What Will Steny Hoyer Do?

Zachary Roth of the Washington Monthly has an illuminating profile of Steny Hoyer, who is not only the no. 2 House Democrat and in line to become House Majority Leader after November, but is also my congressman. Unlike Nancy Pelosi, in line to become the next Speaker of the House, Hoyer is far more centrist, i.e., conservative, on a number of issues, particularly Iraq, bankruptcy policy, and lobbying reform. While Democrats need a centrist in the leadership to help keep more conservative Dems in line, Roth points out the possible shortcomings of the Hoyer's leadership:

But the flip side of Hoyer's obsession with process and old-fashioned relationship building is a reluctance to think strategically about changing the ways that Washington operates -- even when doing so would benefit Democrats. Over the last year and a half, Hoyer -- a protege of Tony Coelho, the former California congressman who revolutionized Democratic fundraising in the 1980s -- has led an aggressive effort to raise money from K Street lobbyists. Even more important, he has seemed unwilling to fundamentally rethink the unhealthy relationship between lobbyists and legislators that currently drives our political system. If Democrats are not only to regain power, but to maintain it and govern in a fairer and more responsive fashion, they'll need to unite behind root-and-branch reform. But the evidence suggests that Hoyer lacks the political vision, and the will, to do so.

Already K Street is directing contributions to Democrats, in anticipation of a Democratic takeover. While everyone should be glad to have sanity return to Congress, those of us interested in not just correcting the Republicans' errors, but advancing a progressive agenda of our own, might end up being disappointed. That said, I think Harold Meyerson's projection of what the Dems will do if they win is spot on.

Having moved into Hoyer's district only recently, I know of him mainly through denunciations of him from Atrios, Markos, et al, which are referenced in Roth's article. It's important to remember that, as Roth says, Hoyer is no Joe Lieberman -- he is not in love with his own contrarian self. Rather, he represents something something more complex than Lieberman: the moderate-conservative wing of the Democratic Party. Unlike the relatively homogeneous Republicans, we liberal Dems are going to have negotiate with the moderate Dems in order to get any of the policies we want enacted. That doesn't mean liberals should abandon any ambitious plans for, say, health care or the environment, but it does mean we have a higher hurdle to jump.

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