That's also why many Democrats suddenly love Lott, in a closeted sort of way,
and would love for him to remain Senate Majority Leader. The recent mid-term
elections proved that Democrats can't compete with President George W. Bush's
popularity -- at least, not right now. But Lott's blunder (and his craven attempts
to salvage his leadership position afterward) has given the Democrats a mighty
sword.
One that might even work against Bush in 2004.
And that has the GOP faithful plenty worried. Talking in code words is fine.
It's been a Republican tack in the South since Barry Goldwater. But overtly
embracing segregation runs the risk of alienating the moderate whites that Bush
and other Republicans need to stay in power. Those voters respond warmly to
GOP claims of "compassionate conservatism," but they draw the line at bald-faced
racism (not to mention stupidity).
Meanwhile, Lott's remarks about how America would have been better off if
Strom Thurmond and the Dixiecrats had won the White House in 1948 dredged up
all the racial tensions that constantly simmer just below the surface of Mississippi
politics and culture. It doesn't take much for those tensions to come to the
fore.
We in Louisiana have had a fine old time with that, too, smugly thinking (and
thanking God) that we don't have those kinds of problems. No sir. No stars and
bars on our flag. No Confederates in our attic.
Think again.
Was it a coincidence that David Duke came back to town amidst all this? The
unreconstructed neo-Nazi and former KKK leader quietly cut a deal that will
allow him to pay a small fine and spend barely a year in jail for mail fraud
and income tax violations.
Duke's indictment was conspicuously silent, however, on the subject of his
sordid dealings with Gov. Mike Foster -- no one could be happier about that
than Gov. Warbucks.
Back in 1995, when Foster was running for governor the first time, he needed
to jump-start his campaign. So he switched from Democrat to Republican and "bought"
Duke's mailing list of right-wing voters for more than $150,000. Duke, in turn,
dropped out of the race and tacitly endorsed Foster.
Trouble is, Foster paid many times the going rate for the list. He also failed
to report the purchase on his campaign financial disclosure forms. In fact,
Foster took great pains to hide the transaction -- running it through his companies
instead of paying for it with campaign money.
Here's the clincher: Foster never used the mailing list for any purpose.
So let's call the deal what it was: a sham.
When Edwin Edwards and his cronies engaged in the same kind of legerdemain,
the feds had another term for it: money laundering.
Edwards is now doing 10 years in the pokey for his crimes. Duke is getting
a slap on the wrist for mail fraud and income tax violations -- no doubt with
a nod, a wink and the understanding that he keep his mouth shut about Foster,
the mailing list and the $150K. What a fine signal for our federal government
to send to tax cheats!
So, if you're breathing sighs of relief that Louisiana doesn't have a Lott
of race-based political issues, get a good whiff of the Duke-Foster deal. Then
try telling yourself that, while the Confederates are out of the attic in Mississippi,
we in Louisiana keep them where they belong.
In the Governor's Mansion.
