I remember Lujan, the Representative, as a principled conservative (a rare breed, nowadays). Not my cup of tea, but someone who could be worked with.
He was Secretary of the Interior when I was heavily involved in Indian affairs. Although I deplored his environmental positions, he was no James Watt, and his treatment of Native American interests, I thought, was pretty even-handed. I recall him being fairly balanced and pro-policy - that is, following, not flouting the rules.
As for Gingrich - he was the worst thing to happen to politics in my lifetime, which includes Nixon. His scorched earth, dishonest and confrontational attitude continues to this day.
The Man Who Broke Politics (Atlantic). He is one of the most detestable humans ever to have infected the species. Hastert was largely ineffective, but he carried on the "Hastert rule" which effectively prevented any meaningful legislation to come to the floor for his tenure.
I think the next two elections will determine the fate of our nation. So long as he-who-should-not-exist is still not in prison and continues to use the fear of his racist base to influence politics, we're in peril. Biden is the last of the old-school compromisers. His long tenure in the Senate and I'll even say skill as VP in forging consensus should work well as a recovery President. I just wish he were a more effective speaker.
If the GOP gains enough seats to stymie any further legislative progress, the country is close to failure. As with every Presidency since Kennedy, Democratic Presidents are elected to clean up the messes created by Republicans. The role of Congress appears to simply stay in the way. That is NOT how the founders imagined the process.
