From Politico, via Slatest, an example of a key point we cover separately in 2301 and 2302. Our two large decentralized parties have to becoem cohesive in order to have any chance to pursue an agenda -- or stop the agenda of the opposition:
South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn will serve as "assistant leader," the No. 3 spot among the Democratic Party's minority leadership in the next Congress. Outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi created the position to avoid internal party conflict that would have resulted from the pending contest between Clyburn and current House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., for the minority whip position. In a letter to her colleagues on Saturday, Pelosi announced her plans to create the position and appoint Clyburn to it if elected House Democratic leader. Politico sees the Democrats as keeping peace among their ranks by maintaining the status quo in a leadership lineup that mirrors the current majority leadership of Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, and Majority Whip Clyburn.
Meanwhile, Tea Partiers are trying to resolve dueling internal orientation agendas for the Republican Party's incoming freshman Congress members, who will be learning their way around Washington this week. After the Tea Party Patriots and conservative California think tank the Claremont Institute scheduled dueling orientation events for new members of Congress, Tea Partiers began bombarding their new representatives with phone calls to express their disapproval. In an e-mail on Thursday, the Tea Party Patriots warned against the think tank's actions: "They are apparently trying to make sure that instead of sitting with grass-roots tea party leaders from around the country, the lobbyists and consultants can sink their claws into the freshmen, and begin to 'teach them' the ways of D.C." The deluge of phone calls that resulted prompted a second e-mail the next day, asking members to lay off the new Congress members for the moment. The Claremont Institute said it was merely hosting an event the freshman members had planned for themselves.
For further reading:
- The Democrat's New Change.
- Right Wing Groups Scuffle Over Freshmen.
- Freshmen Arrive in Washington With Many Questions.
