Why Grover Still Matters

talkingpointsmemo.com — To critics of all the recent focus on Grover Norquist, the power of his anti-tax pledge isn't mythical, or really even that important. Their explanation is rather straightforward: Republicans don’t want to raise taxes not because Norquist tells them they can’t, but because they don’t want to raise taxes. Because rich people don’t want their taxes to go up. This is materially true, but I think it’s an incomplete account, both of the unique situation Republicans face right now, and of the interesting way Norquist fits into the bigger picture. It’s certainly the case that a lot of very rich people want their taxes low, and they provide Norquist and a few other powerful conservatives the means to enforce strict discipline among elected officials to keep them that way. But there’s something unique about Norquist’s rules that distinguish him from the Club for Growth or other powerful conservative anti-tax voices: Unlike the rest of them, he has the pledge.

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