Up In Pelosi’s Grill

By Kleinheider Posted on February 5, 2009 at 7:51 am

The Politico again reports that Liberadiogate just makes clear what role Rep. Jim Cooper will play in national politics for the next few years — Nancy Pelosi’s worst nightmare:

But whether he wants to talk about it or not, the radio incident thrusts Cooper into the very public role of burr in Pelosi’s saddle. Every party has its itches to scratch. Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake, a fiscal scold who crusades against earmarks, embarrassed GOP leaders over the years by highlighting projects they endorsed. North Carolina Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr. became the Republican voice against the war in Iraq. Sens. Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint, in their own way, cause grief for their leaders.

Cooper now joins the ranks — but in reality, he’s been there before.

He locked horns with Hillary Clinton over health care reform in 1992 and 1993, during his first 12-year stint in the House, and he has questioned the readiness of his party to handle governing with a Democratic president. Late last year, he broke from many of his fellow fiscal conservatives in the Blue Dog Caucus to back California Rep. Henry A. Waxman for chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee.

But that Blue Dog Caucus remains his base of power in the House. In a Wall Street Journal interview earlier this year, Cooper said that if he and his fellow Blue Dogs “were to ally with the Republicans, we could swing any vote in the House of Representatives” — a not-so-subtle threat to any party leader.

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Tags: Jim Cooper, Liberadio(!), Liberadiogate, Nancy Pelosi  

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