For an institution that takes pride in cloaking itself in a veil of mystery, the Senate sometimes does things that are crystal clear. Take the recent selection of Maine Democrat George J. Mitchell as majority leader, a role that makes him the principal national spokesman for the Democratic Party.
While Mitchell's margin of victory over his two competitors--Sens. J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana and Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii--was a surprise, the explanations given by his colleagues were not. Sen. Howell Heflin, a Democrat from Alabama who supported Johnston's candidacy, said of the new majority leader: "He speaks well and he goes over well on television." Heflin's colleague from Alabama, Richard C. Shelby, neatly summed up another of Mitchell's key attributes: "I think he will lead and not drive."
The two statements go a long way in explaining why the Democratic-controlled Senate, which is fast becoming dominated by Southern moderates such as Sam Nunn of Georgia and Lloyd Bentsen of Texas, would opt for a Northeastern liberal. Although he has not served two full terms in the chamber and is not even the senior senator from his state, Mitchell fits the two most pressing needs for the majority Democrats: competence and articulateness.
First, the latter factor. After two years of rule under Speaker of the House James C. Wright, Jr., of Texas and former Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, Senate Democrats simply desired what one member calls a "Meet the Press" leader--a spokesman who can credibly represent the party on nationwide television. Although most Democrats praise the legislative record of the Byrd-Wright years, some were openly displeased with the TV image of the two leaders--deridingly referred to by some members as the "Bartles & Jaymes" of Congress for their down-home style of oratory.
In Mitchell, a relatively junior member both in terms of age (55) and tenure (8 years), the Democrats backed a politician who has proven himself as a marketable TV commodity. The Maine Democrat twice has presented the Democratic rebuttal to Reagan TV addresses. What most impressed his fellow senators, however, was Mitchell's performance in the televised Iran-Contra hearings, when he came across as the only committee member to effectively rebut Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North. Responding to North's statement that the covert operation was done "for the love of God and for the love of country," Mitchell delivered the type of sermon that might be expected of a one-time federal judge.
"However important and noble an objective, and surely democracy abroad is important and is noble, it cannot be achieved at the expense of the rule of law in our country," Mitchell told North. "Although he's regularly asked to do so, God does not take sides in American politics. And in America, disagreement with the policies of the government is not evidence of lack of patriotism."
All aboard
Senate Democrats also want to be led by someone who, according to Sen. John B. Breaux of Louisiana, will "make the trains run on time, or maybe earlier." For senators like Breaux, a seven-term veteran of the House before entering the Senate in 1987, the transition from the lower to the upper chamber of Congress has been a frustrating experience.
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