Rep. Robert Wexler Breathes Fire -- A Florida Tough Guy Fighting for Progressive Values

This is our time. We've had eight years of failed policy from Bush. Now McCain wants to continue it. But this is our time to make the case for progressive ideology in America, to get our economy back going strong, to get good-paying jobs in America, to relieve our dependency on foreign oil. This is the time for liberals and progressives to stand up. Lay out a case. And I believe we'll win with a significant number of Americans supporting us.

-- Representative Robert Wexler, six-term Democratic congressman, Florida's 19th District

* * *

Congressman Robert Wexler is a member of the House Judiciary, Foreign Affairs, and Financial Services committees, named "Most Valuable Congressman" by The Nation in 2007, and one of "The 50 Most Effective Legislators in Congress" by Congressional Quarterly.

But what makes him so important to progressives is that he is a blunt, unabashed supporter of impeaching Bush and Cheney and speaks out on behalf of just about every progressive issue -- and when Wexler speaks, you hear him.

To those who say that Democrats need to be centrists, let it be noted that the Republicans didn't even field an opponent against Wexler in 2004 and 2006.

As you will find our from our interview, Wexler doesn't mince words -- and how refreshing that is.

* * *

BuzzFlash: We're talking about and selling your new book, Fire-Breathing Liberal: How I Learned To Survive (and Thrive) in the Contact Sport of Congress. After we saw the photo on the cover, we thought, we've just got to interview Representative Wexler.

Rep. Robert Wexler: Thank you. Of course, what happened in that first term, was the impeachment of Bill Clinton. That was my introduction to Congress -- the impeachment of Bill Clinton.

BuzzFlash: It was quite a brawl.

Rep. Robert Wexler: That was quite a brawl. I would argue, a very destructive brawl -- the Constitution suffered a great deal, and the country suffered a great deal. I talk about that in the book.

I also contrast it with my call for impeachment hearings regarding Vice President Cheney, and now President Bush. I believe most Americans would agree, they have abused the power of their office in a systematic way on a number of different issues -- including the war in Iraq, whether or not there's an illegal program to spy on innocent Americans, as opposed to terrorists, and things such as whether or not the Vice President and President have ordered illegal torture in violation of both American and international law, and things such as the outing of the covert CIA agent, Valerie Plame Wilson.

BuzzFlash: We recommend your book highly.

Rep. Robert Wexler: Thank you.

BuzzFlash: First of all, it's all you. We've seen you. Some of our staff have talked with you before, and I've seen you often on television. But it's really in your voice.

At one point you were talking about the famous "Colbert Report" incident. And you say that you don't have a sense of humor, but really there's a lot of sense of humor in this book, and I think that's one of its strong qualities. I think it's priceless. In writing about constituency service, when you talk about the price gouging in Southern Florida, I certainly laughed, even though I know the constituent came to you quite seriously. There apparently was some matzo price gouging going on in Southern Florida. In the same chapter, you describe an incident where you went to a barbecue and you spent the whole time telling them you didn't eat this big hog that they were spit-roasting, and you ended up with some corn on the cob. So there is definitely some humor in here that's quite enjoyable.

Rep. Robert Wexler: I appreciate your comments. What I tried to do in Fire-Breathing Liberal was write a candid, frank book by a sitting member of Congress, to tell things how they really are in Congress and in Washington -- but to sort of undo the mystery that sometimes surrounds Congress. And I tried to do it not only in a frank way but a humorous way.

I take my responsibility as a member of Congress very seriously. But at the same time, I hope I don't take myself particularly seriously in that context. And we're all human. I certainly make mistakes. I will undoubtedly continue to make them. But I try to point out the human side of being a member of Congress in a way that people can appreciate it and relate to it.

BuzzFlash: I have to ask you this. You were at the Senate. It's amazing and heroic. Relatively short period of time, about ten years. You've been at the center of so many significant political issues -- the attempt to impeach a president, and you helped lead the anti-impeachment movement for Clinton. You were at the center of the 2000 election vote count situation, and we highly recommend reading the book for that chapter alone. In Palm Beach County, which you represent, there was the infamous butterfly ballot.

