Bill Cassidy trades away his self-respect
The Louisiana senator's decision to support RFK Jr. only secures his place as a one-hit wonder of statesmanship. Selling out to Trump probably won't help him keep his job.
I loved my faculty position at Louisiana State University. My students inspired me with their commitment to social justice. I enjoyed excellent relationships with faculty colleagues. Because of my endowed chair, I had anything I needed to do my research. It was a dream job.
But one day, after Jeff Landry was elected governor, I realized I would not be able to do that job without sacrificing my principles and self-respect. So, I retired.
As much as I loved the job, my independence and self-respect were more important to me.
On Tuesday, Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy made a different choice.
In supporting Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s nomination to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources, Cassidy traded his self-respect and his principles for the opportunity to keep his job.
Put another way, Cassidy sold his soul to Donald Trump and MAGA.
A U.S. Senate seat is more important to him than preserving his last shred of dignity.
And here’s the most pathetic part: Cassidy’s prospects for reelection in a Republican primary next year are not great.
He committed the mortal MAGA sin in 2021 of voting to convict Trump at the end of his second impeachment trial. And no vote for RFK Jr. will erase the “stain” of that decision among MAGA voters, especially when they can vote for someone who never “betrayed” their dear leader.
For now, that person is state Treasurer John Fleming, but the field of opponents will likely grow to include U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Crazy Town.
What are the chances Cassidy’s vote for RFK Jr. will erase the bitter memory of his vote to convict Trump when Republican voters have at their disposal two reliably MAGA cultists in Fleming and Higgins?
The answers, I’m afraid, are “slim” and “none.”
Cassidy’s best hope for reelection may have been to oppose RFK Jr. as part of striking a more reasonable posture in hopes that moderate non-affiliated voters and some Democrats might migrate to the GOP just long enough to pull his fat out of the fire.
A friend called me last week to ask how a strategic voting campaign might be organized to help Cassidy. I responded that I could not support Cassidy until he gave us something in return: evidence that he was willing to do the right thing — not always, but sometimes — instead of enabling Trump’s authoritarian misrule.
Voting against RFK Jr., which Cassidy knows will be disastrous for public health, would have been one way to send such a signal. But now that he’s done the opposite, I don’t see why any moderate, non-affiliated voter should lift a finger to help Cassidy in a MAGA primary. There’s no reason to believe he would vote differently over the next four years than Higgins or Fleming.
The only difference between Cassidy and Higgins/Fleming now is image, not substance.
Unlike Higgins, Cassidy doesn’t foam at the mouth when he talks. But when it comes to policy, what’s the difference?
And, with that settled, there’s no reason you or I should lift a finger to help Cassidy. He abandoned reason — and us — in pursuit of a job. He tossed his self-respect overboard to keep a Senate seat.
Like some of you, I once thought Cassidy had a few principles. I naively believed he cared about the well-being of his constituents but that he had made the strategic decision to become a Republican because it was the only way he could win a congressional seat and accomplish something worthwhile on public health and other issues he cared about.
But if that Cassidy ever existed, it was in the pre-Trump, pre-MAGA era. In the time of Trump, high-minded principles are only good for being sacrificed on the altar of Trump’s ego. There’s no room in the Republican Party for someone who allows conscience to guide his vote.
Cassidy has become the Sheb Wooley of American statesmanship: a one-hit wonder.
Like Wooley and his one big hit song from 1958, “Purple People Eater,” Cassidy will be remembered for his one big hit in 2021 when he made a courageous vote to convict Trump.
He’s never had another hit, and he will likely never again draw upon his principles and self-respect to do the right thing because he no longer possesses such qualities.
On Tuesday, he traded them to Trump in return for . . . well, I suspect we’ll learn in about 18 months that it was for nothing at all.
Bill Cassidy is a tragic figure who had so much to offer and has done so much to ruin his integrity. His vote for RFK will haunt him forever!
Chris Andrews
I was seriously considering campaigning for Cassidy, working for his re-election. All that was dependent on his vote on RFK and others. He has dashed my hopes that there are principled Republicans who will put country over party and, more specifically, over their personal ambition. Shame doesn't cover it!