Archive (2007)

Kuhl This Week

Most of this week's media focus was on the spectacle of Nancy Pelosi's elevation to speaker. Nevertheless, Randy Kuhl was able to get a couple of his observations published.

The Olean Times-Herald reports that Randy's hard at work on a couple of projects, including the expansion of Route 219 and West Valley cleanup. In this story, Kuhl portrays himself as ready to compromise to serve his district.

The West Valley bill is a $1 billion authorization [...] I hope the New York senators can move it through their (chamber) and help me with the Democratic leadership in the House. I’m willing to give up sponsorship if it means passage.

Kuhl also says that he's in charge of a "shrinking pot" now that he's a minority member, but “I’m still going to have to deliver for my district.”

Finally, Syracuse Channel 10's report includes this quote from Kuhl:

The [D]emocrats have control. They can pass bills in this house. They can pass bills in the Senate. So, they have the complete responsibility, number one, and the power to adopt and set policy in this country going ahead. They have two years to show the American public that they are for change.

Nothing surprising here. Kuhl's strategy of concentrating on getting funding for his district and, for the most part, portraying himself as a spectator in the squabbles between the Republicans and Democrats got him re-elected. He's going to stick with it during his second term.

Kuhl's First Votes in the 110th

The first set of votes in the 110th Congress were mainly party-line votes for Speaker and the House Rules. The single exception was the vote for Title IV of the Rules, which dealt with earmark reform and pay-as-you-go budget financing. About a quarter of the Republicans joined the Democrats to vote for this provision. Maintaining his practice of party loyalty, Kuhl voted with the majority of the Republicans on this measure.

Media Lessons

As Randy Kuhl begins his new role as member of the opposition, he can learn from the media coverage of his leadership and hopefully avoid a couple of mistakes:

  • First, it's easy for the opposition to sound like whiners. Consider Adam Putnam, the Florida Republican who's been given the unenviable job of chief complainer. Putnam's current gripe is that the Democrats are doing to the Republicans what the Republicans did to the Democrats: limiting amendments and debate. Here's a telling exchange from last night's News Hour interview:

    MARGARET WARNER [reporter]: And you don't think there's a bit of a double-standard here in you all complaining about that now?
    REP. ADAM PUTNAM: Well, you know, obviously people at home are saying, "Oh, you guys are just complaining about the same stuff the Democrats used to complain about."

    When you acknowledge that "people at home" don't give a shit about what you're saying, perhaps it's time for a new media strategy. The Putnam lesson for Kuhl is that people don't care about process, as long as it yields results. The Republicans need only wait 100 hours to start complaining about results, and Kuhl would be wise to hold his tongue until then.

  • The second lesson is that demonization is a double-edged sword. The terrible reign of Speaker Pelosi that was forecast during the 2006 campaign has so far been non-apocalyptic. She looked pretty good yesterday. Pelosi limits her media presence and has ironclad message discipline. I don't see her becoming the she-devil forecast in campaign rhetoric unless the power that she so obviously enjoys goes to her head. That will probably happen soon enough. Until then, attacking her will probably be counterproductive.