Two weeks ago, the name Joe Wilson would have been associated with the former U.S. ambassador to Niger whose name entered the public consciousness during the Valerie Plame Affair. Few outside of South Carolina had even heard of the member of Congress censured Wednesday over his comment a week earlier during President Obama’s most recent address to Congress on health care reform.

According to his official website, Addison Graves Wilson, better known as Joe Wilson, has represented the Second Congressional District of South Carolina since late in 2001.  While he has a relatively undistinguished record as a legislator, Wilson’s career has not been free from contoversial outbursts in the past. Never has a statement by this member of Congress been so damaging as was that which led to his censure by his peers. With two little words shouted during remarks being delivered by the President of the United States, a lowly member of Congress from rural South Carolina became the story. Instead of the newspapers, television media, and blogs covering the significant problems with President Obama’s remarks, they covered the controversy surrounding the rule Republican member from Dixie. Even before the censure vote, Wilson apologized to President Obama, but may yet owe a further apology to the American people. 

Were this not enough, many on the Right clamored to the defense of Representative Wilson, instead of criticizing his lack of decorum. In fewer places was this more clear than at the 9/12 National TEA Party in Washington, DC last Saturday. There, defenders of Mr. Wilson proudly carried homemade signs expressing support for a presidential bid by the loudmouth legislator in 2012. The unfortunate presence of birthers at the rally defending liberty was troubling enough without this occurrence. Media reports have noted that both Wilson and his probable Democratic opponent have each raised more than a million dollars each since the controversy.

Nonetheless, both the 9/12 rally and the outburst have more in common than widespread mutual support. A speaker at the rally, Matt Kibbe of FreedomWorks, made the dubious claim that more than one million people had attended the rally. In so doing, he delegitimized the significance of the tens of thousands who did partake in the demonstration. Thus, instead of the news subsequent to the rally focusing on the potential consequences of so many Americans publically expressing mostly legitimate sentiments in front of the U.S. Capitol building, Mr. Kibbe’s lie became the story.

In two very much related recent instances, Republicans have very publically rescued failure from the jaws of success. The Republican Party should not be doing the work of the party in power when the latter seeks to portray the former as a movement comprising almost entirely of reckless hooligans. Indeed, instead of leading criticism of existing health care reform proposals, Republicans and their allies have once more played into the hands of their opponents.  There will be no chance of recovery for the Grand Old Party in 2010 and 2012 if movement “leaders” are all but writing Democratic attack ads.

Last 5 posts by James Kane

• In Defense of Michael Steele - July 9th, 2010
• McDonald and Kagan - July 2nd, 2010
• The Petraeus Dilemma. - June 23rd, 2010
• On Paul and Blumenthal - May 22nd, 2010
• Lessons from Arizona - May 12th, 2010