What the ‘Bernie Sanders wing of the GOP’ can teach Congress

The Hill staff writer Ben Kamisar rightly noted that Las Vegas served as an appropriate venue for the final presidential debate as both Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nomine Donald Trump “sought to land punches during their last head-to-head appearance as the two squared off in a city home to some of the largest boxing fights in history.”

{mosads}But behind the scenes of the partisan circus that is the 2016 election, there are politicians who should be celebrated and could serve as role models for whoever moves into the Oval Office in 2017 to make Washington governable again.

Two days before the presidential debate, a headline in Politico read “Sanders-loving Vermont lawmaker snags GOP nomination.” Rep. Pete Welch is as liberal a Democrat as they come. But, in addition to his own party’s nod, Welch also received a surprise GOP nomination for Congress in a write-in campaign.

Welch quipped to Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) that he’s “going to be representing the [Vermont Sen. Bernie] Sanders wing of the Republican party.”

His GOP appeal shouldn’t really be a surprise, because some of the most conservative Republicans are his closest buddies, including Republican Study Committee Chairman Bill Flores (Texas).

Welch belongs to a bipartisan working group organized by Rep. James Renacci (R-Ohio) that meets once a week over coffee and donuts and work together on legislation. It consists of some 20 members of Congress.

Unlike Welch, Renacci faces a tough reelection, but also reflects the wishes of his constituency to solve problems: “I learned quickly when I came to Congress the only way to accomplish anything was to work with my colleagues from the other side of the aisle, to hear opposing views; these working groups are my favorite hours of the week.”

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a senior member of Congress and former chairman of the Finance Committee, has been around long enough to see President Reagan and former Speaker Tip O’Neill (D-Mass.) fighting over legislation during the day only to retreat to drinks and Irish tales in the evening, in those days of Washington getting things done.

Wyden talks about “principled bipartisanship.” It has enabled him to work closely with Tea Party favorite Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on drones and privacy issues and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on reforming Medicare, which unfortunately fell apart with the partisan pressure on both of election time.

Ryan, the accidental Speaker, is a policy wonk above all else. It has enabled him to work with Wyden on Medicare reform and with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on a bipartisan budget at which time he noted, “We came here to get something done. We always lock horns. We always argue. We never agree. I think it is about time, for once in a long time, we find common ground and agree.”

There are some, including me, who believe he may have given up running for the presidency this year in order to continue leading Congress and pursue his lifelong goal of pro-growth tax reform.

Then there are the politically odd bedfellows responsible for the new, long overdue and beautiful National Museum of African American History. The rightfully acknowledged father of the museum is a legendary civil rights icon, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). However, as Lewis has acknowledged, the museum never would have happened but for the intervention and leadership of very conservative former Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.).

Welch, Renacci, Wyden, Ryan, Lewis and Brownback represent ideologies spanning Tea Party Republicans, progressive Democrats and all points in between. But unlike many of their rigid partisan colleagues, they take their responsibilities as members of Congress seriously and understand that compromise is not a four-letter word — that it’s needed to govern.

They should be a welcome sight for the next president, who will need to quickly heal the nation and shift to governing after one of the most contentious elections in modern history.

Bloomfield is president and CEO of the American Council for Capital Formation and was secretary of President Reagan’s Transition Task Force on Tax Policy. Follow him on Twitter @MrCapitalGains.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.