Barney Frank wants to be a senator. Is that a good thing or bad?
Barney Frank says he wants to be a US senator. Is that a good thing or bad?
Let鈥檚 back up and fill in the background here, shall we? Representative Frank (D) of Massachusetts just retired after 16 terms in the House. For 32 years, he鈥檚 been pretty much the sharpest-tongued person on Capitol Hill, as well as cantankerous, intelligent, irritating, effective, and outrageous, often all at the same time. He once summed himself up this way: 鈥淚鈥檓 a left-handed gay Jew. I鈥檝e never felt automatically a member of any majority."
He鈥檚 had low moments. In 1990, the House voted to reprimand him for fixing parking tickets for a live-in aide who was also a male prostitute. Republicans consider him the definition of a tax-and-spend liberal.
He鈥檚 also had highs. As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, he helped write the 2010 Dodd-Frank act of financial-institution reforms. The left wing of the Democratic Party considers him a hero.
In the past, he insisted he was leaving Congress for good. He demurred even after President Obama tapped Sen. John Kerry (D) of Massachusetts as the nominee for secretary of State, opening up an interim Senate seat. Frank said he was just too bone tired for the job.
That鈥檚 now a nonoperative position. In a number of media interviews Friday, Frank said he鈥檇 like Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) to appoint him to Senator Kerry鈥檚 seat as interim senator until the Bay State could hold a special election later this year.
The reason for this change of heart? The first months of the Senate session will be chock-full o' nuts with interesting issues, what with the debt-limit fight, the sequester fight, and so on, all occurring at once. Frank said it might be 鈥渋mmodest,鈥� but he believes his experience would help the Democratic Party at a crucial time. (He said he wouldn鈥檛 run for a full term. But who knows?)
鈥淚 think there are progressive ways to work on Social Security and Medicare. I think making the case against them [tea party Republicans] on the debt limit is important,鈥� on Friday. 鈥淎 split emerged in the Republican Party over the fiscal cliff, with mainstream Republicans splitting with the radical right. I think it鈥檚 important for us to continue to exploit that. We need to reach out to conservative Republicans who nonetheless are willing to compromise and find a way to reach a deal.鈥�
Hmm. We鈥檝e got a few thoughts on this matter, unsurprisingly. The first is obvious: This is going to drive conservatives bonkers. Most interim senators are worthy placeholders who don鈥檛 engage much in partisan politics. (See 鈥�Sen. Paul Kirk (D) of Massachusetts, 2009-2010鈥�). Sen. Barney Frank, on the other hand, would not be there just to keep the office lights on.
鈥淭he narcissism of the Beltway barnacle, it burns,鈥� Michelle Malkin after the news broke.
(Frank would be the first to point out that Ms. Malkin is mixing metaphors like she鈥檚 making soup.)
Second, has anybody heard from Governor Patrick about this? Frank has kind of put him on the spot. Maybe he (Patrick) has somebody else in mind. Can he afford to peeve the liberal wing of the state party? What would a Senate delegation composed of Frank and newly elected Elizabeth Warren try to do? If Republican Scott Brown wants to try to regain his just-lost Senate seat, he might benefit from being able to campaign against the dynamic duo of liberals.
Third, they're probably not holding a party in the White House mess to celebrate 鈥淏arney鈥檚 Back Day.鈥� Frank is a committed opponent of possible Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel, because of the latter鈥檚 past impolitic statements about Jews and gays. (Mr. Hagel has since apologized for those words.)
Plus, as a progressive icon, Frank would be unlikely to applaud any deal the White House might try to strike with the GOP over Medicare or Social Security reforms. He might make any 鈥済rand bargain鈥� harder to strike, from Mr. Obama鈥檚 point of view.
The debates would be more fun, though. This is a legislator who told a constituent at a 2009 town-hall meeting on health care that 鈥渢rying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to have an argument with a dining-room table.鈥�
And that was a voter! Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell might need to work on developing a thicker skin if Frank鈥檚 appointment comes through.
