Dr. Jason Johnson, Hiram College professor and Politics Editor for The Source Magazine, was interviewed by Morning Edition co-host Renee Montagne on National Public Radio. Johnson discussed the prospect for incoming African-American Republican Congressmen Tim Scott and Allen West.
[Johnson] thinks it’s actually more likely Scott would interact with the Democratic and generally liberal CBC than West. After all, the South Carolinian is more moderate than West even though Scott represents a more conservative district.
“Depending on how acrimonious this new Congress is, depending on how much Republicans want to stand steadfast against most of Obama’s politices, Tim Scott could essentially position himself as the modern day J.C. Watts. He’s young, he’s dynamic, he’s in a very safe district. And he could be seen as the person who walked to the Congressional Black Caucus and could get some kind of agreement, some sort of compromises done.”
“Allen West’s rhetoric was so volatile and so hostile throughout much of the campaign, it seems unlikely that he would join the Congressional Black Caucus regardless of what he says right now, if for no other reason than ideologically he is fervently against 99 percent of what the (caucus) stands for.”
Listen to the full story at “Black GOP Lawmakers Face Tricky Relations with Democrats.”