TNR BLOGS

Palin Round-Up
July 03, 2009 | 7:55 PM
TNR Exclusive: Palin's Ex-Campaign Manager Reacts
July 03, 2009 | 7:37 PM
Palin’s Independence Day
July 03, 2009 | 7:12 PM

Check Out Noam Scheiber's New Blog, THE STASH
March 09, 2009 | 5:19 PM
Check Out TNR's New Health Care Blog, THE TREATMENT
March 09, 2009 | 5:16 PM
Farewell to The Stump
January 07, 2009 | 12:20 PM

War All The Time
July 01, 2009 | 10:33 PM
150 Years And Not One Day More
June 30, 2009 | 8:42 AM
Postscript To "He Hit Me..."
June 29, 2009 | 9:09 AM

Bush's Team of Unrivals
July 26, 2008 | 2:24 PM
Obama's Jump Shot for the Ages
July 23, 2008 | 1:55 PM
If Only Tennis Ruled the World...
July 17, 2008 | 3:56 PM

Weekend Reading
July 03, 2009 | 10:13 PM
Harry Reid, Not Very Pugilistic Ex-Boxer
July 02, 2009 | 12:57 PM
Quick Hits: Chestnuts Will Save Us Edition
July 01, 2009 | 7:02 PM
COLUMNISTS
TODAY'S STORIES
Blog Home | Contact |
20.11.2008
Why They Had to Do Dingell

Chris proclaims the Waxman victory over John Dingell a big win for Barack Obama. I agree, for somewhat cynical reasons. In a nutshell: Letting Lieberman keep his chairmanship was clearly the right political move, but it also sent a somewhat dangerous message to Democrats, which is that you can cross Obama without paying for it. Dingell largely fixes that problem. I'm not sure what role Obama actually played in Dingell's unseating, but the fact that his incoming congressional liaison was a longtime Waxman staffer certainly looks incriminating. Which is maybe the point: By taking out Dingell, who was at best a foot-dragger on the issue of climate change, Obama shows there are consequences to not being on board with his agenda.

--Noam Scheiber

Posted: Thursday, November 20, 2008 3:55 PM with 5 comment(s)

Comments

You must be logged-in to comment.

Not a subscriber? Click here to get a digital or print and digital subscription to The New Republic!

Nusholtz said:

I don't understand the point.  Lieberman is a Senator on the way to helping with filibusters.  Dingell is not.  

November 20, 2008 4:32 PM

drdannyu said:

I figured it had more to do with the auto industry's current economic woes.  Had Dingell kept the gavel, he would have been in a position to stymie any bailout strategies not to Detroit's liking, and held other priorities hostage until the Big Three got what they wanted.  With him gone, Obama and Congress are in a much better position to enact whatever painful remedies the industry may need either to survive, or to keep from doing further damage.

November 20, 2008 4:36 PM

propositionjoe said:

I like this move a lot. Dingell has been in the House since 1955, and is not receptive to green initiatives, especially ones that involve coercing the auto industry into developing more environmentally friendly technologies and products. If this is a step in the direction of pushing American automotives in a more eco-friendly direction, and I think it must be,  then it's a good sign.

November 20, 2008 4:53 PM

ischultz said:

Bingo, Noam.

November 20, 2008 5:08 PM

sdemuth said:

Dropping Dingell is the most encouraging thing I've seen from the House Democrates in a LONG time.  If it's got Obama's fingerprints on it, so much the better.

Maybe, just maybe, we're really going to see something get done in Washington next year.

November 21, 2008 1:00 AM