Four Losses: Koch, Kerry, Clinton, and McCain
Ed Koch, the former Mayor of New York, passed away last
Friday, taking with him a life well lived, rich with accomplishments and
failures.
Koch will be eulogized today. He was funny, egocentric, imperious,
commanding, smart, inventive, and completely devoted to his city. In one final real estate transaction, he
bought a plot in the Trinity Church graveyard, the last active cemetery in
Manhattan, where he will hang out with a couple of former Mayors, a large
number of Astors, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and John James Audubon. One imagines
that they will have plenty to talk about--if he lets any of them get a word in
edgewise.
A lot of coverage has focused on how he brought the City
back from the brink of financial ruin, and he did, but he also gave it a bit of
its swagger back. He understood that it
was a jewel; raucous and cruel at times, noisy, expensive, demanding, crowded,
but composed of exquisite facets that just needed a little buffing up. On Koch’s watch the Central Park Conservancy
was created, transforming what had been a symbol of decay into a great
playground. Koch pioneered other public
private partnerships and business improvement districts, he fought with unions,
he built public housing, he increased funding for schools, he did hundreds of large
and small things, some good, some bad, but always moving forward, always with
an eye to bettering his home.
He was a three-term Mayor, winning re-election by huge
margins. His third term was not successful,
his appeal wore down, there were scandals, and he was turned out in the
Democratic primary by David Dinkins, well-meaning but ineffectual. After he lost, he said "The people have
spoken...and they must be punished."
No false modesty in our Ed.
The
post Mayoral Ed Koch continued the circus.
He was a “People’s Court” Judge, and an author, and a film critic, and a
lawyer. He had a radio talk show,
reviewed restaurants, wrote columns, and generally did anything and everything
to keep his ego from retiring. He
enraged many Democrats when he crossed party lines to endorse Republicans, including George W. Bush in 2004.
But
the man had juice. He had passion; the
right kind of passion, not just a love of self (although there was certainly
that in abundance) but for the sprawling, tempestuous place he called home. And,
when he died, that place filled with countless generous remembrances from both
former allies and opponents. Pretty
impressive for a man who left office in December of 1989.
It is
one of those odd quirks of fate that Koch died as the Senate was concluding a
round of hearings; outgoing Secretary of State Clinton on Benghazi, the
nomination of John Kerry to replace her, and that of Chuck Hagel as Secretary
of Defense. I can’t think of anything
more timely to demonstrate just how much the times, and the culture, have
changed some people over the last two decades.
Hillary
Clinton lost a bitter battle with Mr. Obama for the Democratic nomination in
2008, then put aside her disappointment and accepted his offer of the post of
Secretary of State. She has served her
country well, and goes out with one of the highest approval ratings of any
national politician, admired even by many Republicans. The Benghazi hearings were a chance for the
national GOP to muddy her up before she becomes the early favorite for
2016. Suffice to say, she’s still a
favorite, if she wants it.
Kerry
lost a close election to George W. Bush in 2004. He was an imperfect candidate with an
imperfect message, and by the time Karl Rove and his friends were finished Swift-boating him, he came up short. It must have
hurt, but he gathered himself and returned to the Senate to play a constructive
role. He became a leading voice on
foreign policy, eventually becoming Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee in
2009. His hearing was approximately four
hours, and the full Senate voted 94-3 to confirm him.
If
John Kerry was given a warm welcome by his colleagues, even those who
disagreed with him, they must have saved up all their venom for Chuck Hagel,
who squirmed and stammered through more than seven hours of blistering
cross-examination.
Hagel
was, frankly, poor. He seemed
ill-prepared at times and apparently astonished that his former chums would
tear into him in so personal a way. It
was a terrible misjudgment, particularly since the entire Republican
establishment and media had been firing artillery at him for weeks. Perhaps he thought that in the chamber that he
had served, Senatorial courtesy would carry him through. He was wrong.
His future is uncertain; a few Republican Senators are making some noise
about a filibuster, but he probably has enough votes to (barely) win
confirmation.
So,
why? Hagel served as a Republican
Senator from Nebraska as late as 2009, and Presidents usually get some deference
on Cabinet picks. Part of it was un-slaked bloodlust after they had to be nice
to Kerry and they were unable to lay a glove on Hillary during the Benghazi
hearings. But,
more than anything else, Hagel was the
place where the GOP decided to take its stand against Mr. Obama and his
policies; if you can’t smack the President, there’s nothing like an Obama
piñata.
Chuck
Hagel became the whipping boy for a party locked into a neo-con vision of the
world that counts the Iraq war (and Afghanistan) as signal accomplishments,
even if most of the country disagrees. That
is understandable. Less understandable
is that the tip of that cat-o-nine-tails is Senator John McCain, loser to Mr.
Obama in 2008, and a man apparently so marinated in his own bitterness that he
has not only lost his perspective, but in danger of losing his place in
history.
Watch,
if you can stand it, an excerpt of the hearings, with Mr. McCain conducting a
sneering, snarling, hectoring cross examination of the man who was Co-Chair of
his 2000 Presidential campaign. It is
ugly in the extreme, both for what it might say about Mr. Hagel’s capabilities
for the job, and what it does say about Senator McCain.
Is
this what contemporary politics is all about?
Must everything be grim combat?
I
hope not. Read a few Koch stories,
especially those told by the many he annoyed over the years, and you can hear
the amused exasperation and admiration.
Ed Koch might have been a pushy, bombastic, aggravating man who loved a
microphone, but he didn’t burn too many bridges.
Better
yet, think about a fifth loser, Bob Dole, the former Senator from Kansas. Dole retired to write books, to practice law,
to work on world hunger with his friend, former Senator George McGovern (a
sixth “loser” who then spent the rest of his life in public service) and to
raise funds and advocate for veterans.
Dole
had a long friendship with the late Senator Daniel Inouye, Democrat of Hawaii,
also a decorated (and seriously wounded) World War II vet. They had met while rehabilitating at an Army
hospital--both men had largely lost the use of their right arms. Inouye died last December, and Dole, although
seriously ill for years, and largely confined to a wheelchair, insisted on
coming to the memorial as Inouye lay in state.
Harry Reid describes it in his eulogy to Inouye. Dole had called Reid asking if he could go
over to the Rotunda with him. As they
approached, Dole said. “Danny’s not
going to see me in a wheelchair.” And he
walked, with difficulty, but he walked, the rest of the way, and reaching the
casket, saluted his old friend with his left hand.
Pretty
old fashioned, wouldn’t you say? But
some things, like friendship, service, and class, never truly go out of style. They just get forgotten occasionally.
MM
