MARY CIECEK/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Former South Dakota
Sen. Larry Pressler speaks at the Faculty Center
about the current state of Congress.
By Kelly Rayburn
Daily Bruin Contributor
In the Faculty Center Tuesday, former Senator Larry Pressler and
former Congressman Bob Carr took part in a policy briefing
addressing the coming of a new congress and a new
administration.
1988 Democratic Presidential candidate and former Massachusetts
Gov. Michael Dukakis, a UCLA professor of policy studies, was the
moderator of a discussion sponsored by the School of Public Policy
and Social Research.
While the discussion covered a wide array of topics ““
including the effectiveness of the electoral college and partisan
politics in Washington ““ both men frequently talked about
President-elect George W. Bush, and how the close and controversial
election might affect his presidency.
“I believe very strongly that George W. Bush will rise to
the occasion,” said Pressler, a Republican from South Dakota
who served in the United States Congress for 22 years. “I
think he is a good manger, I think he’s got the right
instincts for the job and I think he’s chosen a good,
seasoned cabinet.”
While Carr, a Michigan Democrat who served 18 years in the House
of Representatives, did not go quite so far, he did say,
“(the election) is not going to disable George Bush from
achieving success.”
He also pointed out that in 1992 Bill Clinton had more votes
cast against him than for him and added, “Today elections
only make a selection. Legitimacy must be won every single
day.”
The briefing began with a short introduction by Dukakis,
followed by comments from the two former legislators and ended with
questions from the audience.
But some members of the audience were not completely pleased
with the responses.
Kimani Rogers, a second-year graduate student, said the event
was educational but thought Pressler and Carr could have been more
explicit in responding to questions.
“When a question was asked they would sort of gloss over
it with a broad, general statement and then give the party line.
Sometimes the questions were not truly answered,” he
said.
But the two former congressmen were clear about their differing
views on the merits of the electoral college.
“Every country, every democracy must have some ultimate
group that can look an election over and decide,” Pressler
said.
But Carr disagreed, saying the electoral college is a
“tyranny of the small states.”
The two also addressed the Supreme Court’s recent decision
to stop hand recounts.
“There were five justices that had some personal
issues,” Carr said.
But Pressler pointed out that David Souter, a justice appointed
by Bush Sr. did not rule with the other Republican-appointed
justices.
“When people get appointed to the Supreme Court they rule
in the interest of the country,” he went on. “I
wouldn’t conclude the motives were purely
partisan.”
Dukakis put a different twist on the issue, saying if Democrats
feel that the Supreme Court ruled in a partisan manner,
confirmations of presidential appointments to the court ““
once a formality ““ will only become more difficult.
While disagreeing on many issues, Carr and Pressler agreed that
partisanship in Washington is not as prevalent as it might appear
to be and that Democrats and Republicans agree on many issues and
are able to work together rather efficiently.
Pressler cited his days working to shape telecommunications and
transportation legislation, both of which he said were nonpartisan
issues.
The influence of outside interest groups, Carr went on to say,
is a more serious threat than partisan politics and that regional
politics are sometimes more prevalent than party politics.
Pressler spoke of the almost perfectly-split Senate and the
possibility for more bipartisan work in the future.
“The blame game will be difficult to play and the two
parties will have to work together,” he said.
Carr was also optimistic about the possibility of bipartisan
work getting done, saying that campaign finance might benefit
because of the split Senate.
Joy Ang, a first year graduate student who attended the event
said on the whole she agreed with what the former congressmen had
to say but added, “It was too general. They said the same
things that we hear on TV everyday.”
Another audience member asked about low voter turnout and the
possibility of compulsory voting, as the have in Australia.
Pressler said he was very much against compulsory voting and
that people should not vote unless they adequately prepare
themselves.
Carr said he was against compulsory voting, but for a different
reason.
“I never considered anyone who voted for my opponent as
adequately prepared,” he said.
Dukakis, who joked earlier about his 1988 election loss to
George Bush Sr., might be able to sympathize with Carr’s
comment.
In his introduction, Dukakis refereed to a Saturday Night Live
skit in which Jon Lovitz, playing Dukakis, looked at Dana Carvey,
playing George Bush Sr., and asked, “How could I be losing to
this guy?”
“I didn’t understand it in ’88, and now, 12
years later, I still don’t,” Dukakis said jokingly.