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Almost immediately after President Obama introduced Thomas Perez as his choice for Secretary of Labor, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) vowed to block the nomination in the Senate. The far-right senator issued a press release condemning "his spotty work related to the New Black Panther case," which Vitter claimed Perez was "closely involved in."
Even for Vitter, it was an odd argument. Perez didn't even work at the Justice Department when it dropped the absurd New Black Panther case, and though Perez later answered the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' questions about the matter, the panel's report "concluded that Perez did not intentionally mislead the commission."
But by even relying on the ridiculous controversy to go on the attack, Vitter helped illustrate why Republicans' outreach to Latino communities will be more challenging than the RNC may care to admit. As Greg Sargent explained:
[I]t is now clear that some Republicans will do all they can to block Obama's first Latino pick for his second-term cabinet -- and the right is gearing up for a campaign against him that will make the effort to block Chuck Hagel look like a knitting seminar. Given Thomas Perez's background as the son of Dominican immigrants, plus his role running the Justice Department's civil rights division, this isn't going to make the RNC's "outreach" to Latinos any easier. [...]
Other Republican senators [in addition to Vitter] plan to paint Perez as a "radical legal activist" who has "tried to help illegal immigrants avoid detection," as the New York Times puts it.
This is not to suggest Republican critics of the administration can't complain about a nominee they don't like, just because he's Latino, or that criticism of Perez is necessarily evidence of bigotry.
The nature of the criticism matters, however, and at this point, the racial angle to the right's anti-Perez rhetoric is hard to miss.
As Simon Maloy noted:
Reacting to the news, Rush Limbaugh drew a straight line between Perez and the "grand kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan" and also compared him to Hugo Chavez. It's not difficult to see how that bumps up against the recommendations in Preibus' report: "If we want ethnic minority voters to support Republicans, we have to engage them, and show our sincerity."
Fox News and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) were far more circumspect in their criticism of Perez, but both relied on racially-charged lines of attack -- Megyn Kelly focused on the New Black Panther case Perez didn't oversee and Sessions complained about Perez's work as an immigrants' right advocate. Michele Malkin echoed a related sentiment, blasting Perez as "Obama's nominee for secretary of (illegal alien) labor."
Roll Call added that Republican leaders realize that if they launch a major offensive against the Labor nominee, "they risk undercutting the Republican National Committee's brand-new diversity push and getting mired in fights over voting rights and immigration," but they may do it anyway, out of fear of "blowback from their base."
Ron Bonjean, a former GOP leadership aide, told Roll Call his party can oppose Perez if it does it carefully and focuses "on his ability to promote jobs and the economy." If Senate Republicans "start wading into the issues of immigration, that can be a political minefield for Republicans. Keep the focus on whether he can do the job," Bonjean advised.
So far, I'd say the GOP's efforts to thread that needle are off to a poor start.
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What? You actually think the base and/or the Republicans in Congress give a flying rat's ass about Prince Priebus and the 'Republican Establishment'?
There are primaries to think of, man!
fear of "blowback from their base."
When one choses to ride the tiger, the dismount can be difficult.
Or, as they say on Teh South, "You dances with the one what brung ya."
I believe you mean that when one chooses to ride the tiger, it is likely to eat you.
They just can't help themselves, can they? Like an alcoholic who swears off drinking but can't pass a bar without stopping in, they're hooked on being anti-minority.
They are hooked on anti everything that Obama wants. But then Obama has really stuck it to them by choosing some of the candidates that they just can't abide by. Namely women, minorities, and republicans.
Just when I was getting comfortable conveniently forgetting that David Vitter is still in the Senate, someone goes and reminds me about that embarrassment.
Thanks for nothing, Benen :-|
But, as you can see from the photo, Vitter's confined to his own glass case.
They open it only to feed him flies.
Every day a new "Please Proceed " moment for Republicans . All we have to do is sit back and watch.
"This is our foot and we will shoot it ourselves if you don't mind. "
A battle of wits with an unarmed man.
They do seem to suffer from Foot in Mouth Disease!
Never interrupt your enemy when he is busy defeating himself?
