I appreciate that Dems want to focus their criticisms of the GOP in an election year on the issues that resonate and connect most with voters. Right now, the Republicans have created a “target-rich environment” for political and policy criticisms, and sometimes, Dems just don’t know which new controversies to tackle aggressively.
I might recommend, however, that the Dirk Kempthorne nomination get a serious look from party strategists.
President Bush selected Dirk Kempthorne as Interior secretary Thursday, saying the Idaho governor brings wide experience to the job of managing the nation’s parks, public lands and natural resources. […]
“Dirk understands that those who live closest to the land know how to manage it best,” the president said, “and he will work closely with state and local leaders to ensure wise stewardship of our resources.”
Well, that depends on what the meaning of “wise stewardship” is. The League of Conservation Voters’ VP Tony Massaro responded to the nomination with a one-sentence press release: “During his career in Congress, Governor Kempthorne earned a paltry 1% lifetime LCV score. Enough said.”
Slate’s Tim Noah wrote a piece on Kempthorne in 2003 in which he described Bush’s nominee as “a comically anti-environmental choice.” Indeed, it’s a record Senate Democrats may consider taking advantage of during this election season.
If it is Kempthorne, Bush will have made a comically anti-environmental choice. During six years in the Senate in the 1990s, Kempthorne scored a “0” on the League of Conservation Voters’ legislative scorecards every year except 1993, when Kempthorne scored 6 percent on the basis of one little-remembered vote against funding a rocket booster for the space program that environmentalists judged harmful to the environment.
Knight Ridder’s Seth Borenstein reported June 23 that in the two years after Kempthorne became governor of Idaho, the state increased toxic emissions by 2 percent — this during a period when the national average declined by 9 percent. The chief of staff for Idaho’s Department of Environmental Quality told Borenstein that environmental inspections were at “a bare-bones minimum” aimed only at staying in compliance with a state court order. Kempthorne did battle with EPA Administrator Christie Whitman over an Idaho Superfund cleanup, at one point threatening to evict EPA officials from the state.
Dems could very easily go after this nomination, highlight the administration’s awful environmental record, characterize Kempthorne as a ridiculous choice to be the nation’s Secretary of the Interior, and put some pretty serious pressure on Senate Republicans who are up for re-election this year.
GOP strategists are reportedly worried about “moderate Republican-leaning voters in the suburbs who care about the environment and want to know they’re not joining into a party that favors poisoning the water and fogging the air.” In this sense, the Kempthorne nomination, if played correctly, could become a terrific wedge issue.
In fact, if Dems were aggressive and made the nomination controversial, it’s easy to imagine some Republican senators such as Linc Chafee (R.I.) and Olympia Snowe (Maine) voting against Kempthorne — they’re both up for re-election and they both claim to be concerned about the environment.
The AP, alas, essentially called the fight before it began.
Barring an unexpected complication, confirmation should be a formality for Kempthorne. The Senate rarely turns down one of its former members for the Cabinet, and Republicans hold the majority with 55 of 100 seats.
The nomination could be far more controversial than the AP expects. I have no idea how (or if) the environment plays into the Dems’ election-year strategy, but if the party wanted to make the administration’s environmental record an issue, the Kempthorne nomination is a gift.