November 2020
REFLECTIONS OF A FORMER GOP STAFFER
Earlier this week I
responded to a Facebook post from a friend from my hometown in South Carolina.
Overwhelmingly, the friends on the thread were strong Trump supporters. For
them and for many others, (8 of 10 Trump supporters according to a national
poll I saw today) there is a belief that the election was stolen. Most also
believe Biden will have a scary socialist agenda, as well. What follows is an
edited version of my response my friend’s post. I have never expressed
political opinions on Facebook before, and do not think my comments here are
“political” either. These are just my personal observations. However, I do know that we are a very divided
nation, and it is hard to say anything about Trump, the election, or Biden
without triggering strong, sincere emotions. After being in DC for 35 years and
working in politics most of my life, my guess is that progressives who voted
for Biden won’t like some of what I have to say. Neither will many strong Trump
supporters. So, I was not expecting to get a lot of “likes” or “shares”, but
surprisingly I did! I also know that we
live in in hyper-partisan times and the Senate has changed since I worked
there. Yet, I am still an optimist and believe that we can have greater
civility and manifest our "better angels" on both sides of the
political aisle for the benefit of Americans. I was asked by a few friends to
post this on my own Facebook page in the hopes that it might be of some
utility. After the response I received
on Facebook, friends asked me to post it more widely. Maybe it will make some folks feel a bit more
comfortable/less anxious. I sure hope so.
“I don't want to use FB to
express my own political opinions or try to convince/argue with anyone else
about politics or politicians. But I do notice that many of my hometown friends
are on this thread and many are concerned about the prospects of a Biden
presidency. I just want to give some perspective, for what it's worth, about
some personal observations I have had over the years here in DC. I came here in
1985 to work for Senator Thurmond, clearly a strong GOP conservative. He was
already 83, and there were Senators and staff who (offensively, in my opinion)
made fun of his age and even his mental acuity. Senator Biden was just the
opposite. He was very deferential and gracious to Senator Thurmond --always.
Not only in public, when the media was watching, but also behind closed doors
when it was just Biden, Thurmond and a few top staff. They worked together very
well and constructively in confirming judges and passing legislation. Before
Senator Thurmond died, and his funeral preparations were being made, he asked
Joe Biden to be one of his eulogists. There were good reasons why. They truly
had a great deal of affection for each other. They didn’t agree politically on
much of anything, but they were friends and they were willing to try to
compromise occasionally. Senator Thurmond wanted his best Democratic friend, Joe
Biden, to show that in his career he had garnered the respect and admiration
from both Republicans and Democrats. Biden could have said "no". That
would probably have been better for him politically within the Democratic party
ranks. But he was true to his friend from the beginning of their relationship
to the end.
I attended Senator Thurmond's funeral in South Carolina. Biden's
eulogy was one of the most moving I have ever heard. Please Google it for
yourselves. Later I worked for Senator Alan Simpson, Republican from Wyoming. I
was his chief of staff/chief counsel while he was the GOP Whip, the #2
Republican in the Senate. He and Biden were also on the Judiciary Committee. In
my job, I worked on the Senate floor. Several times a day, all the Senators would
come to the Senate floor to cast votes. The GOP leadership staff sat on one
side of the chamber (in the back) and the Democratic staff sat on the other.
There was only one Democratic Senator who ever came over and sat with us GOP
staffers, often just to chat, to ask how we were, to find out about the voting
schedule, etc. That was Joe Biden. He had an amazing ability to greet us lowly
staffers by our first names. That was pretty impressive. Most Senators (on both
sides of the aisle) didn't treat staff of the other party so courteously. Biden
definitely stood out for us GOP leadership staffers. He and Simpson also had a
very warm personal relationship, and
worked together to get a variety of bills enacted. Just a few years ago, then
VP Biden personally asked Simpson to co-chair the Bipartisan Commission to
reduce the Federal Deficit (Simpson-Bowles). I do respect that many Americans
don't like what they think will be Biden’s policies/political views. I am not
going to engage on that. However, I do want my FB friends to know that
civility, graciousness, and a willingness to listen and even compromise with
Republicans are a part of his DNA . I've had the opportunity to personally
witness that in my nearly 10 years on Senate staff and then later in my work in
the private sector, too. I hope that these observations (sorry about the
length) might give some friends even a tad bit less anxiety about the
future....”
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