I’m old enough to remember that when Ronald Reagan nominated Antonin Scalia to the Supreme Court the Senate Democrats were too terrified of offending Italian-Americans to cast a vote against him. Their fear was heightened by then-New York governor Mario Cuomo, thought of as a likely future Democratic presidential nominee, who made clear he wanted to see an Italian-American on the court regardless of Scalia’s ideology. There was only a brief debate before Scalia was confirmed in a 98-0 vote.
Today’s Republicans are not similarly cowed by the prospect of opposing Deb Haaland’s nomination to be Secretary of the Interior, which would make her the first Native-American cabinet member in the country’s history. They’re ignoring the trailblazing significance of the vote in favor of casting her as an environmental radical.
I actually don’t have a problem with that anymore than I would have had a problem with a senator telling Cuomo to pound sand on Scalia’s nomination. But the Republicans will probably regret their decision because, even without this offense, Native Americans just delivered Arizona to the Joe Biden and Senate candidate Mark Kelly. Some Republicans, like Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, probably owe their political careers to the Native vote. A snub of Haaland will be remembered and most likely result higher political engagement from Native Americans and a more lopsided preference for the Democrats. This could be decisive in future elections, especially in places like Montana where Democrats are very competitive with Republicans in both Senate and gubernatorial contests.
Murkowski and Manchin are two senators to watch on this vote. They could both cross the aisle, cancelling each other out and leading to Haaland’s confirmation.
