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EMIL
FRANZI |
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Taking a closer look at Kyl, our other senator January 16, 2008 |
Every state is
allocated two senators by the constitution.
Equality stops there. Few states have even one
rise to the level of a national leader. Arizona
has two — Jon Kyl and John McCain.
Fred Barnes writing in The Weekly Standard draws a contrast between the two. “McCain is a public senator. His influence comes from taking on issues with maximum media attention and building public support for his position,” Barnes writes. “Kyl is a private senator. He maneuvers skillfully out of public view to build Senate support for his positions.” The whole country can identify John McCain. Many Arizonans barely know Jon Kyl. Bringing it home, those in Marana seeking relief from FEMA will discover that despite a flurry of press releases by a first-term House member, the office to call for actual results is Sen. Kyl’s. Born in Nebraska, Kyl was raised in Iowa where his father, the late John Kyl, was a Republican congressman from 1959 to 1965 and 1967 to 1973. Jon Kyl graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Arizona and it’s law school where he was editor-in-chief of the Arizona Law Review. He was a Phoenix attorney prior to his election to the U.S. House in 1986, was elected to the Senate in 1994 and re-elected in 2000 and 2006. One of Senator Kyl’s major accomplishments was the defeat of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1999 submitted by President Clinton. Kyl’s style is exemplified in the quiet research he did on all aspects of that treaty and his meticulous persuading of many Republican senators that the CTBT was seriously flawed. Ultimately, Clinton and senate Democrats never saw it coming until too late and the treaty was defeated 48-51. Note that Kyl accomplished this as a junior senator still in his first term. For Arizonans, that expertise resulted in 2004 with the passage of the Arizona Water Settlement Act, the most far-reaching Indian water settlement in history, which includes allowing the Gila River tribes and the Tohono O’odham to lease their water rights to Arizona cities One little known fact about Jon Kyl comes from Michael Barone and Richard Cohen in the “Almanac of American Politics.” Kyl was seriously considered for the GOP vice-presidential slot by his old House colleague Dick Cheney in 2000. He ultimately removed himself from consideration. Kyl has climbed the ladder of leadership in the GOP senate caucus, first as chairman of the Republican Steering Committee, and then in the No. 3 slot as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee from 2003 until his selection as GOP senate whip, the No. 2 position, upon the retirement of Trent Lott late last year. Barnes describes the process. He had 20 of the 25 GOP votes needed between late afternoon and the evening of Lotts’ resignation. “By acting unobtrusively but decisively, Kyl created a consensus rather than waiting for the possibility that it might form on its own.” Kyl’s methods bring to mind a description of one of our most under-rated Presidents, Martin van Buren. “He rows with muffled oars.” Kyl is always pleasant and unassuming — but firm. No one questions his competence or deep knowledge. He describe himself as “being a little too wonkish sometimes — actually reading the bills.” We should all rejoice that someone we elect actually does. TIME magazine surprised many when it named the 10 best Senators last year and included both McCain and Kyl. They called Kyl “The Operator.” Barnes points out, “Kyl is not an operator in the Lyndon Johnson or Bill Clinton sense. He is not a pragmatist seeking compromise or popular applause. Kyl is a conservative — probably the smartest one in the senate — in search of conservative victories.” The loud-mouthed yahoos on the edge of the conservative coalition who wanted him purged for his attempt to resolve the immigration issue last year need to keep that in mind.
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BUT WATCH WHAT YOU SAY! |
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