Bass to Democrats: Catch me if you can

Here is an interesting triple play, all in the space of 24 hours:

1) Bass: 'It's time to govern from the middle'  (hat tip to Bill Siroty, emphasis mine below)

Associated Press

November 15, 2005

CONCORD, N.H. --It's time for the Republican Party to re-examine itself, Rep. Charles Bass says. "I think that obviously, with the party's fortunes down, with the message clearly that most Americans would rather see a more moderate form of leadership in the country right now, then it's time to govern from the middle," Bass, R-N.H., told WBUR radio in Boston in an interview broadcast Monday."That doesn't mean we do nothing," Bass said. "It just means we listen a little bit more."Bass spoke following divisions among the Republican-controlled Congress last week over budget negotiations. Republican leaders halted plans for a vote on a $51 billion budget cut, saying they were short of votes. The decision came despite a big concession to moderates such as Bass, when the leaders dropped provisions to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration.Bass led a 25-member effort to drop the Arctic drilling provision. Moderates said the spending cuts in the House budget plan were a separate issue. They also argued that the cuts were too severe.In addition, confidence in the Bush administration and in Congress has been shaken by the president's sagging poll numbers, an unstable leadership lineup in the House and growing concern about congressional elections, which are less than a year away."Obviously, there are plenty of members of Congress who are concerned about the fact that a lot of their own party, Republicans, are complaining that we seem to be more concerned with the bridge to nowhere in Alaska and earmarks in appropriations than we are about what our fundamental principles are, which is less government, lower taxes and a strong national security," Bass said."So people like me, although it is through the moderate agenda, are sending a message to our leadership that we want them to shape up and stop thinking about what they can do for themselves and start thinking about the country and what our agenda is and what our priorities are. Frankly, I'm calling for new elections in leadership beginning in the next year so we have a fresh slate of officers outside of the speaker for the next session of the Congress," Bass said.  If Congressional leadership is out of step, "we want to bring them back in step, and that's what we'll do," Bass said.

2)  A few hours after the AP story appears in the morning papers, this from the New Hampshire Democratic Party:

BASS'S NEWFOUND GOP CRITICISM CONTRADICTS HIS RECORD

Ploy Aimed at Distancing Him from Falling GOP Poll Numbers

CONCORD, NH -- Congressman Bass's newfound criticism of
Republican leadership contradicts his record of voting in lockstep
with them almost 90% of the time, trying to privatize Social
Security, and keeping large sums of money from indicted
Republican leader Tom Delay.

"You can't vote with Tom Delay nine out of ten times, keep his
money, support his legal fund, push his pet projects, try to privatize Social Security, and then expect voters to believe that your new  change of heart is genuine," said Sullivan.  "This is about the fact that Congressman Bass is scared of plummeting Republican poll numbers, plain and simple -- and now wants to run away from the Party he voted with for the last decade."

"Sorry, Charlie. You dance with the one that brung ya, and you've been in Washington too long if you think New Hampshire voters are going to fall for this."

3) And then, 24 hours later, this in John DiStaso's Granite Status column:

"A key Republican believes Bass is tempting a primary challenge by distancing himself from Tom DeLay and the leadership."

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What makes me think that no one is happier to read the above sentence than Charlie Bass today?

In other words, of all the things that could befall Bass in 2006, a primary challenge likely ranks among the least of his worries.  A primary challenge actually might help Bass in the general as long as it did not pull him too far to the right.  Even if a well-funded conservative did emerge to challenge the congressman for the GOP nomination, such a challenge might only accentuate Bass's moderate credentials, not an unimportant factor in the increasingly liberal Second Congressional District.

Similarly, the New Hampshire Democrats' attempts to tie Bass to Tom DeLay did not look like a bad idea back in August and September when DeLay wielded significant power.  But now that DeLay is on the sidelines, perhaps for good as far as House leadership goes, aren't his fate and Bass's fate inversely related?  Indeed, how many New Hampshire voters are going to remember DeLay a year from now? (After all, DeLay at his height of notoriety was never as big a bogeyman as Newt Gingrich in the 1990s.)   Besides, the further the GOP House leadership falls from grace, the more that Bass will trumpet his independence from it. 

If the Republicans' 2006 resembles the Democrats' 1994, then Bass could get washed out of his seat.  But between now and next November, watch how many barriers and levees Bass will construct between himself and the Republican House leadership.