There is word reported from several media that prior to choosing Roland Burris, Governor Rod Blagojevich offered the U.S. Senate Seat to Congressman Danny Davis. Davis, like Burris, is African America. If you think this is mere coincidence, then I have bridge in Gaza to sell you.
To understand just how much this has the potential to rip the Democratic party apart you must understand the nature of the Democrat's race and identity politics.
Imagine, you are a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. You are now choosing between siding with the first African American President, who has gone on record as saying that Burris shouldn't be seated, and Burris, who would be the only African American Senator. There is the definition of threading a very sharp needle. If you are a member of the Congressional Black Caucus you are not necessarily in a much easier position.
What Rod Blagojevich has done is guaranteed a Democratic political civil war and he has guaranteed that race would play a major factor in the war. Nothing could have been more music to his ears than the sound of Congressman Bobby Rush uttering this blatant piece of race baiting.
to not hang or lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer
The introduction of race into this selection means that there is no easy way out for the Democratic Party. Unlike Republicans, which are much more based on ideology, the Democratic Party is much more based on race and identity. That's why the Democratic party counts among it the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. By introduction an African American candidate, in fact the only one that would be in the Senate, Blagojevich also made sure that race would be a central point in the dispute. African Americans have long been a bread and butter constituency for the Democrats. So much so have they, that often it appears the Democrats have taken that constituency for granted. Now, that constituency is guaranteed to be fractured among several factions.
The worst part of all of this is that Blagojevich has done this for the benefit of only one person, himself. Some people, like for instance Charles Krauthammer, have found amusement in his antics and brash hardball politics. While his antics may in fact be entertaining, their entertainment value should NOT dismiss the fact that they are also purely corrosive and destructive. Governor Rod Blagojevich has guaranteed a political civil war and the injection of race simply so that he can hang on to the seat that he himself abused so much. The Democrats will now be divided on racial and mostly militancy lines. Militants like Bobby Rush will see any rejection of Roland Burris as nothing more than a racist insult. Meanwhile the moderate forces will see any choice of Blago's as unacceptable. While those two factions battle it out, Blago will have achieved one of militarism most basic principles, divide and conquer.
There is no doubt that choosing Burris benefits Blago. Yet, it comes at the expense of his own party, the political system and the country at large. I hope that everyone keeps it in mind as the marvel in amusement at his bold and brazen nature. Political theater is nothing of not entertaining, but this one will be poisonous and destructive. Even this political opponent can recognize that anyone that is willing to stoke racial tension at the expense of his own party is proving once again just how much scum they are.
2 comments:
Your misconstrue in thinking that this will be deleterious to Blagojevich's party.
There is no "Democratic" (or "Republican") party: there are 50 state parties (it should be noted that the Minnesota instance calls itself the "Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party"). Every four years they coalesce to nominate a presidential candidate, but there is no real structure, no top-down discipline.
The Illinois Democratic Party is the nominally-clean face of the Daley machine. To the extent that national politics come into this at all, the Daley machine has affirmed its independence against the feeble attempts at outside discipline.
That's a lot of gibberish. First, this will play out in the U.S. Senate so it won't merely be a state issue. Second, there is nothing clean either in Springfield or in Chicago. Third, no one has asserted anything yet. What will come is a political civil war within the ranks of the party and that is good for no one.
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