Since his election to the Senate in 2018, Josh Hawley, the 39 year-old Republican from Missouri, has been lauded by a number of political commentators as a fresh voice for conservative values and as a potential leader of a post-Trump Republican party. Rod Dreher at the American Conservative labeled Hawley “Tomorrow’s Conservative Today,” while at The Week the liberal writer Damon Linker thrilled to the senator’s attacks on policies “allowing a corrupt, oligarchic elite to grab too much political power.” Liberals, as well as populist Republicans, have been excited by Hawley’s defense of the declining middle class, and it was cooperation between Hawley and Senator Bernie Sanders that secured $600 checks for all Americans in Congress’s recent stimulus deal.
At his best, Josh Hawley speaks to the reality of an America in which economic and political inequality threatens the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for a large number of our citizens and endangers the foundations of our democratic experiment.
Here is an excerpt from his piece, “Restoring the American Middle.” I agree with it all.
. . . we must think more carefully about what economic success [in this country] looks like. GDP growth is important, but it cannot be the sole measure of this nation’s greatness. And so it cannot be the only aim of this nation’s policy. For our purpose is not to make a few people wealthy, but to sustain a great democracy. That means sustaining the workers and families who make democracy possible. And for that, we need not just a bigger economy, but a better one.
We need a labor market that offers dignified, rewarding work to every worker who wants it, wherever they are from, whatever degree they have, whether their ambition is to start a business or simply to start a family. We need to encourage business investment in workers rather than capital hoarding, investment that will drive new opportunities to the towns and neighborhoods of the American middle class. And after decades of neglect, we must strengthen the associations that give working Americans control over their lives: neighborhood councils, schools, churches, and co-ops.
This is a powerful piece, and a good stab at a conservatism that could win popular support. Liberals will disagree with some it, such as Hawley’s stricter immigration policies, or his promotion of “strong marriages and strong families,” while at the same time appreciating the possibility of a Republican party that cares about workers and their families and strives to restore to the U. S. some semblance of economic fairness.
That is why it was so disappointing to see Josh Hawley leading the charge to overturn the results of a free and fair election and refusing, now, to apologize for his part in inciting the violence that occurred last Wednesday as rioters stormed into the Capitol.
By taking part in this anti-democratic charade, Hawley has undermined his potential as a fresh Republican voice and revealed his talk of “national renewal” to be nothing more than window dressing for the pursuit of raw power. I doubt Hawley believes the election was stolen; he is, after all, a graduate of Stanford and Yale; a former Supreme Court law clerk; and the author of a well-reviewed biography of Theodore Roosevelt. His actions, coming as they are from a place of deceit, are unworthy of respect and disgrace his office. He knows it’s all a show, and believes it’s necessary to brazenly lie.
Katherine Stewart, in today’s New York Times, offers a darker take in which she examines Hawley’s motivations for refusing to certify the election results and concludes that he is a Christian nationalist who believes that “human existence in an inevitably pluralistic, modern society committed to equality is inherently worthless.”
[Hawley’s line of thinking] comes with the idea that a right-minded elite of religiously pure individuals should aim to capture the levers of government, then use that power to rescue society from eternal darkness and reshape it in accord with a divinely-approved view of righteousness.
I hope that Hawley is not a Christian nationalist as Stewart suggests, and that his refusal to certify Biden’s win is only a cynical ploy to capture Trump’s voters. I understand his predicament: a “renewal” of the Republican party requires him to win over Republicans who are loyal to President Trump and insist on the illegitimacy of the recent election. Hawley is betting that no Republican candidate can secure the nomination in 2024, or refashion the party into something more palatable to college graduates, women, and suburban voters, without first claiming the support of Trump’s base. As ever, politics is a tug-of-war between idealism and the realities of the world, and Hawley may have the best of intentions, but see no other way to achieve his goals.
Unfortunately for Hawley, even politics at times must bow to truth and to morality. There are lines that simply cannot be crossed in a liberal democracy, no matter one’s intentions, and Hawley has crossed one. The sanctity of free and fair elections is essential to the American character and to the validity of the democratic experiment. To assist in or to turn a blind eye to attacks on a legitimate election is to betray the very citizens who fashioned our Constitution and fought for it in war and in peace.
To paraphrase Senator Mitt Romney, as a public servant of the United States, Josh Hawley owes the truth to his constituents, especially during this critical time in our nation’s history. As for us at the Sour Mash Review, we try not to question the motives of elected officials, and we often extend to them the benefit of the doubt. At the same time, we will hold them accountable for actions they take, and for words that pass their lips. Senator Hawley, you must do better for the good of the country, for us all.
You’re a leader, not a follower. You chose this role. You chose to lead. Please do so.
Or, as Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Knowing what’s right doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.” Take that one to heart, will you, Senator Hawley. Give it a think.
Have a good Monday night, everybody, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
-JCB