If ever there was a prototypical example of a DINO (Democrat In Name Only) it’s Georgia Senator Zell Miller. Appointed to the Senate after then-Sen. Paul Coverdell died of a stroke, and subsequently elected to fill out the term in 2000, Miller has been the most conservative Senate Democrat of the last 15 years.
His voting record on several high-profile national issues is practically indistinguishable from the typical Senate Republican. Indeed, there are a handful of moderate GOP members who actually vote to Miller’s left. According to the scorecard from Americans for Democratic Action, a liberal activist group, Miller earned a 35% score in 2001. By contrast, John McCain (R-Ariz.) got a 40%, Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) got a 40%, and Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) got a 65% the same year.
Since Bush’s inauguration, the president has found unwavering support from Miller on almost every issue. When Bush nominated John Ashcroft to be attorney general, Miller ignored his party’s concerns and announced his support for the nomination. When Bush proposed a $2 trillion tax cut, Miller not only voted for the measure, he co-sponsored it. While Bush has tried to stack the federal courts with right-wing ideologues, Miller has voted for every one of the president’s judicial nominees.
Earlier this year, Miller announced his retirement from politics at the end of 2004. Democrats still aren’t sure if his departure is good news or bad. Miller may vote with the Republicans on almost every issue, but when it came to Senate organization and leadership, he still voted to make Tom Daschle Senate leader. His continued presence would mean at least one more Dem in a closely divided Senate. Complicating matters, it’ll be very difficult to find another Dem with statewide appeal in Georgia to take his place.
Nevertheless, Miller is leaving politics by thumbing his nose one more time at the party that has supported him through his entire political career. Miller has written a book, to be released in November, titled, “A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat.”
According to the book’s publisher and a report in today’s ultraconservative Washington Times, Miller’s screed, I mean book, will examine “the growing chasm” between America and the Democratic Party over issues such as “abortion, welfare, gun control, the environment, the arts, education, immigration and national security.”
The publisher also says that Miller’s book “raises serious questions regarding whether the Democratic Party can any longer field a serious presidential challenge.”
I knew Miller didn’t much care for his party anymore, but I didn’t realize it had come to this.
Naturally, I haven’t read Miller’s yet-to-be-published book, so I don’t know for sure what it says. Assuming for a moment, however, that the publisher’s description is accurate and the book’s provocative title is indicative of Miller’s approach, I don’t imagine it’ll be terribly persuasive. In fact, by the sounds of it, Miller’s book seems about 20 years out-of-date.
A growing chasm between Democrats and the rest of the country? It seems like just the opposite is true. On just about every issue Miller’s publisher mentioned — abortion, welfare, gun control, the environment, the arts, education, immigration and national security — the public tends to support the Democrats’ position over the GOP’s position.
And questioning the Dems’ ability to “field a serious presidential challenge” strikes me as bizarre. Miller may not have been paying attention, but the last time a Republican presidential candidate got more votes than his Dem rival was 1988. In fact, Dem presidential candidates have received more votes than the GOP in the last three elections — the first time we’ve done that in three consecutive campaigns since the 1940s.
Indeed, if anything, Miller seems to have his worldview backwards. Dems may not be thriving politically in his home state of Georgia, but nationwide Democrats are finding themselves on the right side of popular opinion on virtually every area of domestic policy.
So long, Zell. Don’t let the Senate door hit you on the butt on your way out.