This commentary is by Bob Stannard of Manchester, an author, musician and former state legislator and lobbyist.
After the fifth vote denying Rep. Kevin McCarthy his long-desired position as speaker of the U.S. House, I reached out to my friend, and former speaker of the Vermont House, Ralph Wright.
Wright won the speakership of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1985 as a Democrat with a six-seat Republican majority. It was no easy feat. In this interview, he describes how he was able to win.
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“My come-from-behind victory when six votes down was made possible because any Republican who voted for me had the cover of a secret ballot. Maybe the difference here between what McCarthy is going through and what I experienced is that I believe my Republican votes were commitments to me, not to any returned favor. Friendship came before Party in Vermont.
“I got commitments from more than the six needed, as I was aware there was more than a possibility that a Democrat or two would jump ship. I had made friends in the other party (my roommate was a Republican). McCarthy seems to have never made any friends across the aisle. Sixteen years and no friends that he might someday need.
“It was a lot of hard work traveling to all ends of the state, meeting with members. I obviously didn’t have to visit with those I knew were personal friends and loyal to the core, but there were a lot of Democrats, especially in my first race against Bob Kinsey, who believed I was an upstart and couldn’t win, considering that there were six more Republicans in the House than Democrats. In addition, there were Democrats who didn’t like that I was pretty far left and a slightly smaller group that didn’t like me personally.
“I took pride in getting to know my members (all my members; not just Democrats). I tried to learn what I could about their personal life, family, likes and dislikes. I actually kept a ‘run into’ roster for my entire 10 years that I utilized to remind myself to not let too much time go by without talking to any one member. If I didn’t see you in a week or so, I would make a point to ‘run into’ you somewhere in the building.
“I kept a cash box in the desk drawer with a couple of hundred dollars, available, no questions asked, for small loans until payday. It was my personal money. I only got stiffed once by a member who died owing me maybe $20.
“McCarthy seems to have traveled a different road. He’s too willing to trade anything to be speaker. He made promises to the point where he had nothing left to sell except himself, which now has no value.
“Infrequently, I promised committee appointments in return for a vote, but never to any member who I thought could do any damage to the policies I cared about. I showed as much bipartisanship as I could by appointing six Republican chairs in my first term. I made a Republican chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee.
“Members knew that I was capable of being a bastard. Disloyalty or deception guaranteed retribution. I didn’t have to use this weapon often, but I never hesitated when it was called for. If you were playing games with me, you ran the risk of ending up on Fish and Game measuring trout for two years.
“Don’t misread this. I never punished anyone for how they voted as long as they gave me a heads up so I could adjust my count (I held the ability to count in high esteem. McCarthy seems to have slept through that class).
“We didn’t raise the kind of money that McCarthy raised to support his candidates, but I gave them what I thought was more important; my time. I held daylong meetings teaching about the effort it took to get elected. That was followed by constant contact during the campaign season, which was appreciated. Only in the last couple of years did I ever raise any significant amounts of money to send their way, but it was my time with them that really mattered.
“I knew what I believed in. My members never had trouble knowing where I stood. McCarthy never seemed to spend much time formulating a platform he felt would advance the causes important to Americans. It was always what advanced Kevin’s cause.
“Throughout my life, I always admired politicians who were willing to risk it all for a cause. People who weren’t afraid to lose and showed no fear of it. McCarthy is not one of them, as he appears to live with terror. That’s a real anchor around any leader’s ability to sail the ship. I had lost a lot of more important things in life and losing an issue, or an election, wasn’t going to run my life off the tracks.
“If McCarthy’s got anything solid inside, he will find there’s a better life that awaits him. One that certainly has to be better than sitting through vote after vote, having your colleagues tell you they don’t respect you enough to allow you to lead them.”
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As of this writing on the second anniversary of the historic, humiliating GOP Jan. 6 insurrection, the House Republicans, on their 15th historic, humiliating try, elected the man who sold his soul to be their speaker.
