Raising Zell
Why not make Zell Miller majority leader?

By John J. Miller & Ramesh Ponnuru
December 14, 2001 12:05 p.m.

epublicans have won a few battles lately: the trade vote in the House, the defeat of Robert Byrd's attempt to lard up the defense-spending bill in the Senate. But mostly they're taking it on the chin. They lost the airport security fight, and Congress is well on its way to producing a stimulus bill with more for Democrats than Republicans to like. Tom Daschle has been able to hold up the president's energy bill and his nomination of Eugene Scalia — even though a majority of senators would vote to approve both. So far at least, Democrats aren't paying a price for their partisanship.

A change in White House strategy might keep this losing streak from continuing. But there's a limit to how much the president can do vis-à-vis Congress, given the other demands on his time and the Democratic majority in the Senate. Congressional Republicans have to change the dynamic on the Hill.

One way to do that would be to ask Senator Zell Miller, Georgia Democrat, to switch parties. In 2000, according to Congressional Quarterly, Miller voted against his party 75 percent of the time. He backed John Ashcroft's nomination and cosponsored President Bush's spring tax cut. If he joined the Republicans, they would have 50 senators. To give them control of the floor would require only that the vice president be coaxed out of his secure location.

It's an idea that's been discussed before, but there hasn't been much reason for Miller to switch. He gets more ink as a dissident Democrat than he would as a run-of-the-mill Republican. He wouldn't have any more power as a member of a Republican majority than he already does as part of the Democratic one. And Miller would be taking a risk. If one of the Republican senators should die or bolt his party, some very ticked Democrats would regain the majority.

So if Republicans want him, they should sweeten the pot: Promise to make Miller majority leader. If he proves to be an unsatisfactory leader, Republicans will always be able to vote him out later. In the meantime, they could at least keep Pat Leahy from being chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Oklahoma Update
A week ago, we wrote about the Republican primary in the race to replace Representative Steve Largent. First Lady Cathy Keating was asking women to support her because she's a woman. State legislator John Sullivan was campaigning on his conservative record. Sullivan pulled off an upset, winning 46 percent to First Lady Cathy Keating's 31 percent. There will be a runoff in January, and Keating is no longer considered the frontrunner. She is reported to be reconsidering her strategy. Good idea.