Political Dumbass(es) of the Week

The deserving party or parties for this award are quite easy: congressional Republicans, but specifically one congressional freshman who I will get to below. You see, the House GOP determined a while ago to unanimously stand together and courageously vote 'no' against President Obama's stimulus plan. No, they did not offer any other substantive or cogent ideas (minus more tax cuts, of course), but that's irrelevant to them. All that matters is trying to harm or humiliate the new President any way they can. While I can't say that I would do things exactly differently if I were a typical rank-and-file Member, exercising this strategy so early, so strongly, and in such a recklessly partisan way is a little much.

Yet, while it is easy to highlight foolish Republican obstructionism, I thought that one individual Member deserved special recognition for his political idiocy. That person is Rep. Joseph Cao (LA-02). Cao, who was elected in one of the biggest flukes in recent political history when he edged out perpetually-indicted William Jefferson in this New Orleans-centric district, has shown immediate signs that he has absolutely no idea what he is doing, and he has no intention of trying to win a second term next year. Here is the money part of a very telling article in Politico:

But Cao remained the most compelling storyline. The Vietnamese lawmaker shocked the political universe by knocking off indicted Democratic Rep. William Jefferson last year in the overwhelmingly Democratic New Orleans district.

He told reporters an hour or two before the vote that he was strongly considering a vote in favor of the stimulus measure after rejecting an earlier version – “At this point, I’m leaning ‘yes,’ but I’m not absolutely certain.” He reasoned that his heavily Democratic district could use the money with many of his constituents still struggling to rebound from Hurricane Katrina.

Beforehand, Cao acknowledged that Republican leaders had put “pressure” on him to oppose the package, and the party’s chief deputy whip, California Rep. Kevin O. McCarthy, stood near Cao during the entire vote.

“They encouraged me to vote ‘no,’ but they understand the needs of my district,” Cao said.

There is a lot here. Cao pulled a classic flip-flop. Okay, no biggie: cowardly Members on both sides do that every day. What is more salient, at least to me, is not that the House GOP leadership made the determination early on that their entire membership would vote 'no', but that someone like Cao would actually fall in line!

Memo to Rep. Cao: If you have an desire to win again, stop listening to your leadership! Your victory had NOTHING to do with the national GOP or the NRCC. Wisely, they had no idea you had any shot, and they did not do anything to help you win. You are a fluke, and as a fluke, you have no attachment to the whims and controls of your leadership. Sure, you face a near-impossible task next year, but at the same time, your unique circumstances allow you to vote however you want, which means you need to vote in a way to please your overwhemingly Democratic district, not what your Texas/Alabama/Georgia caucus wants. I will bet you a dollar that Nancy Pelosi was not upset when fellow freshman Rep. Bobby Bright voted 'no' yesterday, and his district is only half as conservative as your's is liberal (something like R+13 to D+28).

The fact is that GOP leadership used Cao as a pawn to bolster their own standing and to build a united conservative front against Obama and the Democrats. For 95% of their membership coming from the South, Idaho, Utah and crazy California, that's all well and good, but for the almost extinct Republicans representing Democratic districts, that is not helpful. Cao is an extreme example, of course. He is a fluke, a man with the political savvy of a sea sponge, so I can't fault him for being stupid and now understanding that he is being used as a pawn. But if GOP rising star Kevin McCarthy had stood next to me the whole vote, I would have voted 'aye' and stared him right in the eye. Cao should understand that when fall 2010 comes around, these jokers will not be spending a nickel on his re-election with dozens of other opportunities elsewhere and Cao down 30 points in the polls.

Sadly, Rep. Cao did not get that, and for this reason, he gets to share the T2L Political Dumbass of the Week award with the fellas running the H.M.S. Titanic, er, I mean the GOP House caucus. Great job.