The late Stephen Solarz left Congress in ’92 after being beaten in a Democratic primary in his redrawn Brooklyn district. From an exit interview in the Times:
“I suppose my deepest regret is that by the end of the year, when I’m out, Saddam Hussein will still be in. I hope somehow or other that can be corrected — not so much by the miraculous resurrection of your humble servant but by the departure of Saddam from Baghdad.”
What made Solarz tick? This was in the New York Times obituary for Solarz last week:
When he was elected to the House in 1974, Mr. Solarz finagled a seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee with the idea that he could appeal to his largely Jewish district by attending to the needs of Israel. He immediately threw himself into foreign policy issues, visiting leaders of Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Syria in his first month on the job. He soon became a leading voice in the House on foreign affairs.
You’d think the pro-Israel angle in the second Iraq war would be fair game for the media by now. But it’s not. Oh well.