Was going to leave a comment about hoping the foot is still in the mouth when that happens, but that goes against my non-violent nature...
More like, put their foot in their mouth and then shoot it.
Sprint 72,
That comment is nothing short of great! Thank you.
They just can't help themselves.
Obstructionists who do not play well with others are likely to be stunned by the next (2014) election. They were swept in in 2010 on the cry of, "Where are the jobs?"
Once seated, they dropped the issue and took up abortion, etc. While some red district seats are safe, IMHO they have completely misread the electorate and are vulnerable.
lately i have been seeing a lot of comments about how crazy the gop has been acting;and i agree whole heartedly with those comments. while i believe that the democrats seem poised to make some progress in the next election cycle; i am concerned about a few things. it appears that the dems are willing to sit back and wait for the gop to explode. trust me, that will not happen. they will have a huge monetary advantage going into the non-presidential year elections. they always do. i think that mrs. wasserman is doing a great job. but i believe we need a lot more pushback from front running dems. they keep waiting for the prez and they should get some good television exposure, starting now. it seems like we see the gop and the prez on the television, but we almost never hear from or see some of the higher ups in the democratic party. and in some of the state contests in 2 years, the dems need to start bringing people out and talking about the issues and the lies that the gop have been feeding the people. in my state the gop elected a govenour and a legislature. all they have done is raise taxes and fees on working people and retirees. some much for being fiscally conservative. i guess i just feel that the democratic party needs to be a lot more vocal about the issues and problems that we face as a country. bring those good candidates out early and talk about solutions to the many problems we face. showing people early on that you are an intelligent, sane candidate who cares about all people can only help your vote count when election time rolls around.
To your point about your Republican state government, RPM, the report released yesterday (Growth and Opportunity Project) makes much of the success of the party in state politics as opposed to federal. They brag about results obtained by GOP strategies in those states (i.e., Gov. Brownback has reformed Medicaid in Kansas to save $800 million over five years, without cutting provider rates or removing people from Medicaid) and are encouraging candidates at the federal level to emulate this.
What is left out of the report, though, is at what cost are these changes being wrought? Knowing a little about the work of ALEC, I suspect someone is getting badly burned and that is being quietly ignored. Flushing out those niggling little details could be the path to stopping this GOP backdoor invasion in its tracks.
Hey I know how to keep Vitter from blocking the nomination. Just tell him there's a new brothel in New Orleans. He will have to visit, he can't help himself.
The problem the (R)s will have with Latinos is those voters actually read and stay informed, unlike so many of the (R)s' white base...
From your lips to voters ears Mr. DuBois. I just saw for the first time a shiny new political ad in favor of equal rights for gays from the Republican Party which ran in the metro D.C. area, so the smokescreen campaign begins. Also Paul Broun has a ridiculous opinion piece in the New York Times, comments are scathing.
And don't forget that their ultimate dodge (it was Obama's) is that rights should be 'left up to the states'.
In other news...
Scorpion stings Frog for helping him across the river...
now to the weather...
How ironic that Kerry skated to confirmation only because they wanted Scott Brown back in the Senate. Every other nomination to the Cabinet has hit brick walls of obstruction, and the Republicans wrongly think there will be no electoral fallout. Now we have a highly qualified Hispanic gentleman, and they think Americans want him blocked...
Michelle Malkin, who is herself an "anchor baby", is probably the worst of all the conservative talking heads. She's too stupid to even realize that they only use her for her brown face as they feel it somehow insulates them against accusations of racism. What a POS.
Michelle is proof that there is indeed a future career for over-the-hill Olongapo "boom boom" girls.
Not surprised remember Rep. Kris Crawford, a Republican from Florence said: "The politics are going to overwhelm the policy. It is good politics to oppose the black guy in the White House right now, especially for the Republican Party," So it continues - but hey they are opening their tent to be more inclusive. Rembmer what Donald Trump said at CPAC, why are we not welcoming more European Immigrants. See they are being more inclusive by wanting European White Immigrants.
David Vitter is dumber than a bag of hammers.
Get Vitter whatever he wants.
A HOOKER?
OK.
If that will get him to STFU!