Coburn: ‘Power Is a Tool’
Senator Tom Coburn: ‘Power Is a Tool’
Interview by MARK LEIBOVICH, NYTimes Magazine
You recently learned you have prostate cancer and announced that you’ll be leaving the Senate next January two years before the scheduled end of your term. How are you feeling? I’m feeling good. I’m not cured of the disease, but I’m on my way to marked improvement. And they may potentially have a cure. But I’ve got 5 or 10 years in front of me even if they don’t cure it.
In recent months, the Republicans have agreed to a bipartisan budget deal and raised the debt ceiling. Is your party developing a self-preservation impulse? Absolutely. To avoid another shutdown, what you do is make a realistic assessment: The Democrats are in control of the Senate and the presidency. It’s pretty hard to win a battle when you don’t control the Senate and the president’s not going to sign something even if you can get it through.
Lately, you’ve been concerned about a “crisis of legitimacy” in Washington. What do you mean by that? All you have to do is look at Congress’s approval ratings. It’s normal that it’s low, it’s not normal that it’s 9 percent or 11 percent or 13 percent. We’ve given up our legitimacy. Legitimacy is about being honest on the issues, not being partisan.