GOP Officials Already Ignoring RNC Autopsy of 2012 Loss

As noted yesterday, the Republican National Committee released a 97 page autopsy on the party's 2012 loss and an outline of what needed to be done to ensure better results going forward.  It appears that in addition to the Christofascists within the party base there is another obstacle to a revival of the GOP: the racists within the party base and in high elected office.  Yesterday  this phenomenon became apparent as two Deep South Senators attacked Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez who has been nominated by President Obama to be Secretary of Labor.  Perez's offense?  Bring laws suits to enforce voting rights laws and acting to protect minorities.  You know, members of demographic groups that the RNC says the GOP must attract even as the party base and GOP controlled state legislatures work to disenfranchise these groups.  Think Progress looks at yesterday's attack on Perez and the continued racism that is a pillar of the GOP.  Here are highlights:

Well, that didn’t take long.  This morning, the biggest political story in Washington was a Republican National Committee “autopsy” of the GOP’s 2012 election loss. In it, the RNC proclaimed that “[i]t is imperative that the RNC changes how it engages with Hispanic communities to welcome in new members of our Party” and that “the Republican Party must be committed to building a lasting relationship within the African American community year-round, based on mutual respect and with a spirit of caring.” Within a few hours, three top Republicans already took the first steps to doom this effort.

Earlier today, President Obama nominated Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez to be the next Secretary of Labor. Perez is eminently qualified for this job, having served in a similar role for the state of Maryland before becoming the top civil rights attorney in the Justice Department. As head of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, Perez restored that office’s historic commitment to protecting voting rights,  .  .  .

Before the President even announced Perez’s nomination, Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (R-AL) released a statement attacking him for serving as President of the Board of an organization that advocates on behalf of low-income immigrants and Latinos. The words “illegal immigrant” appear three times in Sessions’ statement, which is barely more than a paragraph long.

Not long thereafter, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) raised the specter of Perez supposedly sticking up for scary black men. According to Vitter, “Thomas Perez’s record should be met with great suspicion by my colleagues for his spotty work related to the New Black Panther case,” an allegation that does far more to discredit Vitter than Perez. Two separate investigations, one of which was released just last week, concluded that DOJ acted entirely without improper motive when it dismissed this case.

It’s important not to exaggerate the importance of these two senators’ statements. Sessions has a long history of opposition to civil rights. Many of his future senate colleagues voted to reject his nomination to the federal bench after a DOJ attorney revealed that Sessions once called the NAACP and the ACLU “un-American” and “Communist-inspired.” 

Sessions and Vitter’s crusade against Perez is certain to have powerful supporters among the GOP’s most powerful messengers, however. Rush Limbaugh compared Perez to “Hugo Chavez” on his radio station today, and he claimed that nominating Perez to head Labor is the same thing as a Republican nominating the “Grand Kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan a cabinet position where he would be deciding on discrimination lawsuits.”

 The rank ugliness of today's GOP just continues to fester.  So much for renewed minority outreach.