Don’t brand Scalise as a David Duke

We thought the political days of David Duke, our Ku Klux Klansman of yesteryear, were over when he disappeared from public attention after defeats in several races. One of them was in a runoff for governor against Edwin Edwards in which bumper stickers advertised “Vote for the crook. It’s important.” And they elected Edwards.

Duke did win one election. It was for one term as state representative from Metairie.

But he is back in the headlines. One of Louisiana’s most respected members of the U. S. House of Representatives, Steve Scalise, who today holds one of the highest positions in the U. S. House, has been accused of speaking to a white nationalist group founded by Duke in 2002. So what?

Politics is politics and when one is seeking votes in an election he should speak to as many would-be voters as possible to get the public behind his ideas–that would apply to those who also disagree on some of the issues.

We are sure Scalise would not endorse the prejudices and racial attitudes promoted by Duke during his campaigns. Such a suggestion should not enter into today’s political activities some 13 years later.

After all, democracy is supposed to give people the freedom to change their minds. That is why politicians should have the opportunities to speak from the same stages where their opponents speak, which is what Scalise did in 2002. It gives them the opportunities to promote the right solutions to the political problems at the time.

As far as Duke is concerned, he is pretty well finished as a politician. His attitude as a racist does not coincide with present-day beliefs, though some of those feelings, unfortunately, still exist somewhat in the population.

We need to accept at this point that racism should not be an issue in politics or any kind of governmental affairs. The political attitude of David Duke is gone and should not be recovered.

It appears that philosophy has taken hold in our electoral processes. We have members of all races winning elections and holding office.

Of course, race may influence some preferences at the polls, but that is unavoidable in a democracy. We should resist it to the utmost.