In at least one small way, this has been a good month for Native Americans, at least as political candidates. In Idaho, Paulette Jordan of the Coeur d’Alene is the Democratic candidate for governor, and she whipped the state’s Democratic establishment on the way. On Tuesday night, in New Mexico, Debra Haaland of the Pueblo Laguna won the Democratic primary in the state’s First Congressional District and now will attempt to succeed in Congress fellow Democrat Michelle Lujan-Graham, who is the Democratic nominee for governor.

If Haaland wins, she will be the first Native American congresswoman in the nation’s history. Her campaign was significant because, among her other positions, Haaland is one of the few candidates running on a platform that would eliminate the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Debra Haaland via the Haaland campaign

Both Jordan and Haaland are what could be called career politicians; Jordan is in her third term in the Idaho House and Haaland once was chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party. This, to me, anyway, makes them even more attractive candidates. It is no time for amateurs in our politics right now and, god knows, Native Americans have found themselves on the business end of the worst of those politics ever since the rest of us got off the boat. That they are flexing their muscles within the party structure, and at the ballot boxes, is long overdue.

And why? Partly because of this guy in South Dakota. From the Argus-Leader:

A South Dakota lawmaker on Monday said businesses should be able to turn away customers based on race. In a Facebook comment, state Rep. Michael Clark, a Hartford Republican, said business owners should have the final say in who they serve. Clark later pulled the Facebook comment. And an hour after the Argus Leader published a story about the comment, he issued an email apology to a reporter. The comment elicited outrage from constituents and calls to withdraw the lawmaker from Democrats running to replace him. Clark's initial comment came in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's narrow decision Monday siding with a Colorado baker that refused to make a cake for a same-sex couple's wedding. "He should have the opportunity to run his business the way he wants," Clark wrote. "If he wants to turn away people of color, then that('s) his choice."

This is why we need diversity in our politics. So clowns like this are forced to say this stuff to their faces.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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