Adding a dash of crazy to the Senate would be an improvement

The RTD’s Jeff Schapiro is worried about the make-up of the Senate after the November elections. Given the cast of zany characters running for seats in that august body, it might come to resemble a down-market Jerry Springer show.

While visions of a cool, moderate, sober Senate may sound nice, they are also illusions. The forced decorum of the chamber masks a body that can be as partisan, petty and small-minded as the House of Delegates. But the Senate gets away with its foibles through a combination of mythology and arrogance. The House doesn’t have that luxury. It’s just not designed that way.

No, the beef folks like Jeff have with the possibility that the Senate’s soothing airs might take on undertones of ozone boils down to Republicans. They might send a crop of crazies to the upper house — Jeff Frederick? Bill Carrico? To the barricades! And to keep things mildly balanced, that whacky Democrat Adam Ebbin might join the Senate, too.

Should any of these colorful characters win in November, they will be joining such level-headed, never angry, courteous to a fault members like Dick Saslaw, who is well past his sell-by date. And Janet Howell, who managed during the last session to impose a wholesale re-write of the Senate’s rules during mid-session to smother Republicans bills she and her caucus disliked.

Then there’s the eternally poised Don McEachin, who doesn’t hold grudges, adores puppies, but has a peculiar way of voicing his disagreement with Republican proposals.

And let’s not overlook Democratic Senators like Henry Marsh, who famously declared that a very moderate version of school choice was the equivalent of Massive Resistance. His less temperate colleague, Democrat Yvonne Miller, compared the idea to “selling our children.”

With such beacons of reason as these in the current Senate, adding a little bit of crazy would be an improvement.

(Cross-posted at Score Radio Network)

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About the author

Norman Leahy

Norm Leahy has written about Virginia and national politics online since 2002, beginning with One Man's Trash (OMT), and continuing through Bacon's Rebellion (both the blog and the e-zine), Sic Semper Tyrannis, NBC12's Decision Virginia, Richmond.com and Tertium Quids. He is the chief blogger at "The Score" and a producer of "The Score" radio show as well as being a Washington Examiner contributor.