Lessons taught by Muskie desperately needed today

Sunday, January 30, 2005

COLUMN: Karl Braithwaite and Don Nicoll

Today, as a conference of experts at Princeton University concluded in December, a decline in comity, bipartisanship and cooperation is hurting the nation's ability to address the nation's needs and create solutions that serve the public well. What can we learn from Muskie's leadership model for accord and bipartisanship?

Gov. Muskie believed in reaching public policy decisions by a process based on facts, broad participation by those with different opinions and vigorous but civil debate. The object was not to beat the representatives of the other party, but to reach agreement on policies and actions that would benefit the people of Maine. He was able in his two terms to build alliances with such vigorous Republican leaders as Senate President Robert Haskell and to achieve significant reforms in the state's economic development program, environmental legislation, education and state budgeting. How did he do it? The answer is part Muskie, part Maine.

The pattern of those gubernatorial years, the "Muskie Model," was repeated during his 20-plus years in the Senate, a record worthy of emulation at any time, but especially in a period of serious public policy challenges, domestic discord and international conflict.

In 1972, for example, Sen. Muskie led the creation of the Clean Water Act, relying on extensive public hearings over more than two years and as much on Republican support as Democratic. At the time, conservative New York Sen. James Buckley, brother of conservative icon William F. Buckley, had difficulty supporting a strong national role to clean up America's water, favoring a "state's rights" approach instead. Muskie, at any point, could have voted him down, but instead worked to answer his concerns. Some thought this was a waste of time, but Buckley eventually supported the bill, realizing that polluters would play states against each other. Republican support was essential when President Nixon vetoed the bill and Congress chose to override that veto. Muskie's work with Buckley was a lesson never to forget.

'MUSKIE MODEL' IN ACTION

For Muskie, creating policy was like weaving a rug with a complex pattern, rather than patching together a quilt. It took time, creative thought, strong collaboration with Republican leaders, and help from everyone willing to do their homework and contribute. Some legislators do not have the patience for this. At the time, one lawmaker complained that he "didn't have time for Muskie's 'debating society.' " As a result, that lawmaker missed an opportunity to contribute to the foundation of the nation's environmental laws.

Muskie's model for leadership also was reflected in his bipartisan work to cut the federal deficit as the Senate's first Budget Committee chairman, his ability to shape and get enactment of the Clear Air Act and his leadership in influencing passage of the Model Cities Act, which encouraged redevelopment projects emphasizing citizen participation and the integration of urban renewal efforts in blighted areas.

In renewing the Clean Air Act in the mid-1970's, Muskie held 24 subcommittee meetings and 24 full committee meetings to craft the changes to a law that had already had extensive sessions in 1970 to create the law. And this was after dozens of information-gathering hearings to allow all views to be expressed to the Senate committee. Education, setting ideology and partisanship aside, learning from diverse views, and attention to the craft of legislating were key.

Muskie had a strong appetite for reliable, unbiased information. If it didn't exist, he created research programs to generate it. The University of Southern Maine's Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service is dedicated to creating studies that provide applied research of use to policy-makers, as well as producing graduate students to fill public service roles. The same approach to studies is demonstrated by the Margaret Chase Smith Center at the University of Maine. There is a critical need for accurate information in making sound policy in Maine and in the nation.

The Muskie tradition is a Maine tradition, and many of our elected officials have followed the same approach: U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, U.S. Reps. Tom Allen and Michael Michaud, Gov. John Baldacci and many former officials such as U.S. Sens. George Mitchell and Bill Cohen and Gov. Angus King have displayed similar traits.

Recently at the state level, during the debate over tax reform, there were concerns that civility, doing your homework, including all views, and the ability to address difficult and complex problems had evaporated in the wave of contentious voter referenda. In an era of term limits, how can state government meet the demands of a legislative model that requires time to understand issues to weave together diverse opinions into support for what is best for the public good?

STATE LEADERS LEARN A LESSON

The answer seems to be found in the property-tax-relief legislation recently approved by the Legislature. It turns out state policy-makers did their homework last spring and summer, learning a great deal about tax issues and options even though they failed to bring the answers together in a final product. But the education paid off. The appointment in December of independent Richard Woodbury as co-chairman of the Taxation Committee was a surprise and helped to reduce partisan tensions. Baldacci's willingness to let the Legislature modify his bill also was key. In Maine, we continue to value and demand the kind of leadership and cooperation that Muskie championed.

Will the national government find a way to improve bipartisanship, civility and creative problem-solving over partisanship and nastiness? That is a much more difficult bet. At last month's conference at Princeton University, James Barnes of the National Journal concluded that, "At the end of the day, it's going to take presidential leadership to end the partisan bickering in Washington." He mentioned an interview he had in 2000 with then-presidential candidate George W. Bush, who said, "The onus (for improving the political atmosphere) is on the president." The Washington Post's David Broder attended the conference, and concluded in his Dec. 12, 2004, column that "polarization will be around for quite awhile."

We have seen evidence of the politics of exclusion in the U.S. House of Representatives, where the majority has deliberately kept members of the minority from participating in crafting legislation on such important issues as tax policy and national security measures, where powerful committee chairs were allowed to hold the Congress hostage. Overcoming the division and deadlock that have become too characteristic of the national legislative body and its interaction with the executive branch will require substantial behavioral reform in both branches of government and in both major political parties.

The policy-making approach Muskie and many other Maine leaders have used requires strong and inclusive leadership. There is no substitute. The example set by the man from Rumford, Maine, 50 years ago remains a valuable lesson to remember and apply today.

Karl Braithwaite is the dean of the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of Public Service. In the late 1970s, he was staff director of the U.S. Senate's environmental subcommittee, chaired by Edmund Muskie. Don Nicoll is a member of the Board of Visitors of the Muskie School. He was executive secretary of the Maine Democratic Party from 1954 to 1956 and administrative assistant to Muskie in the Senate from 1962 to 1971.

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