Tag Archives: John Tower

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Oh, for the good old days …

A former member of Congress once told me a story that I want to share with you today because it reminds me of the days when Congress spent time actually governing and ignored the insults the other side would toss at them.

The ex-rep is Larry Combest, a Lubbock Republican and a man of high principle. Combest once represented the southern half of Amarillo, the part of the city that sat within the Randall County area of the Texas Panhandle.

Combest once served as an aide to Sen. John Tower, a Republican who once was slated to become defense secretary during the George H.W. Bush administration; his nomination got derailed over some persnal conduct issues. According to Combest, Tower had friends across the aisle, one of whom was Sen. Hubert Humphrey, a Minnesota Democrat. Tower and Humphrey would engage in ferocious floor debates over this or that public policy. Both men were adamant in their beliefs. They would raise their voices to each other.

Then, at the end of a day of stern debate, Sens. Tower and Humphrey would walk across the Senate floor, shake hands and often embrace as they walked through the doors of the chamber. Combest said the men were friends and never let harsh words spoken on the Senate floor sully their friendship.

I can cite many examples of bipartisan friendships in the Senate: Democrat Daniel Inouye of Hawaii and Republican Bob Dole of Kansas; Democrat George McGovern of South Dakota and Republican Barry Goldwater of Arizona; Republican John McCain of Arizona and Democrat Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. I need to add that Combest once told me his best friend in the House was a Democrat, fellow West Texan Charles Stenholm of Abilene. All of these men were fierce advocates of their points of view. They all maintained close friendships with their friends on the other side.

I want a return to that level of collegiality. These days we hear criticism that cuts deeply. It makes me wonder whether there is a relationship between the way lawmakers treated each other then and what we have today … which happens to be a Senate where nothing gets done.

Coincidence? I think not!

national news, political news

Senate sees the end of collegiality

There once was a time when the U.S. Senate could be a place where senators disagreed but remained friends.

I believe those days are over. They perhaps have been gone for a lot longer than I realize. The confirmation battle over Judge Neil Gorsuch closes the deal.

Say goodbye to Senate collegiality.

Battle changes the dynamic

Gorsuch’s confirmation came on a fairly narrow vote. All Republicans voted to seat him on the U.S. Supreme Court; all but three Democrats voted against his confirmation.

Some of us — including yours truly — used to believe the federal judiciary somehow was insulated from partisan politics. Not true. Maybe it’s never been true.

Senate Republicans tossed the filibuster rule into the crapper to get Gorsuch confirmed. The Senate used to require 60 votes to quell a filibuster. Democrats launched a filibuster to block Gorsuch’s confirmation; Republicans answered by invoking the so-called “nuclear option” and changing the rule to allow only a simple majority to end a filibuster.

Democrats are angry that Donald J. Trump got elected president in the first place. Their anger metastasized with Trump’s appointment of Gorsuch after Republicans blocked Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to succeed the late Antonin Scalia.

I’m not at all confident that either side is going to find a way toward some common ground — on anything!

I recall a story that former Republican U.S. Rep. Larry Combest once told me about his former boss, the late U.S. Sen. John Tower; Combest served on Tower’s staff.

Tower, a Texas Republican, was a fierce partisan. One day, as Combest recalled it, he and another equally ferocious partisan debater, the late Democrat Hubert Humphrey, were arguing on the Senate floor about some legislation. They were gesturing and shouting and saying some angry things while arguing their points, Combest remembered.

After a lengthy floor debate, the presiding officer gaveled the session closed, Combest said, and Sens. Tower and Humphrey walked toward the middle of the floor, shook hands — and walked out the door with their arms around each other.

My gut tells me those moments are long gone.

political news

Paul does the Texas thing: two races at once

Kentucky’s Rand Paul is seeking to do something that Texas politicians have done for years.

He wants the ability to run for his U.S. Senate seat and the presidency of the United States at the same time.

Go for it, Sen. Paul.

Rand Paul gets initial green light to run for both White House and Senate

Paul is expected to get approval by the Kentucky Republican Party soon, enabling him to file for re-election and seek the GOP nomination for the presidency in 2016.

What’s the big deal?

The two most famous Texans to do the same thing were the late Democratic U.S. Sens. Lyndon Johnson and Lloyd Bentsen. LBJ was elected vice president in 1960 and was re-elected to the Senate the same year; the state held a special election in 1961 and Republican John Tower finished first in a huge field for the Senate seat. Then, in 1988, Sen. Bentsen was running for re-election when he was picked to run as vice president on a Democratic ticket led by Michael Dukakis; the Dukakis-Bentsen ticket didn’t win the White House, but Bentsen was re-elected handily over Amarillo Congressman Beau Boulter.

I’ve never had a particular problem with this electoral “loophole.” As for Rand Paul’s political future, the Kentucky GOP holds the key to allowing him to seek re-election to the Senate.

Let him to do it. If he’s as popular in Kentucky as he appears to be, there won’t be much need to campaign actively for that seat while he seeks the GOP presidential nomination.

And hey, if Paul gets drummed out of the Republican presidential race, he’s got plenty of campaign time left to make the case for his Senate seat.