First there was Trent Lott praising Strom Thurmond’s segregationist presidential run. Now Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., spoke to David Duke’s “white rights” group. It seems the Establishment wing of the Republican Party doesn’t do a very good job sniffing out racist associations among its top politicians.
The major mainstream media will try to paint Scalise as a Tea Party conservative, because it fits neatly into the conservatives-are-kooks narrative. Tim Mak (my former Washington Examiner colleague) called Scalise “a Tea Party favorite.” If Scalise loses his job as majority whip, expect K Street Republicans to slap the same label on him.
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| Politics, the GOP leadership constantly reminds its more ideologically-minded backbenchers, is the art of the possible. It’s about playing within the rules of the game. One rule: Republicans who pal around with racists aren’t given much leeway. |
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So let’s make this clear early: Scalise has a conservative voting record in Congress, but he is not a Tea Partier, an insurgent, “a Tea Party favorite” or a rival of the Establishment. He is, instead, the conservative guy in the Establishment wing of the GOP.
When Scalise won the chairmanship of the conservative Republican Study Committee in 2012, it was a coup for the party Establishment. He defanged the RSC, which had, under the leadership of Reps. Jim Jordan and Tom Price, been a conservative counterbalance to the party leadership.
Scalise began his tenure by sweeping out most of the RSC staff. To the relief of conservatives, Scalise kept longtime conservative stalwart Paul Teller on as executive director. A year later, he canned Teller for supposedly whipping members too aggressively away from the GOP leadership position.
Scalise, in his early days at the RSC, also defended party leadership’s purge of disobedient conservative members from important committees. House Speaker John Boehner, after the 2012 elections, stripped Reps. Justin Amash, David Schweikert and Tim Huelskamp of their seats on the Budget, Financial Services, and Agriculture committees. Former RSC Chairman Jordan blasted the purge: “It’s unfortunate and unhealthy for our party that principled conservatives are being punished for voting their consciences and keeping the promises they made to their constituents.”
Scalise, in contrast, defended the purge, earning the scorn of Red State blogger Erick Erickson, who posted a piece headlined “Steve Scalise Fails the First Test for Conservatives.”
When Scalise rose to majority whip this year after the defeat of Majority Leader Eric Cantor, he quickly showed himself closer to K Street than to the Tea Party by bringing in John Feehery — a GOP leadership aide turned K Street lobbyist and professional Tea Party hater — to help him screen potential staff hires.
So, will Scalise keep his leadership job? Should he?
When Scalise addressed the European-American Unity and Rights Organization in 2002, did he know it was a David Duke group? Did he know it was a racist group? The detailed reporting of Bloomberg News’ David Weigel leaves plenty of room for doubt. Rep. Cedric Richmond, a black Democrat from New Orleans, says “I don’t think Steve Scalise has a racist bone in his body.”
These questions are important in assessing Scalise’s judgment and character. But Scalise wants to keep his leadership job, and so the most important question isn’t whether Scalise “deserves” the whip spot. The question is will he hurt or help the party?
This isn’t really a difficult question. Scalise is a Republican. He’s fairly conservative. He will not get the benefit of the doubt. Democrats already love painting every conservative position as racist, from opposing Obamacare to wanting to rein in Fannie Mae. When the party’s No. 3 leader in the House has famous David Duke ties, it will be that much easier.
Is that fair? Maybe. Maybe not.
Do Democrats get away with far worse? Of course they do. President Obama’s longtime intimate relationship with the hate-filled Rev. Jeremiah Wright tells us more about his tolerance for odious views than Scalise’s one speech tells us about him.
Democrats were fine with KKK alumnus Robert Byrd as a senior member of their caucus. Harry Reid regularly spouts racist comments and has spent his career knee-deep in corruption, and Democrats have never seriously considered dethroning him.
That’s fine. Democrats are allowed to set low standards for themselves — we know the media always will.
Politics, the GOP leadership constantly reminds its more ideologically-minded backbenchers, is the art of the possible. It’s about playing within the rules of the game. One rule: Republicans who pal around with racists aren’t given much leeway.
If Steve Scalise finds this an unfair derailment of his political career, well, maybe Trent Lott’s lobbying firm is hiring.
Timothy P. Carney, The Washington Examiner’s senior political columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]. His column appears Sunday and Wednesday on washingtonexaminer.com.
