Sen. Bill Cassidy’s remarkable talent for choosing the wrong legacy
With his vote for Todd Blanche as attorney general, Cassidy has solidified his legacy as a pathetic Trump lackey.
How politically inept is Sen. Bill Cassidy? Let us count the ways.
Not content to be remembered as the senator who rescued Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination at the moment it mattered most, Cassidy has done it again.
This time, he’s providing the crucial Republican support for Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s former criminal defense attorney, to become attorney general.
Think about that for a moment: Two of Trump’s most controversial and potentially destructive Cabinet nominees. Two confirmation fights in which Cassidy cast himself as the thoughtful skeptic. Two last-minute endorsements that made him the pivotal vote.
That shows a remarkable talent for tying your political legacy to the worst possible decisions.
Cassidy could have announced weeks before the vote that he intended to support Kennedy. He could have made the same early announcement about Blanche. If so, he would have been one Republican vote among dozens, forgotten almost immediately.
Instead, he repeatedly cast himself as the agonized, independent-minded physician, the careful institutionalist, and the senator weighing the evidence with great seriousness before finally deciding that, yes, Donald Trump was right after all.
In doing so, Cassidy guaranteed something no senator should want: that history will clearly remember his votes on these two disastrous and unqualified nominees.
When historians write about Kennedy’s confirmation process, Cassidy’s name will appear in the first paragraph or two. When they write about Blanche’s confirmation battle, his name will again be central to the story.
He maneuvered himself into becoming the face of both confirmations.
Then came his Friday morning floor speech announcing his decision to vote for Blanche.
With much of the political world watching, Cassidy portrayed himself as a senator engaged in an earnest search for objective truth. He said he consulted several experts before making his decision.
Among them were two of Louisiana’s U.S. attorneys—both appointed by Donald Trump. Blanche is their boss.
What exactly did Cassidy think they were going to tell him? “Vote no”?
He also cited former Attorney General Bill Barr. That’s the same Bill Barr who has spent years defending expansive, unchecked executive power and who remained one of Trump’s most important allies until their brief falling-out after the 2020 election.
Did Cassidy really expect anyone to believe Barr might recommend voting against Trump’s attorney general?
Or was the consultation merely political theater intended to create the appearance of careful deliberation after the decision had already been made?
Cassidy seems to think these performances repair his reputation, but they have the opposite effect.
For a brief period after January 6, Cassidy appeared to be a senator who had found a line he would not cross. His vote to convict Trump during the second impeachment remains the most courageous act of his political career.
Instead of building on that moment, however, he spent the next several years seeking a return to Trump’s good graces.
Each craven accommodation required another. Each dishonest rationalization became easier. Each embarrassing surrender became less surprising.
Now he is back where he started: enabling the corrupt man he once deemed unfit for office.
The tragedy is that Louisiana had already offered Cassidy an honorable exit. He could have left the Senate remembered as the conservative physician who risked his career to tell his party the truth after January 6.
Instead, he chose another, less-honorable legacy.
Cassidy will rightly be remembered as the senator who rescued Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination and as the senator who rescued Todd Blanche’s.
All the damage each does to our public health and our justice systems? Cassidy owns a big share of both.
Not only does he own them, but he embraced them in the most public and dramatic ways possible.
For someone who once seemed willing to sacrifice his career to defend the Constitution, this is a remarkably small and pathetic ending.
Hi Bob, I don't only think Senator Cassidy is highly deficient politically; he is highly deficient morally. Unfortunately, highly educated does not always automatically translate to highly ethical or high integrity!
Yes. Of course. But why? My question has been "What is Trump or his minions giving our retired doctor and defeated Senator that makes it worthwhile personally?
A relatively forgotten note on the person he sought for advice: Bill Barr. Barr was the AG of Bush's Administration who removed the special prosecutor, Lawrence Walsh, who was investigating the Iran-Contra scandal. It had become well known that he was about to charge Casper Weinburger (sp) which was widely viewed as what would have been the final step before accusing President Reagan of personal involvement and responsobility. This would have revealed his personal guilt in this and other suspected illegal activity (like his deal with Iran to wait to pardon the prisoners until his opponent was defeated and make him look heroic) We recall that his administration had more presidentially officials go to jail for corruption than any other in history. (all part of the path constructed to Trumpism)