Why the George Santos fiasco points to Democrats’ political malpractice
The Republican is in the hot seat over claims that he may have lied about his past, but it is the Democrats 'oppo' team who may have egg on its face.
There is no denying that Rep.-elect George Santos of New York’s 3rd Congressional District is in the hot seat after an explosive New York Times report called into question many key elements of the Long Island Republican’s credentials, including, notably, some of the firms where he claimed to have worked as well as an educational degree he purportedly attained.
Moreover, as the Times article suggests, Santos’ involvement in a check-fraud case in Brazil (to which he confessed and was charged), his involvement in a nonprofit that apparently does not exist, as well as a spate of evictions for failing to make rent payments on time paint a portrait of a small-time con artist, always trying to stay one step ahead of the law. It’s hardly the profile that voters from either party look for when electing lawmakers. Faced with this avalanche of accusations, lawyers representing Santos have tried to push back by characterizing the Times’ story as nothing more than a smear job, although they have yet to provide any hard evidence that rebuts the reporting.
If a guy like Santos can win elections unchecked, it’s reasonable to ask how many other Republican candidates with similar fictional origin stories have been able to coast into positions of power over the years.
Although this episode is no doubt an embarrassment for the New York Republicans who nominated Santos and will now have to deal with the political and potential legal fallout stemming from these allegations — with a razor-thin margin in the House, every seat will be absolutely critical to incoming GOP leadership — it’s really the Democrats who have egg on their face in the story.
I worked in the rough and tumble of New York politics for nearly a decade, initially on Mike Bloomberg’s first campaign for mayor in 2001 and then later as an adviser and a deputy commissioner during his first two terms in office. It’s absolutely astonishing that Democrats — not only the staffers working for Robert Zimmerman, the Democratic-endorsed candidate who lost the district to Santos by over 8 points, but the operatives from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee who are charged with coordinating and helping out candidates in tight races nationwide — could so completely miss all of these glaring holes in Santos’ backstory.
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