 Politics not entirely absentin base closure
decisions
By JAMES W. CRAWLEY Media General News Service WASHINGTON – August is normally a month known here for its oppressive heat and humidity. The only saving grace is that it’s a month devoid of politicians. The president goes to Crawford, Texas. Senators and House members are either home, vacationing in Tahiti or junketing to the four corners on the taxpayer dime. But this August was a little different. The nine-member independent Base Realignment and Closure Commission was busy holding hearings and voting on the future of hundreds of military installations and offices. By the time they finished, the commission had decided the fate of cities, towns and, yes, politicians from nearly every state. Isn’t BRAC supposed to be immune from political influence? Yes, the powers-that-be did take the politics out of BRAC by setting up a panel to make the final call on which bases to shutter, removing it from congressional horse-trading. But, no law could take BRAC out of politics. Having a base close in one’s state, congressional district or city limits is very bad karma for anyone who runs for re-election. No amount of mea culpas or “it’s not my faults” would likely silence a political opponent after a base closure. Workers are voters and unemployed workers are mad voters. With thousands of jobs at stake, BRAC can be a political nightmare. Politicians with local bases on the Pentagon list went into political survival mode. Many spoke at local rallies as the “save our base” campaigns took on the air of a political campaign. They attended hearings, visited bases and lobbied commissioners. At press conferences, they vowed to fight the good fight for their bases, jobs and the American Way. They wrote hundreds of letters, held congressional hearings. Some congressmen tried to block funding for BRAC projects. Three governors sued to halt the BRAC process. Some politicians went the extra mile for their bases. Despite having no chance to argue their cases, several dozen politicians sat through the commission’s three monotonous days of deliberations. They just sat and listened. It was a most unusual sight – politicians as silent spectators. “They’re supporting their people,” said Lilly Goren, a political science professor at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wis., who wrote a book on base-closing politics. “Of course, they’re not the ones making the decisions.” New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who was trying to keep Cannon Air Force Base open, was one of them. So was Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who sat on the front row with a delegation from his state. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, warmed a chair for two days. New England officeholders filled other seats. When Senate legend Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., strode into the hearing room, reporters quickly found the base he was interested in: a Charleston, W.Va., airport with Air National Guard cargo planes. The most persistent politician was easily the one politico standing to lose the most if a home state base closed – Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. Last year, he defeated Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle in a bitter campaign marked by pronouncements that Thune would protect Ellsworth Air Force Base better than Daschle. When the Pentagon recommended Ellsworth’s closure in May, the freshman’s political career light flashed yellow for caution. For three days, he alternately sat in the hearing room, paced the foyer or conducted interviews with reporters as the panel decided the fate of dozens of Army, Navy and Marine Corps bases. Air Force bases were last on the agenda. When the commission voted to save Ellsworth, Thune was all smiles. Base and career rescued. Conspicuously absent were the Virginians. The governor, the two senators and most of the congressional delegation were no shows. Most claimed they had said all they could say at previous hearings. Some were out of the country on congressional trips. When commissioners voted on Virginia’s Oceana Naval Air Station, the only elected official present was Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf. Virginia did not do well. It lost thousands of jobs to Maryland and other states. Oceana was given a reprieve but could be moved to Florida unless state and local officials meet BRAC demands. On the other hand, Thune, Bush, Hutchinson, Richardson and Byrd all left with bases saved from the chopping block. In all likelihood, one politician’s presence or absence had little or no impact on which bases survived BRAC, but if voters perceive that an officeholder did not go the extra mile for local military bases, then dire consequences could happen at the polls. |