And there's an incident in there which I wanted to ask you about. People don't even realize that there were various delays in the recount of Palm Beach County, and eventually the vote was completed two hours after the deadline that was imposed. If those votes had been counted, likely Al Gore would have had to be certified as the victor. And so it was just the difference of about two hours.

Rep. Robert Wexler: There were a number of arbitrary roadblocks that the Republicans in Florida and up in Washington set up to avoid the counting of all the votes in Florida, which they feared would provide the evidence that more people intended, and did in fact, vote for Al Gore in 2000 than for George Bush. In my book, Fire-Breathing Liberal, I devote two chapters -- one to the problem and the situation of what happened in 2000, and the second to the remedy. What do we do about it? I then went on a campaign to have a voter-verified paper trail in Florida and throughout the country for every voter. Thankfully, we have accomplished that in Florida.

The champion became the new Republican governor, Governor Charlie Crist. He got it implemented through the Florida legislature -- a voter-verified paper trail. I owe him a great debt of gratitude. But what's most important is that our democracy is dependent upon people not only having the right to vote, but also the right to have their vote counted. That's what was missing in the election of 2000. And that's what I tried to point out for readers -- what is the fix? I also detail that in the book.

BuzzFlash: You give a very dramatic account of what transpired in Palm Beach County, home of the butterfly ballot, where the elderly Jewish people in the state mistakenly voted for Buchanan, and were sick to their stomachs about it, because of the design of the ballot. But you unfold very dramatically what happened. One of your aides was arrested, and all sorts of nonsense was going on. It's a very riveting account, bringing us back to that time, that many people have forgotten now. The theft of an election -- you say that in your book.

Rep. Robert Wexler: Yes.

BuzzFlash: There's a limited number of Democrats in Congress who will call themselves liberals.

Rep. Robert Wexler: Yes.

BuzzFlash: They ran away from the so-called "L" word because the right wing has defined that as though there's something wrong with it, instead of that being a positive word, and embracing a secular society that respects the Constitution. You embrace it.

You were the first co-sponsor of the recent Dennis Kucinich 35 Articles of Impeachment against Bush. You were a co-sponsor and are a co-sponsor of the impeachment resolution submitted by Congressman Kucinich against Cheney last year. You're extremely forceful in terms of FISA and the abuse of our trust -- this Administration -- in terms of the Iraq war. Is that coming directly from you, or is this just representative of your district? Because there aren't many Congresspeople -- Barbara Lee, Lynn Woolsey, Dennis Kucinch, other members of the Progressive Caucus -- but not a whole lot who are willing to go out that far. If you were in another district, would you be able to do that?

Rep. Robert Wexler: This is representative of what I believe in my heart and soul, and the good news from me is I have been fortunate to have the support of an overwhelming majority of my constituents. My book, Fire-Breathing Liberal, is a liberal call to action, and it proudly says that the liberal agenda, the progressive agenda, is the best agenda for America. That's what will put us on track both domestically and in terms of our foreign policy. That's what's going to help us. With respect to our health care, with our jobs, with our housing, with our schools -- that's what's going to enable us to relieve our dependency on foreign oil. We need to invest in alternative energy sources. What we don't need to do is open up pristine beaches in Florida and throughout the country to oil drilling. We've got to invest tens of billions of dollars here in America on solar energy, wind power, clean coal technology, wave currents, nuclear power, if it's safe, like they do in France.

How ridiculous -- pathetic -- it was when we were begging the Saudis last week to just pump a little bit more oil so that we could possibly have more of this addiction, like Tom Friedman said in The New York Times the other day. We need to end that dependency. That's how we begin to bring America back. This is a liberal call to action. It's time for progressives to have their surge in America, and the time is right for that. And I'm proud to call myself a liberal.

