The Associated Press is reporting that U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad will shortly announce that he will not seek another term.
Ramstad, 61, a moderate Republican representing the suburban Third Congressional District, is in the middle of his ninth term. Ramstad, who once described himself to me jokingly as a RINO (that’s “Republican in name only) was about as moderate as you’ll see in today’s Congress.
At his recent presentation at the Humphrey Institute, he described his reaction when he learned that the Democrats had taken control of the House last year, along the lines of: Well, at least now I can get some of my bills passed. He was especially a champion of a bill to require that addiction and mental illness be treated equally with other medical conditions in health insurance. He said this was a bill that would pass if it could come to a vote, but that was blocked by the GOP leadership.
Ramstad has won all of his recent races by big margins (65-35 percent over radio personality Wendy Wilde last year), and was once considered to have a seat that was safe as long as he wanted it. But the district has been blue-ing up and there has been talk of more serious challenges ahead. Rumors that he might step down after one more term have been circulating.
I tried to ask him about it in August. He confessed that serving in Congress was a lot less fun than it had been, and he identified the Iraq war as the main cause.
In a long interview about Iraq last month, Ramstad strongly endorsed the approach recommended by the Baker-Hamilton led Iraq Study Group. But Ramstad said he would not vote for any legislation that mandated withdrawal deadlines. He predicted a big change in the war debate around the Petraeus report. After the Petraeus report, he released this statement:
“I am pleased General Petraeus believes troop-level reductions arepossible in the near future. “General Petraeus’ prediction of troop drawdowns is a step in the right direction. he remainder of our troops should be withdrawn when commanders in the field determine enough Iraqi forces are trained to secure their own country.”
In my personal dealings with him, Rep. Ramstad has been unfailingly friendly, courteous and helpful.
Yes, he is unfailingly, friendly, courteous and helpful. He also backed the Military Commissions Act, an anti-flag burning act, and tried to justify his pro-Iraq war votes on the basis of 9/11 at town hall meetings long after it was clear the Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. He has said that he thinks that No Child Left Behind should be scrapped, but has not, as far as Spot can tell, ever lifted a finger in Washington to help make that happen.
Ramstad is like a lot of Republicans. He has a soft spot for mental health issues because he has had an, er, mental health problem. (He’s apparently beaten it, so good for him.) But it’s not empathy when you only seem to care about something that happened to you.
Jim Ramstad avoids controversy at every turn. He is neither hot nor cold; it is time he was spit out.
Almost forgot. He also supported a bill to divest the federal courts of jurisdiction over pledge of allegiance cases. Quite the First Amendment champion.