Last night, I had the great opportunity of speaking with former Senator Alan Simpson (R-Wyoming), a moderate who often bucked his party on social issues. Simpson, the son of a one-term Republican Senator, served as Wyoming’s Assistant Attorney General and Cody city attorney before being elected to the state House of Representatives in 1964. After 17 years in the chamber, Simpson was elected to the United States Senate in 1978. During his three terms in the Senate, Simpson served as Republican Whip and Chairman of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
For my first question, I asked Simpson if he thought the deal to stop the nuclear option will hold.
Alan Simpson: I think that what the seven moderates on each side did… The deal will hold, unless they put up a card-carrying commie or a guard from Lenin’s tomb or something, or a ragged Neanderthal on the Republican side. It will hold because they know that whatever the Republicans do here to lessen the rights of the minority, in ten years they’ll be in the minority and they’ll feel the sting of the lash. That’s the way it works. Like a giant wheel with a hobnail boot. You set it in motion, it’ll kick your opponent in the ass, but eventually it’ll get you too.
You can the rest of the interview here on my blog, Basie!
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.