BuzzFlash: Describe your district a bit. You're north of Miami Beach -- is it predominantly Jewish and elderly? What makes it so liberal?

Rep. Robert Wexler: My home town is Boca Raton in Palm Beach County. My district goes as far north as West Palm Beach, as far south as the middle of Broward County, and towns like Margate and Tamarack, Coconut Creek and Deerfield and others. There's a large constituency of Jewish-Americans and Italian-Americans. There is, in fact, a very large number of seniors. I think I have the second largest number of Medicare and Social Security recipients in the country.

It's also a district with a large number of veterans of our military forces that fought in World War II and in Korea. It's a very patriotic district, a district where traditional values oftentimes are presented, but they're presented by people that love our nation so much that they become infuriated when they see the abuses of the Bush Administration in terms of our civil liberties and our privacy rights.

I remember -- and I talked about it in the book -- when I started defending the Constitution, and defending Bill Clinton from impeachment. I didn't know how my constituents felt. We didn't have polling. I went back home and did a town hall meeting. And a gentleman who had marched up the beaches of Normandy stood up and said, "Wexler, I didn't fight in World War II in order for this President, Bill Clinton, to be impeached by some right-wing nuts that were abusing the Constitution." That's the kind of constituency I have, and I'm so proud to represent them.

BuzzFlash: In 2004 and 2006, you were so popular, and obviously reflecting your constituency so well, that you didn't even have a Republican opponent. Do you have opposition this year?

Rep. Robert Wexler: I do. I have a Republican opponent, and I have an unaffiliated, independent sort of opponent as well. And I'm happy for that, because in Florida, when you go unopposed, your name isn't even on the ballot. That's not such a good thing if it happens over and over and over again.

But I'm confident of victory. I don't take anything for granted. I have to go in and earn every vote every two years. And I hope my book will help share with people my vision for the country, about how Democrats need to have a backbone, how we need to take our ideas to the people and not be Republican light, but actually provide a very strong and dignified alternative to the eight years of George Bush.

I think we can do that under the leadership of Senator Obama, who's presenting, I think, a very strong case for change.

BuzzFlash: On the back jacket of your book you have a quotation -- praise of the book from Senator Obama, who's our senator. We're located in Chicago and we know him. You also have one from Randi Rhodes, who praises you quite frequently. Now that she's moved back to Florida, and you are her Congressperson. We were getting her information during the period of the recount, when she was a local talk-show host, before she became national. She's a friend of ours and we love her dearly, but she got in trouble with the Clinton campaign because she was critical of Hillary Clinton in an appearance out in California that was not on the radio.

You were very close with the Clintons and supported the Clintons, as we did, throughout the impeachment and the right-wing attacks. I personally did some events for Bill Clinton. How is it going for a member of Congress like you? You backed Obama. Is there friction, or do you think we're going to end up as a unified party?

Rep. Robert Wexler: The Democratic Party is unifying much quicker than most people, I think, even thought that we would. In fact, I think the Republican Party is having a much more difficult time unifying around John McCain. We're doing a good job unifying around Barack Obama.

I think the world of Senator Clinton. I respect her enormously. I have nothing but admiration for President Clinton. In fairness, with respect to our good friend Randi Rhodes, what she was arguably criticized for was a comedy routine.

I'm not a part of the society of radio and all of that. But Randi Rhodes is an extraordinary woman who has a great deal of integrity. I love her to death. I think she provides an enormous opportunity for people to listen to innovative radio. And she'll do great. I'm just thrilled she was kind enough to add her name as a supporter of mine on the back of my book, Fire-Breathing Liberal.

BuzzFlash: She constantly mentions you on her program.

Rep. Robert Wexler: It's my honor.

BuzzFlash: You really reflect pretty much what we reflect on BuzzFlash. If there were a BuzzFlash Congressperson, you'd be it. You'd win hands down.

Rep. Robert Wexler: That'd be great.

