got small businesses, particularly in areas of the country where there is another spike, that may find themselves put under certain restrictions or some sort of shutdown. They're going to need another round of PPP in my opinion.”

Congress also needs to pass legislation to keep the government funded, Cole said. Current funding runs through Dec. 11. “Can we do an omnibus? Does the president want to sign an omnibus? I'm not sure, really.”

Speaking of President Trump, Cole called COVID19 vaccine development “one of the great triumphs” of the administration, and said Trump's influence on the party will continue.

Given the GOP's downballot successes this year, Trump and his team “have every right to have a very strong voice in what shape the Republican Party is going to take moving forward," Cole said. "Anybody who thinks that the era of Trump is over I think is making a very premature and inappropriate judgment.”

Time will tell whether Cole is right and if so, how that manifests itself within the GOP.