Changes of command
The military probably does it best. In the U.S. Navy, the two ship captains stand in front of the assembled crew and read their orders. Then the incoming captain turns to the outgoing captain, salutes and says, “I relieve you, Sir.” And it’s all over, the leadership has shifted hands. It’s not exactly democratic but it does tend to minimize the posturing and suppress the caterwauling that seems to accompany most changes of leadership.
Elections, for all of their noise and expense, are also reasonably final, except perhaps in Florida, but that’s another story. We spend a fortune en route to a decision, but the decision date is set in advance and we all know, at least in the United States, that after it’s over the old guy’s going to leave and the new guy’s going to get sworn in on a set day. (Lest I be accused of sexism, I use the term “guy” in its most generic way to include woman.)
But when you drop down into the nether world of a leadership fight for the majority leader of the U.S. Senate, or even chair of the California Coastal Commission, the battles get nasty beyond description and all the rules are suspended. The truth is, there are no rules other than self-serving ambition. It doesn’t seem to matter if you’re left, right or center, the battle always looks the same.
I never thought I’d actually believe I could feel sorry for Sen. Trent Lott, but I do. By no stretch of the imagination would I call him my kind of guy, but the Spanish Inquisition must have first invented the process he’s going through right now. Admittedly, what he said was incredibly stupid, and his first attempts at damage control were clumsy at best, but it’s now reached the point that if he goes out and personally apologizes to every living soul in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, it’s not going to be enough.
The truth is, I suspect there are some in the Republican Party who want to dump him as a leader, and the president has signaled to them it’s their call to make, which is probably very wise since the Senate can get real sensitive about the White House trying to pick its leader. Lott’s been majority leader for a while, and he’s built up enemies and resentments. And sometimes, I’m sure, he’s found himself saying no to people with long memories. If Bush had wanted to save his hide he’d be talking about Lott’s irreplaceable leadership skills, which he’s not. Apparently, Lott is too left for the right, and too right for the left, and the White House
figures he’s now a political liability so he’s probably history. But the process is brutal.
They leak all sorts of stuff about you, most of which has been around for years, except now people are listening because everyone just loves a public execution. In our world this is about as close as it gets to one. So it’s probably, So long Trent, and long live the king. In one story I read it was suggested he might even resign from the Senate, which means a democratic governor would get to appoint his replacement. That wouldn’t make Republicans happy. I don’t think he’ll really quit, I think he’s just negotiating his Golden parachute, which will probably be a big title and maybe a new shipyard in Mississippi, and a place to go lick his wounds.
A similar thing happened here in California with the battle for the Coastal Commission chair. Sara Wan, like Lott, was desperately trying to hang on to power. She massed her troops, bombarded the governor and the speaker with pleas, and they swore all kinds of retribution if she was bounced. But it didn’t work. A majority of the commission wanted her gone for much the same reasons-she had made enemies and stepped on many, many toes. Also, a great deal of it was personal because no one ever accused Wan of having a light touch. But once it was clear she was probably a goner, the attack switched, and Wan and her troops wanted to choose her successor. They went on the attack against Dave Potter, vice-chair of the commission and the likely new chair. He was accused of being essentially in the hip pocket of the big land developers. This is strange because, when he was appointed to the commission a few years ago, his local reputation, according to an editorial in a local newspaper, was that he was too much of a no-growth environmentalist and the business community was not crazy about his appointment. Now he’s suddenly a developer’s toady with a capital D and the Wanistas and the Sierra Club went out to kill his appointment. They succeeded partially and Potter didn’t make it, but the battlefield is now littered with bodies. My guess is it will take a while for these wounds to heal.
P.S. The irony of it all is that when Larry Wan (Sara’s husband) was mayor of Malibu, his opponents accused him of being pro-development and the accusation stuck even though it was patently untrue. The same applies to Potter. The accusations are equally untrue, but, unfortunately, if you throw enough of it up, some of it always sticks.