March 06, 2015 01:58 PM UTC

Congressional Republicans are Stunningly Tone-Deaf

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Guess who Republicans ended up sending to Selma, Alabama after all? That’s right — Rep. Kevin McCarthy! We are totally psychic (see end of post).

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We mentioned this story earlier today in “Get More Smarter,” but the issue continues to draw attention (the bad kind) for Republicans: No GOP Congressional leader is attending events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement.

As our friends write at “The Fix” explain, this is a really, really, really dumb move by the GOP:

The eyes of the political world will be on Selma, Ala., tomorrow as President Obama will be in town to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the civil rights marches that began there — and drew the attention of the country to its racial divide. Know who won’t be in attendance? Anyone from the House Republican leadership…

…It’s hard to overstate what a dumb decision this is for a party desperate to show that it is comprised of and open to far more people than just old white men. [Pols emphasis] “We do dumb real well,” said former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. “It is astounding to me that whether it is supporting the continuation of the Voting Rights Act or commemorating a pivotal part of American Civil Rights history [Selma], Republican leadership prefers to sit on the sidelines.”

“Hey Republican leadership, get your ass down there,” former Florida Republican congressman Joe Scarborough said on “Morning Joe” Friday morning. “Get down there. This is not hard. Don’t golf. Don’t raise money.”

We agree wholeheartedly with Chris Cilizza on this one: “It’s hard to overstate what a dumb decision this is…” While many rank-and-file Republicans will be in Selma this weekend, there will be nobody — NOBODY — from Republican leadership in Alabame. They can’t even roll out Rep. Kevin McCarthy?