Cruising toward Disaster on Myrtle Beach

Stuart Stevens of the Romney campaign has compared the interminable GOP debate saga to a “cruise that’s gone on too long.” Given this week’s fatal crash of the cruise ship Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy, Stevens was more prescient than he realized. There was no concordia among the Republican hopefuls in South Carolina. But there was plenty of GOP wreckage along the shores of Myrtle Beach.

Two random takeaways from the 16 January 2012 debate. (In all candor, folks, can we survive seven more of these?)

Populist Envy of the Wealthy

Romney, who took no salary from the taxpayers of the state he governed for four years, was impugned for being rich. Make no mistake about it. That is the sole reason—his wealth—why three of his flailing GOP competitors are now demanding to see his tax returns.

Never mind that he made all his money in the private sector. Never mind that Perry, Gingrich, and Santorum are or were long-term public employees, who almost certainly qualify for (and, in Perry’s case, are already collecting) a government pension and/or lifetime health benefits, courtesy of the taxpayers. No, unlike his opponents’ sizable nest eggs, Romney’s fortune is suspect because he didn’t earn it at the public trough or by milking his government contacts.

When Obama signals that American “income disparity” will be center stage in his quest for re-election, Republicans are outraged. Outraged! And rightly so. But when three so-called conservatives play the same populist envy game in a bid to bolster their own sorry presidential campaigns, the entire party is humiliated. Worse, it’s an act of collective political suicide. With friends like these, as Paul Ryan once said about Gingrich, the GOP has no need of enemies.

Racial Tone-Deafness

There’s no way around this difficult issue. The umpteenth GOP debate was held on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day in the first-in-the-South primary state of South Carolina. Fox News selected Juan Williams, who has written extensively on the African-American civil rights movement, to question the GOP candidates. Predictably, some of Williams’ questions would reflect his concerns about racial issues.

The date, the location, and the questioner all came together. Call it a set-up, or call it a teachable moment, I don’t know. But the result was troubling.

Williams asked Gingrich a pointed question about the latter’s suggestion that poor black children should work at paying jobs in school (e.g., janitorial service) to help them learn a “work ethic” and earn a little money. Williams wanted to know if Gingrich could understand how such a suggestion might seem insulting to Americans, especially black Americans.

Gingrich took the bait and bluntly replied, No. No, he didn’t understand how anyone would be insulted. A red-meat carnivore, he just couldn’t resist launching into a tirade worthy of Limbaugh. He played to the crowd in crescendos of anti-politically-correct rhetoric that finally brought the largely white audience to its feet, cheering for the proposition that black kids should get a work ethic.

A valuable opportunity was missed. An indelible mark was left on this GOP debate cycle. South Carolina suffered a set-back.

There were other ways to answer Williams’ question—forthrightly yet respectfully—as befits one who is seeking to become the president of all the people of the United States. Gingrich knows only the language of sneering condescension and self-aggrandizement. He will never be president. But, like the self-indulgent captain of the Costa Concordia, he may take the whole GOP down with him if we don’t remain on high alert.

Areté

17 January 2012