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Governing As A National Majority

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By STENY HOYER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 23, 2008

I will never forget how I felt two weeks ago when I watched Barack Obama celebrating with more than a hundred thousand in Chicago, tens of millions across our nation, and millions more around the world. Now, Congress has to ensure that we live up to the possibility of that day, and the promise of this moment in history.

As Democrats, our first job is to remember where our majority came from. We did not just make full-blown ideological converts of the other half of the country. What we did do - and this in itself was a huge accomplishment - was convince majority-making independents that we will govern responsibly and effectively at a time of national crisis. The 33 new members of Congress coming to Washington to swell our side of the aisle are pragmatic, not dogmatic. They were elected on promises of bipartisanship and fiscal discipline.

Of course, Republicans have to be willing to reach back. Instead, they may choose to pursue a strategy of obstruction, especially when so many conservatives are blaming the media, blaming moderates, blaming everyone but themselves for what happened on Nov. 4. In the immediate future, with no governing responsibility and with the moderate Republican virtually extinct, the other party is likely to move even further away from the centrist and independent voters who sustained its majorities.

But that wouldn't just be bad for Republicans - it would be damaging for our country. We need a loyal opposition to engage constructively on legislation, to challenge Democratic arguments and hold us to account.

In the next Congress, our first focus must be on the health of our economy. Democrats will create jobs with projects to renew our worn-down infrastructure -the roads, bridges, pipes and tracks that are the foundation of our prosperity. We will also help workers who have lost their jobs keep access to health care, temporarily increase food stamp benefits and extend unemployment insurance, measures that economists consider some of the most efficient kinds of stimulus.

But in the long run, fiscal responsibility can and must be at the core of our entire governing philosophy. It does not simply mean paying for what we buy - it means buying the right things. Smart spending can help us get back to long-term fiscal health; spending wisely today can save us money tomorrow. That is why there is still room for Democrats to make far-reaching proposals, even in this recession.

On energy, for instance, a fiscally responsible strategy would invest in new technologies to bring the price of energy down in the long term - because there is nothing more shortsighted than acting as if our foreign oil addiction is a problem only when gas costs more than $3 a gallon, or only during an oil shortage, or only over the summer. Our energy policy should also include long-term investment to prevent waste by modernizing our national grid.

Governing as a national majority does not mean setting modest, middling goals. It means ambitious goals, pursued thoughtfully, with time taken to win arguments and build the agreement that has so far eluded us. As our next president said in Grant Park: "While the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress."

That is our great challenge in the years to come. As we turn from promise to progress, from speeches to statute, let us do all we can to meet it.

Congressman Steny Hoyer, D-Md., is majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. This column was distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

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