Former Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle has always loved the spotlight at the Republican National Convention, but it hasn’t always loved her back.
She had a prime-time speech in 2008 to introduce Sarah Palin as GOP presidential nominee John McCain’s running mate, a choice Lingle lauded as “bold, historic and courageous.”
She assured viewers that when they got to know Palin, “You are going be very impressed, and the more you get to know her, the more impressed you’re going to be.”
We know how that worked out for McCain and the Republicans.
At last week’s GOP convention, Lingle got a speaking slot to tout Donald Trump to her wary fellow Jewish voters.
She promised that Republicans have the backs of Jews and Israel and said Jews must vote for Trump “to make America great again.”
Unfortunately, Trumpites watching the online feed proved the opposite as they filled the live chat with anti-Semitic comments such as “BAN JEWS” and “Press H for Hitler.” It got so bad that Republicans had to shut down the chat.
Lingle shouldn’t have been surprised; Trump’s contribution to American politics has been to make it OK to be openly racist, sexist, religiously bigoted and xenophobic, all on display at the circuslike convention.
An Iowa congressman defended white supremacy, questioning what “subgroups” other than white Christians have contributed to civilization.
A New Hampshire legislator and prominent Trump supporter said likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton should be “shot for treason.”
T-shirts sold outside the convention hall said “Trump that b——!” — and that was the nicest thing they said.
The wife of a GOP congressman was booed when she said she was born in Mexico.
Lingle knew firsthand the kind of man she was dealing with in Trump, who first rose to political prominence by spreading racist insinuations that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya and not Hawaii.
As Hawaii’s governor, Lingle had vouched for the validity of Obama’s Hawaii birth certificate, but Trump disrespected her by refusing to accept her word.
So why was Lingle in Cleveland kissing up to Trump when Republicans she admires most like former President George W. Bush, McCain and 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney stayed far away?
By most speculation, her appearance was an audition for a job in a Trump administration.
Lingle has been in a political slide since she left office in 2010 after serving two terms as Hawaii’s first Republican governor in 40 years.
She badly lost a U.S. Senate race to Mazie Hirono in 2012 and recently washed out as Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s chief operating officer after barely a year.
Unemployment is tough, but it’s sad to see our former governor so hard up for attention and a job that she joins a campaign against common decency.
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.
