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96 Jettties
n the past, political prognos-
ticators had it relatively easy
when it came to congression-
al elections.
In any given year, there
were a handful of contests
that grabbed the national head-
lines, but the pundits on the
nightly news generally could get
by with predictions that when
the votes were counted, Con-
gress would still be pretty much
the same.
No more: in the 1990s, a peev-
ish electorate and a Congress
full of tired, frustrated legisla-
tors have combined to produce
record turnover. The 1994 Re-
publican rout was just part of an
ongoing trend that swept an un-
precedented wave of younger
and less seasoned legislators
into office.
Commentators are nervous
ly avoiding predications about
the makeup of the 105th
Congress; the only certainty
is that the maze of tunnels
under the House and Senate
office buildings will be clogged
with lost newcomers in January.
That may satisfy an electorate
eager to vent its rage in a
biennial rite of democratic blood-
letting, but the idea of a
perpetually neophyte Congress
presents a grave new challenge
to pro-Israel lobbyists.
The challenge is compounded
by the fact that the newcomers,
by and large, were elected be-
cause of their lack of experience,
not in spite of it. And increas-
ingly, Jews, like their non-Jew-
ish neighbors, are contributing
to the narrowing of national fo-
cus that ultimately will threat-
en this country, as well as the
nations around the world that
depend on American leadership
for their security.
American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC) were able to
build an enduring pro-Israel
coalition through painstaking
Work with legislators who could
be expected to hang around long
enough to make that process pro-
ductive.
"The emphasis was always
on working with members
throughout their careers," said
a top pro-Israel lobbyist. "The
assumption was that lobbying
was part education, part the
building of long-term relation-
ships. By the time a member
chaired an important subcom-
mittee, hopefully it was some-
body we'd worked with over an
extended period of time, who
had something more than a su-
perficial knowledge of Israel's
importance."
"We have a
much bigger
educational job to
do, and maybe a
Tess receptive group
to work with."
—A pro-Israel lobbyist in Washington
But the series of congression-
al upheavals of the 1990s have
made that strategy problemat-
ic.
"People are coming to Capitol
Hill without much experience in
foreign policy," this lobbyist said,
"and in many cases, they haven't
shown much of an interest in the
subject. We have a much bigger
educational job to do, and maybe
a less receptive group to work
with."
In the good old days of the
Less Experience,
Cold War, foreign policy was a
Less Interest
significant theme in most con-
For pro-Israel lobbyists, the gressional campaigns. Legisla-
most critical fact of the decade tors trumpeted their foreign
is this: more than half of the policy credentials to voters
House and Senate were elect- scared about the Soviet Union;
ed since 1990; with dozens of ex- candidates were expected to ad-
perienced members retiring dress the key international is-
after the end of the current ses- sues of the day by voters who
sion, the proportion will likely saw a direct connection between
reach two-thirds in the 105th their own security and the gov-
ernment's moves on the global
Congress.
That fact fundamentally chess board.
But today, with downsizing
changes the job of the small
army of activists who protect and moral decay scaring voters,
Israel's foreign aid on Capitol foreign policy is a kind of
Hill and promote healthy rela- political leprosy. Despite a vari-
tions between Washington and ety of new and frightening dan-
•gers on the..world -seenejoreign
Jerusalem.
.. In the 1:Wt, grouPs such as the policy isn't an issue in a single