Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

The orchestrated cry emanating from RNC Washington headquarters and elsewhere is that when a Democrat such as Reid makes a racially insensitive comment that an apology will suffice whereas when this occurs with a Republican such as then Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott that he is expected to walk the plank.

The assertion is that the Democrats should remove Harry Reid as Senate majority leader just as Republicans removed Trent Lott from the leadership position when they were in power after he made a comment at Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina's centenary birthday party that America would have been a better country had Thurmond's ideas that he advanced earlier in his career been accepted.

Thurmond was the presidential standard bearer for the Dixiecrat Party in 1948 and stood for segregation.  His candidacy occurred after Thurmond walked out of the 1948 Democratic National Convention after then Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey led a successful fight for a civil rights platform plank that was stronger than any either major party had embraced to that point.

To hear Michael Steele and others tell it, a Harry Reid departure would amount to a political quid pro quo of sorts following these lines:  "We got rid of our Senate leader for his insensitive racial comments and you should do the same."

As insensitive and unjustified as Reid's comments were, there is a vast difference between a comment concerning image and how the lightness of Obama's skin and the fact that he did not speak with a type of dialect said to be associated with African Americans compared to an expression of regret that Thurmond's segregationist ideas were not nationally embraced.

That is just the beginning, however, since there is the overriding issue of what really happened when Lott was dismissed by his party.  It was reported at the time and has been reliably confirmed that Bush White House strategy guru Karl Rove celebrated with delight over Lott's comment since it gave him the opening he sought.

Rove followed a page from the playbook of his political idol Richard Nixon in making a move for partisan political reasons while seeking to bask in the glow of acting in the public good.  

George W. Bush's closest political friend in Washington was Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee.  The telegenic, articulate Frist was seen by Rove as being loaded with charisma, the same response he had when he first met Bush.

Frist was seen as a potential presidential successor to Bush.  Rove spotted an opportunity and pounced on it, leading a swift and successful move to banish Lott from his leadership position.

When Anne Coulter appeared on Larry King Live she played the same propaganda game that Steele and others are now playing regarding the current Harry Reid controversy.  Coulter alleged that Democrats and liberal elements of the media had been responsible for the ouster of Trent Lott.

Larry King corrected Coulter with quiet firmness, pointing out that the Republican leadership had toppled Lott.  

Coulter knew that King had the facts and quickly backed off.

This is so typical of Republican strategy.  Dust off old and discredited allegations and hope they stick the next time around.