Shaun has already written about Rep. Frank Wolf’s public outburst aimed at Grover Norquist. For those of who’ve followed Grover’s machinations, Wolf’s comments weren’t all that different from what conservatives have been saying privately about the Americans for Tax Reform president for many years. The only real difference was that Wolf worked clean. Grover’s detractors work blue…deep blue. But for all their rage and choice Anlgo-Saxon nouns, that they have yet to find an alternative to Norquist, or even his weekly meetings, speaks more about their impotence than much else.
It’s very much an inside baseball spat (though for the curious, you can get a good, gossipy dose of it all here). Nevertheless, even this most beltway-centric of blow-ups is enough for the RTD’s Jeff Schapiro jumps in with his own take on why Uncle Frank decided to take Grover to the congressional record woodshed. The results are much like those one would expect of a group of blind men describing an elephant.
Jeff believes Wolf is trying to create some sort of electoral cushion for himself, being that the boundaries of Wolf’s district aren’t set. Wolf also took off-mic swings at Democrats, to ensure, Jeff says, that Republicans pinned to Grover’s sleeve won’t be too upset with his remarks.
If you want to believe that Norquist has a kind of Svengali-like hold over Virginia Republicans, you’re free to do so. I suggest, though, that it gives Norquist far too much credit for what he and his group do. And whatever influence Grover may hold with the elected doesn’t reach down to the voters. Case in point: Grover’s thundering in 2004 that he would take out the Republicans who signed on to then-Gov. Mark Warner’s tax hike. The infamous “Least Wanted” poster promised retribution at the polls. But when it came time to actually take out those apostates, ATR ran a half-hearted campaign that was limited to having a few of the posters placed in Metrorail cars.
The “least wanted” did quite well for themselves in the 2005 elections. And some have since thrived.
But let’s talk about the one person Jeff doesn’t mention in his column who turned his back on the no tax pledge: Gov. Bob McDonnell. As a candidate, McDonnell refused to sign the ATR pledge, even though he had done so as a Delegate. This refusal did little if anything to hold McDonnell back in the 2009 gubernatorial race and now the Governor is considered prime vice presidential material.
So those who do turn Grover’s pledge down — for whatever reason — generally tend to do okay in Virginia. It’s not because the pledge isn’t important to some — it is. Rather, the pledge, Norquist and the rest just don’t register with the average voter. They have other, bigger, concerns on their minds.
And really — what is the pledge worth? Russ Potts signed the pledge, yet managed to survive in the state Senate, and even make a spiteful run for governor in 2005. Heck, even Democrat Roscoe Reynolds signed Grover’s oath.
Is a pledge with such signers worth the paper and ink it consumes? Not really. Nor does Grover deserve to continue to live, rent free, in the heads of conservatives and Republicans. The sooner they give him the boot, the better off they will be.
