Saving politicians from themselves

Most of you have never heard of Barber B. Conable Jr., a former Congressman who died recently at age 81. But he was a great lawmaker, and we thought of him last week when the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case challenging the Congressional districts redrawn in Pennsylvania after the last census.

Conable's career and the Pennsylvania case reveal how seriously the machinery of democracy has broken down in the House of Representatives. Unless the courts provide a remedy, the deterioration of an ancient and honorable institution will only get worse.

We covered Barber Conable during the early '80s, when he was the senior Republican on the Ways and Means Committee. During that time he was voted the "most respected" House member by colleagues in both parties, and for good reason.

Conable was never in the majority during the 20 years he represented upstate New York, but he worked closely with the Democratic leadership and left a major imprint on many pieces of legislation covering trade and taxes.

Former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, who ran Ways and Means for most of Conable's career, put it best: "Barber was a Republican, but first and foremost, he was a legislator. And he understood what it took to put a bill together."

Conable was a conservative, but not a rigid ideologue. He had his principles, but he understood that everyone else in Congress had principles, too. And he knew that if you wanted to be a legislator, if you wanted to make progress and not just speeches, compromise was essential.

But the model that Conable represented is fast disappearing today, and that's where the Pennsylvania court case comes in. It challenges a dangerous development in American politics -- the idea that any majority in any state can do anything it wants to solidify its political advantage.

After years of highly partisan gerrymandering in states across the country -- by both parties -- the House of Representatives is no longer a truly democratic body. Almost every district is safe for one side or the other. Next fall, only about 25 seats will really be contested, barely 5 percent of the total.

The result is that few lawmakers have to consult, or even care about, people who disagree with them. They only have to please their party base. Thus the spirit of compromise and moderation that marked Conable's career and earned him such respect is rapidly diminishing.

Earlier this year, the current chairman of Ways and Means, Rep. Bill Thomas, actually ordered the Capitol Police to round-up dissident Democrats who had left a meeting to protest the chairman's high-handed tactics. It is inconceivable that Barber Conable would have given such an order, or mistreated committee Democrats so badly in the first place.

Pennsylvania symbolizes the underlying problem that has ignited this holy war on Capitol Hill. The Republican majority in the state legislature drew a map that gave the GOP 12 safe seats and the Democrats seven, even though Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by almost 500,000.

Politics has always been part of redistricting, and it should be. After, all, winning an election provides a mandate to govern. But new computer technology has given politicians a vastly enhanced ability to carve out favorable districts, and the question posed by this case is whether there are any limits of any kind on majority power.

Traditionally, the courts have allowed the political branch of government to set its own rules, and courts should always be cautious when entering in the "political thicket." But how can the system fix itself? If elections are so rigged, how can voters register their disapproval?

The Pennsylvania case is one of three coursing through the courts in search of a legal answer to these questions. The Colorado Supreme Court recently tossed out a plan approved by the state legislature that would have solidified Republican control over two marginal districts.

And in Texas, a three-judge federal panel is now hearing testimony that challenges a map drawn up by Republicans with the aid and encouragement of the White House. If upheld, those new district lines could shift as many as seven seats from Democratic to Republican control.

We love the House of Representatives. Cokie's parents, Lindy and Hale Boggs, served there for a total of almost 50 years (and often had tough re-election fights). But no democratic body can thrive if most of its members are insulated from accountability and don't have to answer to the voters.

The courts have to save the politicians from themselves. They have to make House elections fair again. Otherwise, professional legislators like Barber Conable will become extinct.

Cokie and Steven V. Roberts are columnists with United Feature Syndicate.