November 10, 2002 --

Given her name, celebrity and cash-raising prowess, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will undoubtedly be tempted to assume a significant role in the loyal opposition, now that Republicans firmly control both the White House and the Congress.

We hope she declines.

Clinton has a day job - representing the people of New York. And that's a task that became much more difficult after Tuesday's election results.

When Democrats controlled the Senate, Clinton and fellow Sen. Chuck Schumer had influence within the majority caucus to ensure that New York got a reasonable share of federal resources.

Partly because of President Bush standing by his word, but also because of that influence, New York received more than $21 billion in federal post-9/11 assistance.

And that was not necessarily a sure thing. More than a couple of Republican senators from the heartland weren't exactly doing cartwheels over the thought of sending money to - in their view - a liberally spending black hole such as New York state.

(It didn't help that the Republican governor tried to pad the bill and to get even more bucks for projects not directly related to the attacks).

Now Democrats are the minority party in both houses. But New York's needs - both those connected to recovery efforts, as well as broader ongoing concerns - will still be significant in the coming years.

That means that Hillary Clinton shouldn't complicate matters by taking the lead in attacking the Bush administration on every issue.

The same advice extends to Schumer. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on nominations, he was the point man in blocking Bush's judicial nominees. Should he expect "payback"?

Ya think?

Schumer shouldn't stay up too late waiting for phone calls to be returned.

The same holds true, frankly, for many members of the state congressional delegation. House Ways and Means Committee chairman-in-waiting Charles Rangel should hold his tongue.

As should Jerry Nadler, who has demonstrated that he may very well be the delegation's most ungrateful member: Ground Zero is in his district, yet he voted against Bush's Iraq resolution.

When the Senate was in Democratic hands, the price to pay for going against a popular wartime president was not huge.

If New York's congressional delegation - starting with its two senators - is to be effective for its constituents in the coming months, a little humility, deference and tact will be in order as they engage the White House.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2002

Answers

a little humility, deference and tact will be in order as they engage the White House.

piaps doesn't know what those words mean.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2002