David Brooks, in the Election Day edition of the Times attempts to reassure his liberal readers that they really don’t have to worry that a Republican Congress will be as conservative as they fear.
One reason the Brooks points to is –
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/opinion/02brooks.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
The new Republicans may distrust government, but this will be a Republican class with enormous legislative experience. Tea Party hype notwithstanding, most leading G.O.P. candidates either served in state legislatures or previously in Washington. The No Compromise stalwarts like Senator Jim DeMint have a big megaphone but few actual followers within the Senate.
Brooks doesn’t actually explain how legislative experience is incompatible with being a no compromise stalwart.
In fact, Senator DeMint, Brooks’ example of the kind of extremist not to worry about has 11 years of legislative experience. Two of the leading Tea Party candidates, who liberals fear the most also have legislative experience – Sharron Angle has 6 years of legislative experience and Marco Rubio has 10, including two years as Speaker of the Florida Assembly. And, Brooks doesn’t mention that Newt Gingrich had 16 years of legislative experience before he became Speaker of the House.