This was around the time when Lang was pushing for fee and tax hikes and a major reorganization of the executive branch, which all required legislative approval. A Democrat, he had to work with the recalcitrant Republicans who controlled the House and the Senate. There were only three Democrats in the Senate, two of whom caucused with four Republicans to form the leadership. The minority comprised of one Democrat and two Republicans. Five months after the Ninth Legislature was sworn in, the two Democrats with the majority suddenly saw the light and joined the three minority members to form a new leadership, which quickly ratified Lang’s key proposals.
The GOP House — 11 Republicans, five Democrats and two Independents — seemed to be a tougher nut to crack. Some of the House Republicans even had bumper stickers that read: “Don’t blame me I voted for Larry,” referring to the GOP governor who lost to Lang in the Nov. 1993 elections. But Lang needed the House to get on board. All taxation and appropriation measures must originate from the House. And so it came to pass. A group of “die hard” Republicans teamed up with the Democrats and staged a coup against the GOP speaker. Realizing that he didn’t have the numbers, the speaker delivered an emotional, extemporaneous speech announcing his resignation. He wept. The conspirators had to speak out. They wept, too. Everyone in that chamber recalled that they were cousins, uncles or nephews. The speaker wasn’t ousted. But Lang’s pet measures, every single one of them, were passed by the House.
I was in eighth grade when I realized that politicians, including America’s greatest president, had to make deals to get things done. I was reading Honest Abe’s biography and was shaking my head in disbelief as I learned how Lincoln defeated the frontrunner, William Seward, to win the GOP presidential nomination. The tactics of Lincoln’s campaign managers included printing fake convention tickets so that his supporters could show up early and take the seats of Seward’s backers. Moreover, two men known for their extremely loud voices were tasked to lead the pro-Lincoln cheering on the convention floor. This was 1860 and presidential nominees were still chosen by convention delegates and not by primaries. While Seward’s overconfident campaign manager “offered champagne for the present and ‘oceans of money’ for the future,” Lincoln’s men wooed the delegates from key states, which included Pennsylvania. To get its support, Lincoln’s managers promised a cabinet position to the state’s favorite son, Simon Cameron, a well-known crook. He was so corrupt that when Lincoln asked a Republican congressman about Cameron’s “honesty,” the lawmaker replied: “I don’t think that he would steal a red hot stove.” When Cameron demanded a retraction, the lawmaker told Lincoln, “I believe I told you he would not steal a red-hot stove. I will now take that back.” Cameron served as Lincoln’s secretary of war — he wanted to be the Treasury chief — but had to resign a year later due to rampant corruption in his department. Lincoln, who defended Cameron, named him minister — i.e., diplomatic representative — to Russia.
In any case, Lincoln secured the GOP nomination, became president, won the Civil War, saved the Union, freed the slaves, and created a new and great nation.
Politics is about securing power and wheeling and dealing. Obama, the darling of the “Change We Can Believe In” crowd, didn’t become president merely because of his “vision.” Besides his charisma, he also had a well-oiled campaign operation, a staggering amount of money and the ability to say well what weary voters wanted to hear from a candidate.
Using the Bush 2004 campaign as its model, Obama’s team was disciplined and nimble. According to the New York Times, Team Obama “used the newest technology and old-fashioned organizing skills to harness the grass-roots enthusiasm his candidacy generated to help raise record sums of money and build a volunteer army to turn out the vote. They carefully researched how to handle the issue of race, and worked at making voters comfortable with the idea of putting a black family in the White House.” They polled and interviewed voters to further hone Obama’s message. They attacked his opponents, hard. (Says the newspaper Politico: Obama, “it turns out, has been a devout observer of a philosophy future President Bill Clinton laid out in 1981. ‘When someone is beating you over the head with a hammer, don’t sit there and take it…. Take out a meat cleaver and cut off their hand.’ ”)
After securing the Democratic nomination, Obama reached out to his former rivals in the primaries. Realizing that he could outspend McCain by raising money on his own, Obama broke his pledge to accept public financing.
No one will again underestimate the former junior senator of Illinois. He is tough and competitive. He has a killer instinct. He’s got game.
CNMI reformists must learn from Obama the politician. They must realize, first of all, that their visions and their hopes are nothing if they can’t win elections. They have to reach out. They have to make deals. As a Maryland law and government professor once wrote, “we should not condemn politicians for making deals. Politics is the art of the possible even when practiced by politicians with good causes.” The trick is to make the kind of deals that will advance the cause of reforms in the CNMI and lead to changes in the way government is run.
Everyone can talk about change. But only those who know how to get elected and work the system can implement it.
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