The Republican field in 2024 certainly is diverse. While there is only one woman running for office there are five persons of color, including three Black men, two of whom serve in Congress. On the surface, you would think the Republicans have moved beyond race, as Tim Scott has repeatedly said on the campaign trail, but then recently he got called out for being single. Rather than say his sexual orientation had been called into question, he claimed it was a racist attack from his "opposing campaigns." He wouldn't say who issued this scurrilous attack. One assumes it wasn't Larry Elder or Will Hurd, both Black. Neither Nikki Haley nor Vivek Ramaswamy, both Indian. So, who is racist, Tim?
This kind of victimization isn't going to play well among Republicans, who don't consider themselves racist, especially when you see Vivek and Nikki polling well among likely voters. It also flies in the face of the "color blind" society Republicans have been pitching ever since the Reagan years. Yet, Tim explicitly said the comments came from "opposing campaigns."
At one time I kind of liked Tim Scott. I thought he had the potential to rise above the mendacity inherit in the Republican Party and offer a new direction. When he was first elected to the Senate from South Carolina in 2012, he was hailed as the Republican answer to Obama. He was bright and articulate, something sorely lacking in the GOP, and spoke with what appeared to be candor, equally rare in the GOP. Unfortunately, he has become just like them after two terms in office, spouting the same nonsense at every turn and now trying to use victimization as an excuse for his flagging campaign.
Tim has gained virtually no traction in the polls despite some pretty high profile support. Granted his endorsements are mostly from his home state of South Carolina but one of his biggest backers is Larry Ellison, a tech billionaire, who put his money behind him at the beginning of summer. Yet, the Republican Obama has failed to materialize. He is currently polling a measly 2.6% in FiveThirtyEight national averages, placing him seventh among prospective nominees.
Tim Scott is being outshined by former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who is currently polling 4th. She has the advantage of being married with children so no one is calling out her race or sexual orientation. Plus, she is far more charismatic and better able to gloss over cultural differences than is Tim, who seems very much on the defensive these days.
Tim batted back against Ron DeSantis over the new standards for discussing gender and race the Florida governor decreed in middle schools. Tim was quite clear where he stood on the matter of slavery but kind of danced around publicly attacking DeSantis, probably out of fear of how it might play among a conservative electorate that largely supports the curriculum changes. Other conservative states plan on adopting similar standards, all but one in the Deep South. So tell me again about racism not being real, Tim!
This is what happens when you sell your soul to the devil. You signed onto the GOP because you would be able to rise more quickly up the political ranks. The Democratic Party, which you have suggested uses race as a political weapon, is loaded with young Black rising stars. Even its current House leader Hakeem Jeffries is Black. Plus, you are from South Carolina. The highest you could rise as a Democrat in that state is as US Representative from the lone predominantly Black district, a seat Jim Clyburn has held for 30 years. The state is so heavily tilted toward Republicans that if you wanted to be heard you needed to register as a Republican. So you did, and very quickly you climbed the political ladder to be where you are today.
Unfortunately, political opportunism only gets you so far. If you are not fully committed to the new face of the Republican Party you find yourself on the outside looking in. Look at your fellow senator from the Palmetto State. Lindsey Graham had no problem embracing Trump even after being slandered repeatedly on the Campaign Trail 2016. His single status has also been repeatedly called into question and he's White! How can that be?
No, Tim, the questions about your single status aren't racist. They are homophobic. A Rubicon you don't want to cross for fear of what is on the other side.
They are all unmoored in the end, pulled toward the dark side. The draw of the power washes out the moral foundations of most politicians. We saw this most strongly with McCain during his presidential run. He was the most acceptable Republican candidate in my lifetime but his desire to win aligned him with the less-scrupled who pushed to have that albatross, Palin, hung around his neck which ultimately led to his downfall. Hailey is another one that came out of the blocks with a seemingly strong foundation only to be pulled under by Trump. This reminded me of the famous quote on power corrupting and I looked up the origin. I had always thought it was a Greek philosopher. The full quote is even more disturbing and I'd never seen it before: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” - Mike
ReplyDeleteThere's a fine line between compromise and selling out. Unfortunately, it seems the GOP has sold the latter in favor of corporate donations to overcome their lack of funding among actual voters. You look at the Supreme Court. Totally bought and paid for and yet unless we get a Democratic House next election no way to hold these justices accountable. You find this among Democrats as well but not to the degree we see in the GOP. This is like going back to the late 19th, early 20th century, which led Teddy Roosevelt to rail against his own party. Anyway, I still hold out hope. I don't want to become completely cynical as so many voters have.
DeleteIt seems Nikki Haley is the mysterious "opposing campaign" for questioning if Tim Scott's "girlfriend" actually existed,
ReplyDeletehttps://us.yahoo.com/news/tim-scott-nikki-haley-cold-041152127.html