Lindsey Graham’s Wise Latino Strategy

Posted by Adele Stan, AlterNet at 6:46 AM on July 17, 2009.

He’s not the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary committee, but by dint of his outsized personality, paradoxical statements and prosecutorial manner, the senior senator from South Carolina emerged from the nomination hearing of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the week’s winner. By turns condescending to and laudatory of the nominee, Lindsey Graham, for most of the week, seemed to issue his half-promise to vote for President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee as if it were a threat -- and one of which he was weary.

The high-handed manner with which he treated the accomplished federal judge before him bugged the hell out of me (as Graham himself said twice of Sotomayor’s speeches); here’s a snippet from this morning’s testimony that was typical of his affect throughout the proceedings:

GRAHAM (TO SOTOMAYOR): You have been very reassuring here today and throughout this hearing that you're going to try to understand the difference between judging and whatever political feelings you have about groups or gender.

He pushed her, once again, about the speech she made eight years ago, when she spoke of her hope that a "wise Latina" judge might do better on the bench than a wise judge who is not Latina. This prompted a very somber Sotomayor to reply: "I regret that I have offended someone. I believe that my life demonstrates that that was not my intent to leave the impression taken from my words."

Yet, throughout the proceedings, one got the sense that Graham's grudging admiration for the judge was real on both counts -- not that it wasn’t good politics for a Southern man with a largely white constituency, but also, among the 50 states, the fastest-growing Latino population, as well. In making a big show of going after the judge’s decisions, in treating her at times like a child or hired help, Graham threw some meat to the conservative white folks who voted him into office. In defending Sotomayor, as he did in the end, as an impressive individual, he fed the pride of a constituency that could provide the margin that may ultimately keep him there.

It was all done quite brilliantly. And the hearing’s final panel -- one that was seated long after Sotomayor had left the room -- offered him the perfect foil. Call it the Enemies of Sotomayor Panel: Republican pundit Linda Chavez, shafted firefighter Frank Ricci, and Ricci’s ally in the reverse-discrimination suit against the City of New Haven, firefighter Ben Vargas. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined the panel, not as an outright enemy, but as a supporter who has some qualms. Thus, the Enemies and the Qualmist were, seemingly, a purposefully chosen ethnic pastiche, a panel likely designed as insulation from any charge of racism or ethnic prejudice that might be leveled at a team uniformly pale and Protestant in make-up. Yet, with none from ethnic or demographic backgrounds to which an aggrieved white guy of the South was likely to be sympathetic, Graham found the perfect foil for his defense of Sotomayor. Every member was patted and batted, except for the panel's one woman, who suffered the double jeopardy of being both Hispanic and female, forced into the role of being the Latina who must be fed to the lions if another of her ilk was to survive.

Tee up Linda Chavez, who began her scathing opening statement this way:

I testify today not as a wise Latina woman but an American who believes that skin color and national origin should not determine who gets a job, a promotion or a public contract or who gets into college or receives a fellowship.

My message today is straightforward. Mr. Chairman, do not vote to confirm this nominee. I say this with some regret, because I believe Judge Sotomayor's personal story is an inspiring one, which proves that this is truly a land of opportunity, where circumstances of birth and class do not determine whether you can succeeded.

Unfortunately, based on her statements both on and off the bench, I do not believe Judge Sotomayor shares that view. It is clear from her record that she has drunk deep from the well of identity politics.

I know a lot about that well, and I can tell you that it is dark and poisonous. It is, in my view, impossible to be a fair judge and also believe that one's race, ethnicity and sex should determine how someone will rule as a judge.

Despite her assurances to this committee over the last few days that her "wise Latina woman" statement was simply a, quote, "rhetorical flourish fell flat," nothing could be further from the truth

Hmmm, that "dark and poisonous" well from which the fair-skinned Chavez says the darker-skinned Sotomayor has "drunk deep" was one rhetorical flourish that fell a little flat for me.

Enter our hero, Lindsey Graham, who asked Chavez, "Have you ever known a Republican political leader to actively try to seek putting a minority in a position of responsibility to help the party?"

It's hard to imagine Chavez, who played the role of the representative Latina in the Reagan administration, not feeling a sting in such a challenge. It was a little uncomfortable to watch:

CHAVEZ: I think that the idea of giving due deference to making sure that people are representative in diverse ways is a standard way of operating in political circles.

GRAHAM: The only reason I mention that is the statement made, 'The way we pick our judges should be based on merit -- the way we pick our fire[fighters]' -- I totally agree with that, but politics is politics in the sense that I know that Republicans sit down and think, okay, we’ve got some power now, let's make sure we let the whole country know the Republican Party is not just a party of short white guys.

