Sun, Aug 14, 2005 page9

• Up or down, all those present are still correct

  • By WILLIAM SAFIRE / NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE
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  "On the political scene," writes Eunice Prosser of Iowa City, Iowa, "what the heck is an up-and-down vote? How does it differ from, say, a vote? And in music, whence cameth front man -- whatever happened to lead singer? And why do bands now cover songs by other artists rather than perform or play or sing them?"

  I am readying a core dump on the new musicalingo, but today let me deal with the hot modifier or intensifier before vote on congressional and White House lips: up-or-down and its variant, up-and-down.

  Up-and-down, in the 19th century, meant "plain; direct; unceremonious." Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote in Old-Town Folks (1869) that "Miss Debby was a well-preserved, up-and-down, positive, cheery, sprightly maiden lady" (I found this in the Century Dictionary, a 10-volume set published a century ago, an invaluable etymological resource available free on the Internet).

  In 1894, "Republicans as Obstructionists" was a New York Times headline over a report of an attempt by Democrats in the House of Representatives, unable to achieve a quorum to vote on contested elections, to order the sergeant-at-arms to arrest 28 absent members. But the speaker of the House, the Democrat Charles Crisp, was frustrated by the lack of a forum to do even that.

  "The Republicans will neither agree to let the motion be withdrawn," he complained, "nor to vote it up or down."

  The 21st-century general meaning has become "decisive." About the nomination of Judge John Roberts to the Supreme Court, The Associated Press reported Vice President Dick Cheney to have said, "The Senate has a duty to give this nominee fair treatment, a fair hearing and a fair up or down vote" (the hyphenation-resistant AP and I disagree about hyphenating up-or-down, used here as a compound adjective).

  MORE SPECIFIC

  There is a more specific meaning that is employed in the Senate, however.

  "It is an unofficial term for a vote on the question rather than a vote with respect to the question," says a helpful parliamentary source who insists on anonymity out of sheer shyness. "It's the polar opposite of a motion to table."

  What's the difference? Ilona Nickels, author of the C-Span Congressional Glossary, explains: "A vote on a `motion to table' is not a vote on an amendment but a vote on whether or not to address it at all.

  "It's that squishy middle that avoids voting on the content and gives politicians a procedural out.

  "You can then say you didn't vote against it; you only voted to table it for now" -- and perhaps the language will be changed or the issue will disappear.

  But what about voting to confirm nominees?

  "With nominees, an up-or-down vote means that you don't want anything to block the vote," says Don Ritchie, associate historian of the Senate.

  "You can't change the language, as in an amendment, because they're people," Ritchie says.

  That means an up-or-down vote on substance is roughly synonymous with a recorded yea-or-nay vote, a roll-call vote and -- also in informal usage -- a clean vote.

  It is distinct from a vote on procedure, like a motion to table, to recommit, to amend an amendment or to end debate in a filibuster.

  Even in an up-or-down, yea-or-nay or roll-call (all hyphenated) vote, a senator can avoid taking a stand by voting "Present." However, as noted above, not even a senator can vote to amend a nominee.

  THE BIG CHILL

  The contentious phrase "global warming," first used by United Press International in 1969, seems to be undergoing a certain cooling; contrariwise, the more temperate phrase "climate change" is getting hot.

  Many think that the terms are synonymous.

  "I think `climate change' and `global warming' are used interchangeably," says Jay Gulledge of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change (a name that, in squeezing the two terms together, notably drops warming). "When people talk about the general phenomenon of climate change, they assume the process of global warming."

  But he knows that scientists draw a distinction: "Since global warming has been well established, scientists have begun to focus more and more on other aspects of climate, necessitating the use of the more inclusive phrase `climate change.'"

  Over at the Brookings Institution, its environmental boss detects a whiff of terminological politics.

  "Polling data suggest that much of the public considers the term `climate change' less threatening than `global warming,'" David Sandalow says.

  "As a result, politicians eager to downplay risks tend to use the term `climate change,'" Sandalow says.

  At Greenpeace, an active environmentalist lobby, they don't like the change to climate change.

  "Change sounds mellow and gentle," notes Kert Davies, its research director.

  "Communications specialists during the Clinton administration determined that the term `climate change' was too benign, that it didn't evoke any urgency. Vice President [Al] Gore used global warming in his book Earth in the Balance,'" Davies says.

  But now that the '90s label switch has switched back, Davies argues that the verb change is not only weak but also misleading: "It's really `disruption,' and it isn't benign at all."

  OPPOSING VIEW

  The opposing view is heard from James Mahoney, the Bush administration's director of the -- you guessed it -- Climate Change Science Program.

  "`Climate change' is a more encompassing and technically accurate term to describe the changes in earth systems," Mahoney says, adding that "`global warming' is an oversimplification, and by definition does not allow for the occurrence of warming in one region and simultaneous cooling or stability in others."

  NASA's glossary tries valiantly to be apolitical, defining G.W. as "warming predicted to occur as a result of increased emissions of greenhouse gases," partly man-made, while C.C. is used by scientists "in a wider sense to also include natural changes in climate."

  UN usage differs, treating C.C. as change attributable directly or indirectly to human activity.

  In the nomenclature struggle, who names an issue usually carries the day.

  Lexicographers and usagists take no sides, but in common parlance as reflected by the search engines, the neutral "climate change" has put a chill into the scarier "global warming."
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