GovernmentExecutive.com

The strategies that both Republicans and Democrats employed to handle the case of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman, were clearly driven directly by what happened in the 2004 elections.

For Republicans, the strategy of growing their social- and cultural-conservative base rather than reaching for the middle was successful last November, and it provided a playbook for jumping into the Schiavo case, as well. The GOP jumped in despite the fact that 56 percent of 909 adults interviewed nationwide in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll last weekend thought that Schiavo's feeding tube should be removed. Only 31 percent thought that it should not be removed.

Even a majority of Republicans, by 54 percent to 35 percent, said that the tube should be removed and that Schiavo should be allowed to die. Likewise, a majority of people who attend religious services at least once a week thought the feeding tube should be removed.

Nonevangelical Republicans and those of the economic-conservative bent are rolling their eyes in disbelief at yet another example of their party's pandering to a single constituency group. But no one in the GOP seemed particularly surprised, except perhaps when President Bush flew back to Washington from his Texas ranch in the middle of the night to sign legislation shifting jurisdiction over the Schiavo case to the federal courts.

But Bush and congressional Republicans were banking on the belief that those who care intensely about the issue tend to be on the "pro-life" side. So, other Republican officials fell all over themselves pushing through an emergency bill directing the federal courts to step into the fight, effectively taking jurisdiction away from the Florida state courts. So much for the supposed importance of states' rights, federalism, and restricting the federal judiciary. Situational ethics wins again.

But Democratic decisions seem to be flowing from the 2004 results just as strongly, with the party apparently paralyzed by the fear of being perceived as taking the secular side of a values debate. Most Democrats, save House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, either avoided comment on the Schiavo case or tacitly supported the Republican decision to intervene.

The Democratic Party is so spooked by its 2004 losses that it seems incapable of exercising discretion by picking its shots -- incapable of, as Kenny Rogers used to sing, knowing when to hold 'em, knowing when to fold 'em, knowing when to walk away, and knowing when to run. Democrats might have been wise to fight over the Schiavo case, yet for the most part, they folded instead.

Democrats on Capitol Hill arguably have self-esteem problems to address. But their larger problem is not that they have the wrong values, it's that perhaps they have none at all. Democrats have spent so much time pandering to their own pet constituencies that they have lost the ability to look at issues through the eyes of rank-and-file Americans, people driven more by common sense and the Golden Rule than by rigid religious or ideological orthodoxies. They have rendered themselves speechless whenever an organized interest group hasn't told them what to say. They're afraid to simply oppose Bush in a knee-jerk fashion, and they're too out of touch to anticipate how mainstream voters might respond to a given issue.

The result is that a fairly large majority of the American people see Congress, the president, and both parties as dancing to someone else's tune, responding to the beliefs and value system of a minority. And they feel disenfranchised once again. A recent Gallup Poll put Congress's job-approval ratings back down into the 30s -- hardly record-low territory, but a level where things become more volatile and voters begin to give incumbents less benefit of the doubt in contested races.

This is not a time when either party has a lot to be proud of. In the face of everything that the Republican Party has professed to believe, GOP officials expanded federal judicial authority over a case that belonged in the Florida state courts and intervened in a matter in which legislatures ought not get involved.

A memo that was leaked after being circulated among GOP senators -- arguing that there would be political benefits from jumping into the Schiavo case -- simply stated a calculation that was already obvious to all. And capitulation by Democrats tells us that their party is not ready to lead and does not know where it stands, where it wants to go, or whom it wants to represent.

COMMENTS

• I'm glad "Terri" is gone. The real mistake was letting that life-support crap get started in the first place. A limited period of time is reasonable, but 15 years is wrong - wrong for society, the family, and the individual involved. When your brain turns to mush you're not coming back, and the resources used to keep someone like that going would be better used elsewhere. Why not keep anencephalic infants going for years? Hey, they might grow a brain! Which is about as likely as the people who butted in where they had no business growing one. GovExec.com reader Posted April 11, 2005 5:16 PM
• Politicians can take any position they want and will take the position they fell will help them in the future elections. The real point in this is whether we want big government entering into daily life decisions. If Congress was so worried about Terri why didn't they pass a law that defines when life begins and how life may be ended. Medical personnel make these decisions everyday - do we administer a given drug or not, do we do an operation or not, do we install life support systems or not. If Congress is concerned why don't they define these issues in law! This is a land of laws - even if the administration does not enforce them or fund enforcement of them. In Terri's case the Congress (generally Republicans) are attempting to interfere for political benefit because they know they do not have the power to decide the issue and hope the courts will shoot them down so they can tell their voters they tried! But they do not tell the voters that they tried in the wrong way!!!!!!! This event happened several years ago and Jeb stepped in to take over for the family. The Congress should have enacted laws at that time to handle the situation - THEY DID NOT! Now they holler because they didn't do their job. Congress is directly responsible for Terri's death because they did not act years ago. taxpayer Posted March 30, 2005 7:21 AM
• Congratulations on a very well written article Mr. Cook. One of the best I've read in a long time and I can't agree with you more. It's unbelievable how everyone and his brother (yes including Jeb) tried to politicize this issue. As to the public's evaluation of our politicians efforts, I wonder how they (W. Bush included) would fare in the "Pay for Performance Plan". As for the Democratic party, I've said for a long time that the Democrats are their own worst enemy. They didn't lose the last presidential election to the Republicans. They lost it when they selected their candidate and how they ran their campaign strategy. glenn h. collins Posted March 29, 2005 7:46 AM