A little after 4 p.m. last Thursday, Oct. 29, just hours after House Democrats unveiled their bill to reform health care in America, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., arrived at the Library of Congress looking tired.
He made his way to the Members of Congress Room, took a seat and waited for his cue.
Frank, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, had come to the Library of Congress at the invitation of the progressive group 21st Century Democrats. They had invited him as part of the kick-off event for their 2009 Youth Leadership Speaker Series.
According to the 21st Century Democrats Web site, Frank was slated to give a talk on “the need to hold Wall Street accountable.”
But when he took the podium and addressed the small group of students and Democratic Congressional interns in the room, Frank hardly touched on the topic at all.
What he offered instead was an unapologetic defense of something President Barack Obama — and most Americans — profess to hate: partisanship.
“I am a partisan Democrat,” Frank said flatly. “This denigration of partisanship is a great mistake.”
Frank even went so far as to explicitly question the president on this issue.
“The one time I was troubled by President Obama’s rhetoric during the campaign was when he said he was going to govern in a post-partisan matter,” Frank said.
He then argued that working across the aisle often weakens bold legislation.
“Bipartisanship is never a good thing,” he said. “It’s a means to an end.”
Frank did concede that effective lawmakers mix idealism and pragmatism and admitted his willingness to compromise in order to get the votes necessary to pass bills.
Lawmakers must be idealistic as well as pragmatic in order to get things done, he said.
The congressman cited former independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader as someone who does not understand this concept.
In fact, he mocked Nader for “luxuriating in the purity of his own irrelevance,” drawing laughter and applause.
Frank’s brutal sense of humor was on display throughout the talk.
He had the group doubled over with laughter when explaining why he likes the word stimulus better than the phrase “recovery plan.”
“Most people would rather be stimulated than recovered,” he deadpanned.
Frank also roasted some of his Congressional colleagues who, unlike him, use the micro-blogging Web site Twitter.
“Senator McCaskill is a very nice person,” he said.
But then came the punch line: “I don’t care what she had for lunch.”
Frank’s humor was largely intentional, but his audience was most visibly amused when the congressman’s cell phone rang unexpectedly during his talk — and he answered it.
“Hi,” Frank mumbled, looking sheepish, “Oh, there are votes? I thought we were done. I’ll be right over.”
With that, he took a few more questions and quickly left the building.
At least one person present at the event was struck by Frank’s unusual take on partisanship.
Chris Allport, a freshman in AU’s College of Arts of Sciences, said Frank was a little radical on the issue. Still, he agreed with the congressman’s general sentiments.
“I think partisanship is a good thing,” he said.
The 21st Century Democrats certainly are pushing for partisanship on their liberal agenda, but the group’s executive director Ruth Cox said partisan strength is not enough.
“Having a Democratic majority is not enough to have a progressive majority,” she said. “You need progressive Democrats.”
Cox and her colleagues are intent on building a farm team of liberal activists and candidates.
This is the kind of talk that makes conservative Blue Dog Democrats balk.
But it’s just what Barney Frank wants to hear.
You can reach this staff writer at gvyse@theeagleonline.com.