Rep. Tim Scott
Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina has chosen Representative Tim Scott to replace Jim DeMint in the United States Senate, according to three Republican officials. The move will make Mr. Scott the first black senator from the South since the late 19th century. [The Caucus - New York Times]
THE 2012 presidential election cycle will become a demarkation in political history for the Republican Party.
It begins with Tim Scott.
The racial component of the GOP will slowly begin to change shades. What it means for actual policy is another matter altogether.
The seat in South Carolina became vacant when Tea Party Senate leader Jim DeMint left to lead the American Enterprise Institute. That move not only further cemented the far right Tea Party in Republican politics, but also brings with it the hope that the AEI will be resurrected from the dust bin of history, where it was headed. The only people still invoking the AEI name or relying on its mothy construct living on or listening to Rush Limbaugh and wingnut radio.
Good luck to Rep. and soon to be Senator Scott. It would be nice if this was a first step in the repugnantKLAN/Teabagger mob returning to some semblance of sanity and reclaiming of the Republican party…but I ain’t holdin my breath. As for DeMint and the AEI….they deserve each other.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/tim-scott-s-tea-party-poetry
WELL, it would appear to be a good thing I didn’t decide to hold my breath in hope….Mr. Scott carries on the psychobabble do-wackado-wackadododo theme song of the teabaggers.
Well, it has certainly been a long time since I last checked in here two years prior, before I left to begin work on 2012.
To answer your question, what it means for actual policy is not another matter — it’s nothing.
Remember the supposed Hillary Effect in 2009? How Sec. Clinton’s ascendancy so close to the nomination was going to shatter the glass ceiling of GOP attitudes towards women? Well, we saw an influx of women into prominent GOP candidacies. But four years later, all we have left is one-term Gov. Nikki, above. Has-been Sarah Palin is palling around with Lindsay Lohan. Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell are fortunately where they belong, which is nowhere near power. And the official GOP position on rape? Well, no one can exactly pin down whether that is a Middle Ages or a Dark Ages definition. I’m so glad to see the supposed Hillary Effect moved them so far Forward.
Tim Scott will do for the GOP on race what Sarah Palin, Sharrrron Angle, and Christine O’Donnell did for gender. And that is be nothing more than a gimmick.
After all, he may be placed in an historic role, but so were Herman “999″ Cain and that guy who was once President of the RNC (if you can believe it), but who now offers commentary on MSNBC.
“Republican Creed”:
by Tim Scott
I do not choose to be a common man.
It is my right to be uncommon.
If I can seek opportunity, not security,
I want to take the calculated risk to dream and
build, to fail and to succeed.
I refused to barter incentive for dole.
I prefer the challenges of life to
guaranteed security, the thrill of fulfillment
to the state of calm utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence,
nor my dignity for a handout.
I will never cower before any master,
save my God.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and
unafraid. To think and act for myself, enjoy the
benefits of my creation; to face the whole world
boldly and say, “I am a free American.”