Former Senate majority leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), now a D.C. lobbyist, warned that a robust bloc of rabble-rousers spells further Senate dysfunction. “We don’t need a lot of Jim DeMint disciples,” Lott said in an interview. “As soon as they get here, we need to co-opt them.” Sarah Palin in Iowa: “We sent a
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Tea Party Freshman Co-opted
Searching on Nexis, I found that John O’Sullivan column I mentioned in a post yesterday. I’ll reproduce some of it because I think O’Sullivan’s observations on Trent Lott are relevant to the controversy engulfing fellow Mississippian Haley Barbour: In order to soothe the South into accepting the 1964 Civil Rights Act, such politicians had to treat their constituents not as bigots but as essentially good people open to change. They had to make occasional gestures of solidarity with the southern tradition by, for instance, praising Jefferson Davis or defending the Confederate flag. And they had to make speeches to bodies like the Citizens’ Councils. But what did those speeches say? Nine times out of 10, especially behind closed doors, they went like this: “Look, boys, I know you all are decent folks. But we gotta admit we treated the Negroes badly, and there have to be changes. Some of those changes I don’t like any more than you. Others–let’s admit it–are long overdue. And all of them will help us attract new industries and make everybody better off. To make this work, though, we need responsible leadership. And that sure as hell doesn’t mean the northern Democrats.” This kind of politics is messy, uninspiring and not particularly noble. It explains why a master of them, like Lott, strikes Charles Krauthammer, Andrew Sullivan, the National Review, and the high-minded philosophers in the Blogosphere as shifty, insincere and opportunist. But that is how democratic politics works when the voters are attached to institutions and traditions that have to be reformed half out of existence. And they really did work. Yesterday’s South has been transformed into–well, a region much like the rest of America. Selma has an enterprising black mayor, and public schools and colleges are integrated. At the time, I stood with the “high-minded philosophers of the Blogosphere” and advocated Trent Lott’s removal from the Senate Republican leadership. Then and now, I thought that a major party leader in the U.S. Senate ought to be able to come up with a more convincing disavowal of racial segregation than Lott was able to muster. But there is something to O’Sullivan’s account: while the civil-rights movement was the heroic catalyst of racial progress in America, there were others who played a more conflicted yet still important role in making that progress possible.
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Civil Rights and the New South, Cont’d
Here’s Reason #3,617 for not donating to the NRSC (or the NRCC for that matter). It appears our “friends” at the NRSC along with Lindsey Graham and Trent Lott are doing some Monday morning quarterbacking. They believe the GOP could have captured the Senate if only Jim DeMint had stayed away from three key races (Delaware, Colorado
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Fingerpointing by the NRSC, GOP Hacks
As you know, Senate Republicans are more than a little unhappy with Jim DeMint. The Senate GOP will see an influx of DeMint backed candidates after November. Consequently, the Senate GOP has become more fixated with marginalized Jim DeMint than fighting Barack Obama. For perspective, Mitch McConnell won’t even campaign against or speak ill of Harry Reid to help Sharron Angle. But his minion are all over Washington newspapers badmouthing Jim DeMint. The latest story coming out of the Senate GOP Conference is that the Senate GOP has decided to ignore Jim DeMint. “Jim DeMint isn’t the most effective legislator, so he has to gain power by driving headlines. His Achilles’ heel is everyone saying, ‘no comment,’” a Republican said. That’s from one Republican who, not being identified as a staffer, may be a Senator. Another, a staffer, said, “It’s like a piece of fruit. If you leave it on the counter long enough, it will spoil and go rotten on its own. I feel like that’s what’s going to happen with Jim DeMint.” With the coming wins by DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund, these Republican whiners are much like a boxer talking smack at the weigh in only to get knocked out in the first round. So they’ll talk about him and then say no comment. But there is something more and it is more troubling. It appears the Senate GOP is trying to set up Tom Coburn to be Jim DeMint’s Brutus and conservatives’ Judas. According to numerous Republicans familiar with the issue, the hope had been to recruit Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to challenge DeMint for the post [of Chairman of the Senate Republican Steering Committee]. Coburn is as conservative as DeMint, which would shield him against attacks from conservative activists and limiting accusations that the GOP was stifling conservative demands. As of now, thankfully, Senator Coburn has refused to go along with the plan and fully supports Jim DeMint in that position. I’m sure Senator Trainwreck, himself never enamored with Washington, is wise enough to know he is being used or at least the GOP leadership is attempting to use him. But there is more to it. Senate Republicans also want Coburn to be the liaison to the freshmen Senators. In effect, the Senate GOP Leadership wants Tom Coburn to be their outreach guy to the band of brothers (and sisters) Jim DeMint played a great roll in getting elected. The Senate’s class of 2010 may have Sen. Jim DeMint (S.C.) partly to thank for their electoral victories, but if they’re going to flourish in the chamber they may want to follow the lead of conservative Sen. Tom Coburn. Republicans said Coburn — who often leads his party’s charge against earmarks and spending — is as conservative as many of the likely GOP newcomers, but also is close to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.). They argue that the Oklahoma Republican may be the best Member to help his party’s leadership work with the new class and help the freshmen adjust to the Senate. That last bit is key. Remember what Trent Lott said a couple of months ago? “We don’t need a lot of Jim DeMint disciples,” Lott said in an interview. “As soon as they get here, we need to co-opt them.” The Senate Republicans have decided to take on Trent Lott’s mission and co-opt the freshmen Republicans. And they intend to use Tom Coburn to do it. It will be bad, bad news if these freshmen “adjust’ to the Senate. We don’t need them to adjust to the Senate. We need the Senate to adjust to them.
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Marginalizing Jim DeMint: Are Senate Republicans Trying to Get Tom Coburn to Be Judas to Conservatives?
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