When the party line is an even split

The 20-member Alaska State Senate is comprised of 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats.

Nature abhors a 10-10 split because the organizational process in any legislative body demands a majority be formed. It’s important because the majority rules the committee process and controls the flow of legislation to the floor. The majority has the power.

When one party has more members than the other, as is almost always the case, that party forms the majority and the minority party is out in the cold. When it’s 10-10, however, in order for a majority to be formed and for things to actually get done, Republicans and Democrats have to work together. God forbid, Republicans and Democrats actually working together.

Sometimes, in order for a coalition to form, just one or two members of one party get lured across the aisle, usually by the offer of some plum committee chairmanship. But every now and again, a broader bipartisanship takes hold and a larger coalition is formed.

As is the case now.

The so-called Senate Bipartisan Working Group is a coalition of six Republicans and 10 Democrats. While there are more Democrats in the group by number, Republicans have much of the power in the organization, with Gary Stevens the Senate President and Kevin Meyer the Majority Leader.

With just about everyone from the governor on down gunning for the Republicans in the Bipartisan Working Group, I figured it was appropriate to dispel a few myths.

Myth No. 1: Members of the coalition have somehow abdicated their principles.

No they haven’t. The Working Group is an organization brought together for the purpose of organizing the Senate and getting things done. Unlike the days of the old Republican supermajority, when Republicans were ousted from the majority for not behaving themselves and voting the way they were told (see Bob Lynn, Nancy Dahlstrom), members of the Working Group can and do vote their consciences.

The suggestion that the Rs are all closet Ds and the Ds are all closet Rs is absurd and simplistic. They all just have one thing in common — they’re grown-up enough to recognize that partisanship is inherently unproductive. That it’s not about political party, it’s about doing what’s best for Alaska.

Myth No. 2: It’s a do-nothing Senate.

Wrong. This is the governor’s line, and he says it because the Working Group won’t give him what he wants on oil taxes.

Here you go; what do you think about oil taxes? Do you think, as the governor does, that we should cut taxes for oil producers and keep our fingers crossed really tight that they don’t just laugh all the way to the bank but actually increase oil production as well? Or do think, as the Working Group does, that the responsible thing to do is to offer generous tax credits for increased oil production once it’s actually produced?

Yes, I thought so. If that’s do-nothing, then good for do-nothing.

Myth No. 3: The Republicans who have refused to join the Working Group are paragons of virtue.

I guess you could argue this if you think that steadfastly refusing to have anything to do with Democrats just because they’re Democrats is somehow virtuous behavior. But the reality is, the four senators in the minority — John Coghill, Fred Dyson, Cathy Giessel and Charlie Huggins — have the smallest staffs, no leadership positions, no power and no ability to get anything done for their districts. They sit in their offices in the basement of the Capitol twiddling their thumbs and congratulating themselves on how virtuous they are, and get nothing done.

So if you live in a legislative district with a contested Republican primary where a challenger candidate is criticizing a Republican incumbent for “working with Democrats,” keep these myths in mind.

When a challenger says, “I won’t work with Democrats!” what are they really saying?

They’re saying that the Republican Party, to them, isn’t the party of free markets, free enterprise and individual liberty, it is the party of small-mindedness, exclusion and non-cooperation. They believe that being a true Republican requires a focus on our differences, not our common goals. A focus on the things that divide us, not on what’s best for us as Alaskans.

They’re saying that they will vote in lockstep with the governor on oil taxes. Forget tax credits for increased production, we’ll just give producers billions of dollars and trust them to do the right thing.

If you don’t think that the governor’s support of these challengers doesn’t come with the quid pro quo of a vote in favor of his oil tax plan, then I want some of the Kool-Aid you’re drinking. Of course it does! That’s the whole point.

But most of all, when a challenger says, “I won’t work with Democrats,” what they’re really saying is, “I am going to serve you from the minority. I will have no power. I won’t be able to get anything done. I won’t be able to represent you effectively, and I am going to do this voluntarily.”

Is that what you want? Really?

I think Republicans are better than that.

Ivan Moore is a public opinion pollster who lives in Anchorage and works for a variety of clients — political, corporate, public sector, or just plain curious — around Alaska. His opinions are his own. He can be reached at ivan@ivanmooreresearch.com.