Dede Scozzafava is a case of jersey politics.
I’m not talking about the state of New Jersey. I’m talking about the sports jersey. The kind sports teams of varying types wear to distinguish themselves from one another. In this case, it’s the proverbial kind with the “R” and “D” on it.
According to some in the Republican Party, electing her is a matter of jersey politics. She’s wearing the proper jersey for us conservatives, or so we’re told, and so we should support her. Anything else is unthinkable, childish, narcissistic, anti-Reagan, or whatever technique they try to use to put us back into line. To practitioners of jersey politics, nothing else matters.
The trouble is that politics is not a sport.
Sports are fine. Everyone has their favorite teams, which they cheer on at games, and it’s all good fun. At the end of the day, the scores are tallied and become part of a record. While trophies and rings may be awarded, and athletes get their moments in the sun, nothing life-altering happens to the world at large.
In politics, this is very, very different. It doesn’t matter if the people selling out to a bad bill wear one jersey or the other. The damage is just as real, and some of it as long-lasting. Lives can be altered and the country changed forever if a majority of our representatives have a bad idea, regardless of the distribution of that majority across the parties.
So no, Scozzafava is not good for conservatism or the country just because she wears the “R” jersey. The principles, not the person or party, make the difference. If she wins, goes to Washington, and votes the wrong way on everything, what good is the “R”? The goal of majorities may be all the parties see, but the rest of us have to live in the mess they make if they don’t show any concern at all for their principles.
