President Donald J. Trump Meets With Senator Tim Scott at the White House | September 13, 2017 (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
Barack Obama’s Take Down
Good question, when, at present, polling numbers for presidential hopeful Senator Tim Scott remain in the low single digits.
Defeating the Effects of Racism
In a recent interview with David Axelrod, former president Barack Obama criticized Scott (SC) and other minority GOP candidates for presenting their personal biographies as evidence of America’s racial progress.
But as Daniel Henninger notes, “That is precisely what Mr. Obama did when he ran for president, a point that wasn’t lost on his interviewer.”
Making Progress
“I listened to Tim Scott,” said Mr. Axelrod, “and half of it sounds a lot like us. Half of it sounds a lot like what you were talking about in the speech in 2004 and in all of our speeches from that point on, which was: ‘I’m living proof that we are making progress as a country. I wouldn’t be here but for that progress.’ ”
Mr. Henninger thinks Mr. Obama’s remarks about Sen. Scott are “on a par for political incivility with Donald Trump’s that John McCain wasn’t a war hero because he was captured.”
As with Mr. Trump’s preposterous logic, Mr. Obama is saying that Sen. Scott lacks legitimacy and credibility as a black man because he is a member of the Republican Party.
Focusing on the Rearview Mirror
Mr. Scott’s biography, in many ways, mirrors that of Obama, explains Mr. Henninger.
Mr. Scott’s biography exemplifies tremendous strides in American race relations no less so than does Mr. Obama’s. The former president insists otherwise because that is what today’s Democratic Party demands. Racial identity politics often leads to a sort of competition among blacks over who represents the interests of the group. Mr. Obama is playing the role of soul patrol. He wants Mr. Scott canceled, or at least dismissed as someone who holds unrepresentative and inauthentic black views that shouldn’t be taken seriously.
As things stand now, Jason L. Riley predicts in his Wednesday WSJ editorial, despite his intelligence, ambition, and leadership abilities, there’s no danger of Mr. Scott winning the GOP presidential nomination. Perhaps as a VP candidate? To be determined, but as long as he is running, Scott will garner media attention. He also will be in the sights of black liberals, Mr. Henninger reminds WSJ readers.
The fear on the left is that millions of minority voters will be exposed to a different black opinion on everything from tax policy and immigration to education, policing and racial inequality.
Democratic success at the polls is heavily reliant on blacks voting as a single bloc. The last thing Democrats want is someone who looks like Mr. Scott casting doubt on the efficacy of liberal policies and making the case for an alternative approach.
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