Beware of Dixiecrats in Republicans' Clothes: Glenn Grothman

Today we focus on Wisconsin 6th Congressional District Republican candidate, State Senator Glenn Grothman (WI 20th District), for an installment of "Beware of Dixiecrats in Republicans' Clothes". On the cusp of many anticipated Republican victories in November, we must pause and reflect on the field of candidates who wish to add to our stable of members to take office. From the Republican National Committee (RNC) and down, there has been an emphasis on "conservatism".

Grothman doesn't even include the word "Republican" in his campaign advertisements. He joins a growing number of right-wing candidates who eschew the Republican party name altogether, rather focusing on a singular pure ideology. Glenn Grothman is "Fighting for Conservative Values".

6th Congressional District GOP candidate Glenn Grothman's campaign sign.

The underlying question is: What type of conservatism is being advocated? There are many different applications for conservatism. Some are focused on limited government and fiscal responsibility, which are both prudent. Then there are the harmful types, such as the pre-civil rights Southern Conservative Democrats ("Dixiecrats"), who clung to a mantra of "State's Rights" over minority civil rights. Many of these Dixiecrats fled the Democratic National Committee (DNC) leading to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Most notably, former Sen. Strom Thurman, former Segregationist Party presidential candidate and ardent conservative, switched parties, not ideology.

In an example of Dixiecrat application of state's rights, former conservative Governor George Wallace (D-AL), who infamously used the National Guard to block African-American students from integrating the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, argued the federal government cannot supersede a state's sovereign law. This is the 10th Amendment argument. "As your governor, I shall resist any illegal federal court order, even to the point of standing at the schoolhouse door in person, if necessary," Wallace proclaimed during the 1962 gubernatorial campaign. The Supreme Court later ruled segregation violated the 14th Amendment equal protections of impacted individuals.

So where does candidate Grothman fall? Well, let's take a look. Grothman has repeatedly stated a desire to turn back the clocks to the mid-1950's. Grothman states, "I think the people in the 6th Congressional District wish they had the stability they had 50 years ago." Oddly, 50 years ago was 1964, the same year as the passage of the Civil Rights Act which led to the migration of conservative Democrats to the GOP. Further, minorities had far less stability during Grothman's ideal time frame. Are these the conservative values he pines for?

On more recent events, Grothman made headlines in 2013 for his opposition to the celebration of Kwanzaa, calling for the "fake holiday" to be "slapped down". He made further waves regarding Martin Luther King Jr. Day, questioning the validity of giving government staff the day off to celebrate. "I would bet the vast majority of African Americans as the vast majority of everybody else isn't doing anything for Martin Luther King on Martin Luther King day. Most employees who are off are shopping at the mall, making they're taking an extended vacation somewhere over the weekend. Let's be honest," Grothman concluded.

In a suspicious parallel, Grothman echoed former pro-segregation Gov. Wallace's position that a state's sovereignty is not subject to federal equal application laws. Grothman voiced his opinion when Federal Judge Barbara Crabb struck Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage in June of 2014, "It's very sad that something approved by voters and represented as the law in every state for the first 200 years of the republic is all of a sudden declared unconstitutional." As was the case with segregation, the 14th Amendment put an end to an unconstitutional practice.

While we live in a different time than the ugly, oppression-filled days at the hands of southern conservative Democrats, Grothman, by his own admission, wishes we could travel back in time to those days. This isn't what being a Republican is all about. This isn't even conservative. It's regression.

Are all people who refer to themselves as "conservative" somehow tainted by this label association? --- Absolutely not. As we have already stated, there are many ways of being conservative. But we must understand what context that label is associated with. Further, we mustn't cheer the victories of Republican pretenders, especially those who avoid the name of our party, only to use a shadowy conservative ideology interchangeably with the GOP. As if afraid to be exposed for what they really represent, these pretenders voice a forgotten language that has been buried by progress. Most Republican voters assume that all candidates on our side of the ballot simply represent our shared values --- FALSE. We argue the most Republican action we can take is to look at candidates, such as Glenn Grothman, in the eye and say: you don't represent our values. We want a REAL REPUBLICAN.

As always, beware of Dixiecrats in Republicans' clothes.