House Majority Whip Steve Scalise
House Speaker John Boehner and other top Republicans are standing by Steve Scalise, the number-three House Republican facing controversy over his 2002 speech to a white supremacist group. But while GOP leadership is—so far—standing by their man, a Politico article points to something that could endanger that. Fundraising is a key way members of Congress gain and hold power, and Scalise
may be damaged on that front:
“There is concern that the situation will make it more difficult for him to raise money,” said a GOP leadership aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “It will be difficult to raise money from major Republican donors. And it remains to be seen what sort of role he can play in terms of helping incumbents in tough districts.”
A Republican fundraiser added, “I think it definitely makes it a little bit harder, particularly in certain districts, at least as it stands right now to have him in a suburban district in a blue state.” The fundraiser predicted that it would take time for the corporate PACs that usually gives piles of money to leadership to open their wallets.
If you were a Republican in a tight race, would you want the white supremacist-linked guy coming to town to raise money for you? Not really. And if you were a corporate PAC, would you want to be the first to cut a check to Scalise after this news? Probably not. If Scalise faces trouble on those fronts, it becomes more difficult for Boehner to keep standing by him.
Scalise himself hasn't been saying much lately, though his allies have been out in force defending him. Unfortunately for him, many of the excuses he and his defenders have offered don't hold up under close inspection. And the story isn't going away, with the White House pointing out that who Republicans choose as their leaders says a lot about their values and civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis calling for Scalise to "come clean and say what he did and apologize to members of Congress." Asking for an apology is standard weak tea, but highlighting that Scalise has not in fact come clean about his relationship with the European-American Unity and Rights Organization? That should scare Republicans a little more, since they want us to believe that there's nothing to see here and move right along.