CHAVEZ: I think that's different, though, Senator, than, as she suggested in her speech, that there ought to be some sort of proportional representation--

GRAHAM: --Yeah, that's right --

CHAVEZ: --And I also think it matters that we’re not just doing that because we want to see diverse opinions, but it seems to me that what she was saying in her speech was that we do that because blacks, Latinos and women are different, think differently, and will behave differently. I mean, she said that explicitly. She said it may be as a result of physiological difference. I think any white man who said such a thing about minorities or women would be laughed out of this room.

GRAHAM: Well, since I’m the white guy that said that, I agree with you. [LAUGHTER IN THE ROOM] But the point is that I'm trying to get the country in a spot where you’re not judged by one thing -- that we can't just look at her and say, 'That's it.' You know, when I look at her, I see speeches that bug the hell out of me, as I said before, but I also see something that very much impresses me. And the [American Bar Association] apparently sees something, and [former FBI director] Louie Freeh sees something and [former Clinton prosecutor] Ken Starr sees something and, you know, what I want to tell the country is that Republicans very much do sit down and think about political picks and appointments in a political sense to try to show that we're a party that looks at all Americans and wants to give an opportunity, and that’s just life, and that's not a bad thing.

Here was Lindsey Graham betraying an ostensible ally, one who offered her gender and ethnicity in the service of the GOP's anti-feminist, anti-affirmative action cause, only to be used as the unwise Latina that Graham got to rhetorically rough up while defending another Latina. A little something for everyone in that. Anti-feminist, anti-affirmative action white guys likely saw a white guy putting an uppity woman in her place. Many Latinos likely saw him taking on one who used her Latina identity to front an anti-Latino agenda. Perfect!

Next up: Firefighter Frank Ricci, against whose favor Sotomayor famously decided in the law suit, Ricci v. the City of New Haven, in which Ricci challenged the city's decision to throw out the results of a firefighters' promotion exam because blacks and Latinos had not fared well on it. Ricci had passed the test and understandably wanted his promotion. Sotomayor, siding with another judge on a three-judge panel, rejected Ricci's claim in an unsigned, narrowly drawn, opinion. Ricci appealed to the Supreme Court, which last month overturned Sotomayor’s decision by a 5-4 majority:

GRAHAM: Now, Mr. Ricci, I would want you to come to my house if it was on fire. And I appreciate how difficult this must have been for you to bust your ass and study so hard, and have it all stripped at the end. But I just want you to know that, as a country, we probably one generation removed from where no matter how hard you studied, based on your last name or the color of your skin, you’ve got no shot. And we’re trying to find some balance. And, in your case, I think you were poorly treated and you did not get the day in court that you deserved, but it all turned out well, it was a 5-4 decision, and maybe we can learn something through your experience. But please don’t lose sight of the fact that not so very long ago, the test was rigged a different way.

Meta-message? Mr. Ricci, not long ago, you would not have been considered entirely white yourself. In fact, the Irishmen would have made sure your likes never saw the light of day on the force.

But the coup de grace was left for Lt. Ben Vargas, a second-generation Puerto Rican-American, of the New Haven Fire Department, who joined Ricci's suit. Vargas was cast perfectly in the role of the good Latino, in contrast to Chavez's uppity Latina woman role. Vargas came with a legitimate grievance, having passed the firefighters exam only to have it thrown out by the court as being unfair to non-whites.

GRAHAM: Mr. Vargas, you’re one generation removed from where your last name would have been it. [GESTURES WITH A CHOPPING MOTION.] Do you understand that?

VARGAS: Yes, sir.

Again, the condescension; treating the Latino adult like a child.

GRAHAM: What did you go through personally to stand with Mr. Ricci? What came your way? Did anybody criticize you?

VARGAS: I received lots of criticism.

GRAHAM: Well tell me the kind of criticism--

VARGAS: I have a thick skin…

GRAHAM: Did people call you an Uncle Tom?

VARGAS: Yes.

GRAHAM: Did people say you were disloyal to the Hispanic community?

VARGAS: Absolutely.

GRAHAM: Friend, I think you’ve done a lot for America and the Hispanic community. My hat's off to you.

Meta-message: Having ascertained that he comprendes the English, I can say that Vargas is an excellent , manly, even wise, Latino -- a credit to his people.

It was in this fashion that Lindsey Graham delivered his love letter to Sonia Sotomayor, who will likely get his vote. Like the song says, love hurts.

Tagged as: supreme court, lindsey graham, sotomayor nomination, sotomayor hearing, linda chavez, frank ricci, michael bloomberg, ben vargas

Adele M. Stan is AlterNet's acting Washington bureau chief.