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Cuba bill finds foe in Menendez
WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., has dug in his heels against legislation that would open travel to Cuba, putting him at odds with many in his own party.
Menendez, whose parents were Cuban immigrants, has spoken adamantly against allowing American tourists in Cuba and lifting the trade embargo, which he said would make the repressive Castro regime even richer and more powerful.
Political observers say that Menendez is loyal to the Democratic Party on most other issues, and his position on Cuban policy alone should not be a problem.
"This is one of Menendez' few deviations from Democratic Party orthodoxy, and his fellow senators aren't going to penalize him for that," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "They want the same privilege for themselves."
However, Menendez may face a backlash if he holds up other Democrat priorities to gain support for his Cuba position, said Norm Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
In recent weeks, Menendez reportedly blocked two of President Obama's administrative nominees and delayed the 2009 budget bill over a provision that would relax policy toward Cuba.
Though Menendez reached a compromise on those issues, Ornstein said tension could build if that type of politicking should continue, particularly when Senate Democrats need every vote to pass key bills.
Ornstein also said that Menendez quickly would lose his key leadership position as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee if he tempers his support of Democratic candidates who do not agree with him about Cuba.
The national argument
A bipartisan group of senators last week announced a bill that would allow most Americans to travel to Cuba, something the government largely outlawed with the trade embargo in the early 1960s.
Nearly 50 years later, the Castro brothers Ð first Fidel and now Raul Ð have continued to rule the communist country, while American lawmakers grapple with the best way to undermine the regime.
U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who sponsored the travel bill, said the ban has been ineffective at crumbling the Castro government during the past five decades. The best way to create change, he said, is to allow Americans to bring their political ideas into Cuba.