How can Mace distinguish herself from Donald Trump-endorsed candidate? By doing her job
Members of Congress should have one singular focus - serving the people they represent in accordance with their oath of office.
“I, (name goes here), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
For Rep, Nancy Mace, that should mean working on behalf of the roughly 800,000 people who live and work in South Carolina’s First Congressional District.
That alone should be a full-time job.
But today Mace posted a video of herself on Twitter standing across the street from Trump Tower in New York City pleading her case, explaining why she remained a Trump supporter despite the former president’s recent announcement that he supported Mace’s primary opponent, Katie Arrington.
Mace touted her Trumpian credentials. She was one of his earliest supporters. She worked on his campaign. She supported him in 2020.
Then, Mace warned, Arrington would cost Republicans the district.
“If you want to lose this seat once again in a midterm election cycle to Democrats, then my opponent is more than qualified to do just that,” Mace said.
Who was Mace’s intended audience?
Surely not Trump who would be unlikely to turn around and support Mace after he just labeled her “an absolutely terrible candidate.”
“Katie is a wonderful woman and has my complete and total endorsement,” Trump’s added in his endorsement.
Instead of posting videos desperately seeking to tie herself to Trump, Mace should focus on the job at hand.
She has constituents to serve and a record demonstrating that each day, whether in Washington, D.C. or on a trip somewhere in the Lowcountry, she actually made life better for the district would be immensely more valuable at the polls.
Yes, Trump remains popular in South Carolina, but in 2020 Mace won the seat from Democrat Joe Cunningham by a vote of 50.5% to 49.3%, hardly a mandate.
The First Congressional District is home to a whole lot of voters who simply want to know that the person they elect is earning their salary and making life somehow better for them.
Performative gestures in New York City (and let’s not forget Trump now lives in Florida) serve no one’s best interests.
As Arrington pointed out in a rebuttal Tweet, “What does NYC have to do with the Lowcountry?”
The video clip on Twitter will fade from memory when the next cute dog meets cat video goes viral or the next time a politician from a neighboring state rants about the dangers of gazpacho.
What will last is the record Mace establishes while in office.
This story was originally published February 10, 2022 at 2:15 PM with the headline "How can Mace distinguish herself from Donald Trump-endorsed candidate? By doing her job."