Posted on 04/23/2003 9:24:27 AM PDT by Prince Charles
Durbin still undisputed king of flip-flop
April 23, 2003
BY STEVE NEAL, SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the master of the political U-turn, recently accused his colleague Peter G. Fitzgerald of making a similar turnaround.
Durbin alleged that Fitzgerald was hypocritical to suggest that the City of Chicago be given authority over a Peotone airport in exchange for supporting its construction. He noted that Fitzgerald is opposed to giving the city more power to grab suburban land for new runways at O'Hare but wants to give Mayor Daley land ''in Kankakee County.''
''I can't keep up with how he approaches the O'Hare expansion," Durbin said of his Republican colleague, with a chuckle, pointing out that Fitzgerald lacks a ''consistent approach.''
Durbin, who has made a career out of doing political somersaults, doesn't want Fitzgerald infringing on his copyright. It should be noted that Durbin once opposed new runways at O'Hare and vowed to stand with suburban property owners against expansion of the airport. That was and is Fitzgerald's position. His policy shift on the ownership of a Peotone airport is modest compared to Durbin's total reversal.
The airport is a touchy subject for Durbin. Last summer, he took premature credit for winning Senate approval for O'Hare expansion. Much to his embarrassment, Durbin couldn't even get his legislation to the Senate floor. The senator had no clout.
Durbin, who has been for and against U.S. military intervention in Iraq, tends to be a hawk when Democrats are in the White House and a dove during Republican administrations. Five years ago, when President Bill Clinton ordered air attacks against Iraq, Durbin called on GOP colleagues ''to join with the rest of America in presenting a united front to our enemies abroad.'' He also supported Clinton's war in Bosnia.
After voting against this year's war against Saddam Hussein's regime, Durbin is following public opinion. He is co-sponsoring legislation to increase combat pay for the U.S. armed services in Iraq.
''We have asked our American soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen to put their lives on the line and to bear the burdens of combat,'' Durbin said. ''It is not fair to ask them to bear a heavy financial burden as well. If we want to continue to have the finest armed forces in the world, we must take care to fairly compensate military personnel for their service.''
The great Senators Ernest L. Gruening of Alaska and Wayne L. Morse of Oregon would have been amused by Durbin's split personality. After Gruening and Morse voted against Lyndon B. Johnson's Gulf of Tonkin resolution, they also voted against funding for that undeclared war. But Durbin is trying to have it both ways.
Durbin, who began his political career as an anti-abortion activist, voted as a Downstate congressman to ban federal funds for abortions even in cases of rape or incest. But as he became ambitious for statewide office, he abandoned his right-to-life stance in recognition that most Illinois voters are pro-choice. As a senator, he cast one of the key votes that sustained President Clinton's veto of a ban on [partial-birth] abortions.
During Senate debate last month over proposals to outlaw this same procedure, Durbin tried to have it both ways. He offered his own amendment to ban this type of abortion.
''You are talking about gruesome surgical circumstances,'' he declared. ''Why in the world do we allow this to happen in America?''
Senator Flipper added: ''I see both sides. I do not like the fact that there are so many abortions in America. I do not like the fact that you have circumstances where people need an abortion. We ought to find some way to work this out reasonably.''
When his late-term ban was defeated, he voted against the GOP-sponsored ban that passed the Senate. Neither the pro-choice nor the pro-life advocates were impressed with Durbin's tap dancing.
Among the reasons pro-choice leaders are wary of Durbin is that five years ago he engineered the nomination of pro-life Democrat Glenn Poshard over three pro-choice rivals in the primary for governor.
Durbin has also flip-flopped on campaign finance reform. During the 2001 debate over the McCain-Feingold bill, he endorsed a key amendment. On the Senate floor, he made an impassioned plea for this amendment and then, stunning colleagues, said that he would ''set aside my heartfelt concerns and vote against it.''
As a candidate for the U.S. Senate, Durbin berated his opponent for making sudden policy shifts. ''He can't get away with trying to change his stripes,'' Durbin said then. ''It's an insult to the voters and it debases the process.'' It's also his political philosophy.
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