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The Ghost of Daschle Past
By Horace Cooper
December 13, 2004

In the wake of his recent and at moments incoherent appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," incoming Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, (D-NV) is proving the Democrats need to create a new communications war room, and none too soon.

In between mumbling and rambling statements regarding his views on abortion, gay marriage and the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision, Reid did find the time to trash Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' intellect. And he did so without providing any example or other evidence to justify these unfair remarks.

The Democrats largely do not realize it but it is just this kind of far out performance that helped to get them into the trouble they're in now. You'd think that after the shellacking they took in the November election, they might be a little more circumspect.

A quick recount: the Democrats lost the presidential election, lost just about every competitive U.S. Senate race, lost nearly a half dozen House seats and three governorships. And if not for the forced retirement of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, (D-SD) instead of his bungled effort to signal a fight on Justice Thomas' potential confirmation as Chief Justice, the new incoming minority leader would have been back in Searchlight, Nev., watching "Meet the Press" on TV.

For a few days the Democrats suggested the elections might have been some kind of sign from the U.S. electorate. But, as his appearance revealed, Reid's already past all that introspection. Racing right past intemperate, Reid (soon to be known as the ghost of Tom Daschle past) gave new meaning to the saying "he just doesn't get it."

The broad and sweeping slander of one of the more brilliant members of the Supreme Court should be seen as the desperate act it was. Agree or disagree with Justice Thomas, you can't deny his opinions bring a welcome clarity and transparency to the Supreme Court.

And even if Reid was frustrated by his lack of knowledge of the costs and operation of the Social Security program and cannot explain his position on abortion or his past Senate votes on Roe vs. Wade, he shouldn't have opted to slime Thomas as a way to change the subject.

Tim Russert tried at least three separate times to get him to explain his position on Roe vs. Wade and his views on abortion generally. Reid kept flailing away, unable to even blurt out the trite political maxim that he was "personally opposed to abortion but wouldn't want to impose his views on others." A stale platitude trotted out by many a pol, it was too subtle for this "cagey" Nevadan. Instead he bizarrely suggested that the issue was too complicated for anyone to comprehend and then went on to lamely blackball Justice Thomas.

Perhaps with a Senate made up of colorful characters like Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, Ernest "Fritz" Hollings of South Carolina and Kentucky's Wendell Ford -- who frequently shocked and outraged the public with their colorful commentary on blacks and other assorted topics -- Reid thought his comments would go unnoticed. He forgot the uproar over Byrd's use of a racially tinged obscenity on television that demonstrated new standards of decorum are now in play.

Breaching senatorial collegiality, an outraged Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said, "There's a lot of mythology about Justice Thomas that has been conjured up by the Democrats. ... (Thomas' opinions) are some of the most responsive articulate opinions of any member of the court. Furthermore, just because you don't agree with them doesn't mean that you should deny that they're brilliant."

Reid and his Democratic cohorts sound more like the desperate young men in MTV's "Date My Mom" who'll say or ask any question -- even to mothers -- in their quest to bed their intended. Their supporters refer to Condoleezza Rice as "Aunt Jemima," Secretary of State Colin Powell as a "House Slave" and condemn Thomas as an embarrassment and a "poor" writer.

Senate Democrats should realize that just because you disagree with someone it doesn't make them stupid or evil. Memo to the war room: Sliming blacks you disagree with is not the pathway to an electoral majority. It will more likely lead to the opposite. Even Ebenezer Scrooge would get that.

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Horace Cooper, a syndicated columnist is a senior fellow with the conservative Centre for New Black Leadership.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.