BuzzFlash: Our readers always wonder why there aren't more people like you -- more Dennis Kuciniches more Barbara Lees, more Lynn Woolseys in Congress. You could have laid back in your district and coasted through and taken what are "centrist" positions when you voted on Iraq. The Democratic leadership in the House has not necessarily always been aligned with the progressive wing, as it wasn't on FISA -- and we support the Democratic leadership, but disagree on some specific votes. Do you think that there are other Congressional districts where Congressmen or women could be strong as you are on the agenda of protecting our Constitution, civil liberties, and so forth? Your colleagues just aren't getting out in front of the ball.

Rep. Robert Wexler: I respect the Democratic leadership, too, and work closely with them. But my basic feeling is that we Democrats were given a majority because the American people want change. They want results in terms of health care, in terms of our jobs, our schools, and the like. But they also want us to stand up for principle, and they want Democrats to have a backbone. They want us to have the backbone, in terms of standing up to the President and demanding that we bring our troops home in a responsible fashion. Demanding that we adopt universal health care to get our people insured. Standing up for the quality of education in our public schools.

And I think at times -- and I say this respectfully -- politics is so much about the art of compromise, which is appropriate. But I think there's also a time to stand up for principle, and that's what I argue for in my book -- that Democrats need to have a backbone. And there are many that do. And I respect them enormously. But I think at times we need to have even more of a backbone than we've shown. If we did, the popularity of Congress, particularly Democrats, would go sky-high, although I think the American people, rightfully so, view the Democratic Party as a much more attractive set of ideas and principles at this point, as compared to the McCain-Bush ideology. I think we could do better.

BuzzFlash: You have a chapter, "When Do Liberals Have Their Surge?" Do you think it's now?

Rep. Robert Wexler: Yes, I do. That's why I wrote this book. And I used the word "surge" purposely to contrast it with the so-called surge in Iraq. This is our time. We've had eight years of failed policy from Bush. Now McCain wants to continue it. But this is our time to make the case for progressive ideology in America, to get our economy back going strong, to get good-paying jobs in America, to relieve our dependency on foreign oil. This is the time for liberals and progressives to stand up. Lay out a case. And I believe we'll win with a significant number of Americans supporting us.

BuzzFlash: Okay, final question. I can't resist asking. Can Barack Obama carry Florida?

Rep. Robert Wexler: Yes. Two polls this week showed that he is winning. They're just early polls, but they're great signs. When he came to Florida on his first trip after it was looking like he was going to become the nominee, we had two of the largest crowds in Florida history, both in Tampa and in Broward County, for Senator Obama. He was in Miami and Jacksonville last week. He was met with warm receptions.

There's a new poll out this morning that says he's very popular in South Florida and doing better amongst the Hispanic community in South Florida than John Kerry did. All the signs are pointing upwards. They're very positive. We still have a lot of work to do, but I'm very confident Barack Obama will win Florida.

BuzzFlash: Great. Congressman, thank you. Again, we applaud your efforts. And again, we encourage people to read your book. We didn't get to talk about the Colbert Report encounter. You're famous for particularly one interview.

Rep. Robert Wexler: Yes.

BuzzFlash: If people don't know about it, they should read your book.

Rep. Robert Wexler: Thank you so much.

BuzzFlash interview conducted by Mark Karlin.

Sign up for advance interview alerts and other BuzzFlash e-mail news at alerts.

Want to receive advance interview notifications and other BuzzFlash alerts? Go to: http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/subscribe.php. It's free.

* * *

Resources

Fire-Breathing Liberal: How I Learned to Survive (and Thrive) in the Contact Sport of Congress (Hardcover) by Rep. Robert Wexler and David Fisher, available from BuzzFlash.

Wexler going back to Colbert, despite previous controversy (The Hill)

Better Know a District - Florida's 19th - Robert Wexler (The Colbert Report)

Bookmark/Search this post with:

buzzflash | delicious | digg | yahoo | technorati