Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), the frequently embattled 2nd District congressman, has spent much of his political career redefining what it means to be an independent leader representing a “purple district” in otherwise deep red Nebraska.
What Bacon calls leadership, however, many of his Republican constituents believe more closely resembles spinelessness, or worse, the conduct of a man compromised.
Bacon has proven himself unreliable. Despite routinely wearing his military service like a beauty pageant sash — a circumstance that hilariously backfired during the most recent of Bacon’s frequent betrayals of his conservative Republican base — Bacon’s flag-waving barely stirs a breeze anymore.
During the battle over ditching Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, Bacon aligned himself foursquare behind McCarthy, and when his side lost, he grew petulant, refusing to support the elevation of Rep. Jim Jordan — not because Jordan was a bad guy, or some other understandable reason, but rather because he wanted to put his thumb in the eye of those who voted out his hero, McCarthy.
Hopelessly out of sync with his constituents and the conservative movement that put him into office in the first place, Bacon grew more stridently opposed to Jordan, prompting him to trot out his military bona fides in a tweet he would soon regret.
Now, as a veteran myself, I respect Bacon’s service and recognize the sacrifices both he and his family made throughout his career. Military life is not an easy path, even in peacetime.
However, General Bacon wasn’t exactly trampling knee-deep through guts and gore during his Mid-East deployments, as reality decorated Marine combat vet turned national political analyst Jesse Kelly helpfully pointed out in a devastating tweet in direct reply to Bacon’s chest-thumping.
Reminiscent of Mafia don John Gotti’s famous bon mot, “Everybody’s a gangster ’til a real gangster walks in the room,” Bacon’s machismo evaporated in the face of Kelly’s hilarious, entirely accurate riposte.
But did that sway Don Bacon? Did such a public humiliation cause him to engage in a little self-reflection and acquiesce to his constituent’s overwhelming desire for a Jordan speakership?
Nope.
Like a pimply-faced middle-schooler with a crush, Bacon relentlessly pursues votes from his left by alienating and betraying those on his right. It’s not a new thing, really — many members of what has come to be known as the “Uniparty” feature this behavior as a hallmark of their political careers. Think Romney, McCain, McConnell, Boehner, et al.
Knowing that rank-and-file conservatives are loath to permit wild-eyed radicals an opportunity to further muck up the grand bequest Americans inherited from the Framers, these integrity-challenged types bank on conservatives’ patriotism to force them to perennially accept the political half-loaf over no loaf at all.
It’s this visceral disgust with the leftist vandals of ignorance storming the gates that enables the Uniparty establishment to cling to power.
While the conservative base bravely mans the wall, these Republicans in Name Only (RINO) make sure the back door remains open to the enemy, ensuring there will never be a time without impending disaster, which, of course, only they can prevent.
This is what Don Bacon calls leadership: breaking the hearts of his voting base with his shameless flirtations and seedy dalliances with those who would as soon see everyone to the right of Chairman Mao imprisoned than permitted to speak.
The lesson Bacon has yet to learn is that those on the left would vote for a greasy fast food bag before they would cast a vote for a Republican, even one as dithering and feckless as he is.
When challenged on his pandering, he reflexively vomits the pablum his “consultants” have spoon-fed him. “I’m in a purple district!” What Bacon and his advisers fail to see is that the district largely exhibits a “purple” vote count because the true majority — conservatives — have long tired of voting for empty suits, or uniforms as the case may be, and consequently stay home.
To win, Bacon generally requires his Democrat opponent to be so bat-guano insane as to be an unthinkable choice, a circumstance he has been fortunate to exploit more than once.
Politics is nothing if not a tumbling compost barrel of recycled circumstances. Mistakes once made will surely be made again, and electoral climates reliably repeat.
Ten years ago, Bacon’s district was represented by Lee Terry, Jr., a rather mild-mannered denizen of establishment Republicanism. A man who admired John Boehner as a profoundly capable leader, Terry found himself ill equipped to navigate the churning seas roiled by the brazen anti-constitutionalism of Barack Obama.
Misapprehending the depth of patriotic fervor that gave rise to the Tea Party, Terry plodded along as usual, a reliable vote for anything the establishment wanted. In truth, you’d have a greater chance of being attacked by a team of Amish tech wizards at the mall than of Lee Terry rocking the boat.
The present sentiment toward Don Bacon from his constituents mirrors the relationship between Lee Terry and those who voted for him. The same dynamic suffuses both — a near emetic response at the mention of their names.
A decade ago, a businessman from Omaha, Dan Frei, decided he would challenge Terry in the primary. Of course, the party machinery was full-bore behind Terry’s re-election, and donors were fearful of the consequences of backing an upstart candidate’s potentially losing effort, so Mr. Frei faced incredibly long odds, with a war chest akin to a household penny jar.
Deeply conservative, Mr. Frei is also an able communicator with a knack for cutting through the standard nonsensical, blow-dried, focus group–tested campaign blather with insightful and incisive truths. Dan Frei is an authentic conservative, and this authenticity buoyed his campaign by attracting tremendous grassroots support.
Mr. Frei rode that support to a near victory over a multi-term incumbent despite being ridiculously outspent.
The razor-thin margin by which Rep. Terry secured the nomination stood as an indictment of establishment politics. Terry went on to suffer defeat at the hands of a Democrat in the general election as unenthused Republicans couldn’t stomach yet one more vote cast for Terry simply because the alternative had a “D” by his name.
Fast-forward a decade and the duplicity of a Republican incumbent has once again infuriated Nebraska’s rank-and-file Republicans. The circumstances are nearly identical, the shortfalls of the incumbent even more glaring than ten years ago, and the disaffection of today’s conservative voters easily eclipses the angst of 2014.
Dan Frei has decided to mount a primary challenge to Don “Rambo” Bacon and has filed the attendant paperwork with the Nebraska secretary of state. However, there is one important distinction between Dan’s run of a decade past and his effort today: the likely support of the most popular Republican in modern history, Donald J. Trump.
Discussions are underway to arrange that support.
Don Bacon is vulnerable in many ways, all his own doing. Having betrayed Trump, who personally came to Omaha to campaign on his behalf, Rep. Bacon is poised to reap what he so recklessly sowed.
Dan Frei is a formidable candidate on his own, but with the backing of the unstoppable force that is Donald Trump — who, frankly, can’t stand Don Bacon — the foppish general may soon be looking for spare boxes in which to pack up his things.
The author writes from Omaha, Neb. and welcomes visitors to his website, www.dailyherring.com.
Image via Public Domain Pictures.
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