Former Speaker Pelosi will run for House Minority Leader in the 112th Congress. NC District 11 Representative Heath Shuler will challenge her for the number one party leadership position.
Scenario One has Obama as President, Boehner as Speaker, Pelosi as Minority Leader, Democrat-controlled Senate. The result might be so-called "gridlock." But gridlock has never deterred the advance of statism.
Scenario Two has Obama as President, Boehner as Speaker, Shuler as Minority Leader, Democrat-controlled Senate. The result might be bipartisanship. Bipartisanship has never fueled the advance of liberty.
Bipartisanship might mean that more statist public policy gets through Congress and signed by the President. Gridlock might mean less statist public policy gets through Congress and signed by the President.
In the absence of a major tea party influence, gridlock would be preferable from a liberty point of view. In which case, it would be preferably if Pelosi retained Democrat Party leadership. Also, Republicans would relish an ongoing partisan contest from a power politics point of view.
In the presence of a major tea party influence, gridlock could prevent the repeal or reduction of statist public policy. Genuine tea party principles should reduce to the promotion of individual rights, limited government and free markets.
The question is whether or not there is sufficient tea party influence in Congress to make bipartisanship appealing to the liberty agenda. The acceptance and adoption of tea party values in seats of power would be a function of 1) the tea party's understanding and embrace of a consistent libertarian political philosophy and, 2) the ability of the tea party movement at large to exert influence in the culture and in political leaders.
There is a new Tea Party Caucus in the House, Allen West will join the CBC. Rubio and Paul are now Senators. The Democrats and partisan media are flummoxed. Constitution talk is ubiquitous. Liberty candidates will be encourage in the next round of elections. And there are other signs that a greater liberty influence is being felt in politics.
I feel that another positive development for the liberty movement would be the election of conservative Blue Dog Heath Shuler to the number one Democrat Party leadership position, over against Pelosi. If the larger liberty community could get behind Shuler in his bid for leadership for strategic reasons, his election could prove fatal to the progress of statism and lead the country into a more serious conversation about direction.
Politics follows culture. The success of any liberty agenda will not result from a single election or the passage or repeal of legislation. It must burst forth from the culture prior to a sustainable element in politics.
The recent mid-term elections have been rightly portrayed as a repudiation of the hard left Obama-Pelosi progressive agenda. The election of Shuler as party leader would further solidify this sentiment in the public consciousness.
It is for these reasons that I support the election of Heath Shuler as Minority Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 112th Congress.
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