20/03/2019
It's the first day of spring and hope is in the air in New England - hope that the Red Sox will repeat as World Series Champions; hope that Governor Baker will figure out how to fix the T; hope that Senator Markey will have a fresh lineup of witty acronyms ready for the 116th Congress; and hope that the rest of America can understand why we are so great (I mean that only half-jokingly).
Alas, there are those in the political realm that doubt New England's political primacy in 2019; look no further than Wendy J. Schiller, chair of the Political Science Department at Brown University. Professor Schiller's recent article in the Boston Globe Magazine suggests that New England's political power, just as Trent Dilfer once referred to Tom Brady, just isn't that good anymore. And her argument? New England members of Congress aren't that powerful within the overall power structure in the House/Senate.
On the surface of the argument, she's not entirely wrong: only 3 New Englanders are chairs of committees (Senate: Collins (ME), Special Committee on Aging; House: Neal (MA), Ways and Means; McGovern (MA), Rules), the political makeup of the delegation (32 Ds, 1 R) is in stark contrast to the party in power in the Senate and White House, and only 6 of the delegation's 21 House members (Neal, DeLauro (CT), McGovern, Larson (CT), Langevin (RI), Lynch (MA)) crack the top 100 in overall seniority.
But let's focus on a few reasons why, as always, New England is on top. First and foremost, McGovern and Neal as chairmen of two powerful committees is a big plus for not only the region, but the country. 9 total reps hold House subcommittee chairmanships, including two subcommittee chairs on the most bipartisan committee of them all, Armed Services. 3 Senators are their committee's Ranking Member (Leahy on Appropriations, Reed on Armed Services, and Sanders on Budget). (Katherine Clark (MA, Dem Caucus vice chair) and David Cicilline (RI, Dem Policy and Communications chair) are both top lieutenants in Speaker Pelosi's leadership team. A Kennedy is still in the mix (Joe Kennedy III) in the Massachusetts delegation. Two of the top tier presidential candidates (Warren and Sanders) hail from MA and VT; one more (Moulton) could join the field in the not too distant future. And don't forget that one of the most high profile Freshman House members, Ayanna Pressley, hails from the City Upon a Hill.
To paraphrase Mark Twain - himself an emigrant to New England - the reports of our demise are an exaggeration. To also paraphrase Senator Markey, this argument that New England's political power is waning is akin to the NRA - Not Relevant Anymore.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2019/01/23/new-england-losing-political-clout/5XJPIBXQG9pa5OnYxoqo1J/story.html
That’s bad for us, and a bad sign for American democracy.
