By Azriel James Relph
If there is one Democrat who doesn’t have to worry about adjusting to the shifting political tides right now, it’s Jose E. Serrano.
The election of Republican Scott Brown to the late Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat last month was a big wakeup call for the Democratic Party. The loss of their filibuster-proof senate majority, forced most Democrats to reevaluate their own job security. Many – including President Obama – have embraced a more populist stance to curb waning public support. But for Congressman Serrano, no shift – and no fear – seems necessary.
Since 1992, Serrano has embraced the kind of populism – like criticizing the bailout of Wall Street – that his colleagues are now scrambling towards. His seat in the House of Representatives is one of the least likely to fall from Democrat’s hands.
Serrano was the only New York congressman to vote against the $700 billion 2008 Mortgage-backed Securities Buyout – aka the bank bailout, (It is worth noting the irony that Serrano himself used to be a banker). “I was speaking for the people in the Bronx and people across the nation who are stuck without any help from our government,” he said. “I was speaking against bailing out the very people who caused this mess. I was speaking for fairness in our economic policies.”
The US Chamber of Commerce gives Serrano a 26 percent rating – indicating that he has an anti-business voting record. Some Democrats probably wish they had a similar rating these days.
Serrano’s populism is not the kind that will appeal to the rising Tea Party movement, as he is unlikely to rail against deficit spending. In 2009, he got more than $14 million in earmarks for special projects. His 16th Congressional District, made up of South Bronx neighborhoods, is the poorest in the United States. $9 million of those federal funds went there, something Serrano does not downplay.
It is also one of the most solidly Democratic districts. President Obama got 95 percent of the 16th’s vote in 2008 – his highest in the country. Al Gore got the same treatment in 2000, as did Bill Clinton in 1996. No Republican bothered to run against Serrano in 1994, and no Democrat has ever opposed him in a primary.
President Obama ramped up his criticism of Wall Street after the Massachusetts loss. He has proposed new regulations on risky investments, and in his State of the Union Address last month he proposed fees for the largest banks. In response to the address, Serrano said, “President Obama had just the right message tonight, one of hope, resolve, and clarity of purpose.”
Last July Serrano voted to allow shareholders to vote on executive pay. Of course, a month earlier he voted to give himself a pay raise.
It looks like populism pays.