At long last — confirmation of Loretta Lynch, who now is the first black female Attorney General. The 56-43 final tally included 10 Republicans who crossed party lines to vote for her.
It only took weeks of door knocking on Senators offices, protests in the street, a back room deal, and a hunger strike to make it happen. All that on behalf of a nominee who should have been a shoo-in. In fact she had been shooed in--Loretta Lynch was unanimously confirmed twice before by the same body, and by many of the same people.
Instead, Lynch’s nomination was in political purgatory for five months held up by machinations orchestrated by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. McConnell said there were other pressing issues –like the human trafficking bill that had first priority. But the real reason I submit –McConnell and most of his fellow Republicans were loathe to give the President his choice.
“Nobody can describe a reason for it beyond political gamesmanship,” President Obama exploded at a press gathering days before the vote was finally scheduled, “Enough.”
Blocking nominations is an old tit for tat game played by Republicans and Democrats alike. Any many want it to stop. From the campaign trail, potential Republican presidential candidate, Jeb Bush said, “I think complainers ought to make the point, and some have, that this is bad business no matter which party does it.”
But some saw Lynch because she is an African- American, not as a pawn of petty politics, but the target of public humiliation. She was forced to wait longer than all seven of her predecessors combined, including Eric Holder, the first African-American Attorney General. He’s been in limbo waiting to step down. I was intrigued by how strenuously many African-Americans initially rejected race as a factor. It was Illinois Senator Dick Durbin-- who is white—who characterized the protracted delay as Lynch being sent to “the back of the bus.” Black elected officials who dismissed Durbin’s comments at first eventually joined a chorus of critics infuriated by the deliberate delay. Black protestors specifically targeted Mitch McConnell with intense group lobbying at his Senate office. Perhaps that’s why in the end the Republican leader voted yes.
Many say that won’t erase the racial overtones of this process. Democrats plan to exploit this moment in 2016 campaigning to expand the party’s demographic outreach. Even some Republican strategists are calling the Lynch delay an impolitic move for a party hoping to attract more African-Americans and Latinos.
The perceived ongoing disrespect of this President, and of his highly credentialed nominee, is a particular hot button issue for minority communities, especially black Americans. So I caution disregarding this as a small political incident soon forgotten. What may have been a short-term political gain for Republicans could have lingering long-term political consequences.
