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The Republican Party’s Joyful Warrior
National Review
By: Alexandra DeSanctis
To read the entire article, click here.
“Over the course of a day I spent with the senator — on Capitol Hill and in Anacostia, a neighborhood in Washington, D.C. — a picture of Scott as a vocal, visionary leader came into focus. He’s the man of the hour, though he might not know it.
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When he came to Washington in 2011, anyone watching Scott closely might have predicted that he’d turn out this way. Though he was pushed by his colleagues to run for freshman-class president, he opted for the much less glamorous job of representative to the Elected Leadership Committee (ELC), which makes most major decisions for the House Republican caucus. When I ask why he decided on this role, his answer is characteristic.
“The strategy of being helpful is better than the strategy of being seen.”
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When we spend the afternoon in Anacostia touring new local businesses, Scott enjoys a much warmer reception than any Republican could rightly hope for in such a solidly left-wing area, and one so desperately in need of assistance…Scott showed his willingness to interact with the people he so often mentions, people he believes are capable of success if the culture and the government don’t stand in their way.
As his Opportunity Agenda illustrates, Scott is convinced that fundamentally conservative solutions, not government programs, will help people climb out of poverty — and in many cases, he seems to have managed to sell them on that idea, too. It doesn’t hurt that he appears even more comfortable at this backyard fish fry than when he speaks on the floor of the Senate.
Much of his success stems from his upbringing — he understands the plight of the people with whom he speaks in places such as Anacostia, and they notice his sincerity. At a local multipurpose space for small-business owners, a community member says to the senator, “This building stands for everything that you talk about. It talks about building up young people who come from where you come from, who had childhoods fighting to get somewhere and get the American dream.”
That’s exactly how Scott sees his work, too. “I take my personal experience, and I try to feed it into legislative priorities,” he tells the group, “so that people who grew up just like I did have the benefit of the resources that changed my life.”
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When I ask if he expects to find his way into the ministry after he retires, he pauses. “One day I do see myself, as I exit politics, spending time looking for ways to promote and encourage the human soul,” Scott says, “whether in an organized part of the faith movement or just as a spokesperson for the eternal values that have made a difference in all of human history.”
Until then — and to the credit of a conservative movement in need of rejuvenation — Scott seems to be succeeding at that right where he is.” |