The Daily Beast got hold of a self-written "strategy memo" Rep. Nancy Mace produced for her new congressional staff as a just-elected member of Congress. In it, she described herself as "THE freshman thought leader on federal issues," which might be true if it meant she has the most freshmen-level thoughts of anyone. She also described herself as "thoughtful" and "hard working," which … sure. We’re just going to let those slide by.
But all of that's just sprinkles on the cupcake because the real center of The Daily Beast's new story is some of Mace's ex-staffers anonymously dishing on the always-on-television congresscritter and her office priorities. Surprise! It turns out Mace's top agenda item is being on television, and if you work for Nancy Mace, you will be expected to hunt down television crews so that Mace can get her TV time in.
So if you've been thinking that not a day goes by when you don't see Mace mouthing some vapid and not-particularly-thought-out things on multiple cable news channels, it turns out you're not imagining it. In Mace's ideal world, she'd be hosting the Puppy Bowl, demonstrating the power of Flex Tape, confusingly attempting to slut-shame herself (?) on C-SPAN, and hosting a new version of “Wheel of Fortune” in which constituents spin the wheel and try to guess what her next policy position will be.
The people who've worked for her appear to have left with no illusions about those policy positions. On her vote to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, a "former senior aide" tells the Beast: "he saw the votes on the board and said, ‘Fuck it, I’m just gonna vote for it just so I can go on TV and talk about it.’"
And no, her staff doesn't think her frequent and often-baffling policy shifts are meant to signal anything at all, aside from an utterly insatiable need for attention.
See, this is where we have to point out that this nation would be a hell of a lot better off if the staffers stuck shepherding clearly incompetent or self-promoting elected officials would tell constituents these things as soon and as loudly as possible, rather than only when a journalist comes knocking. There should be mandatory exit interviews for congressional staffers. Whenever anyone leaves, they should be expected to accurately describe all the ways in which their elected boss most sucked. Following this, government workers would compile a report of those complaints, cross-referenced against all the earlier staffer reports, and produce an annual report of which public officials are the worst to work for and why.
Oh, sure, you say. And the only result would be that none of those staffers would ever work in politics again, while those most self-promotional and least policy-interested members of Congress would simply hire new people and fling themselves in front of television cameras as if none of it had happened. Well, to that, I say: Yeah, you're right. That's exactly what would happen.
At the very least, though, we should take Mace's ex-staffers at their word and stop trying to interpret her seemingly random policy shifts as anything but her trying to drum up excuses for more television time. Looking at you, Capitol Hill journalists. Looking at you, editorial writers. Time to power down the Mace interpret-o-trons and let her policy incoherence speak for itself.
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But all of that's just sprinkles on the cupcake because the real center of The Daily Beast's new story is some of Mace's ex-staffers anonymously dishing on the always-on-television congresscritter and her office priorities. Surprise! It turns out Mace's top agenda item is being on television, and if you work for Nancy Mace, you will be expected to hunt down television crews so that Mace can get her TV time in.
So if you've been thinking that not a day goes by when you don't see Mace mouthing some vapid and not-particularly-thought-out things on multiple cable news channels, it turns out you're not imagining it. In Mace's ideal world, she'd be hosting the Puppy Bowl, demonstrating the power of Flex Tape, confusingly attempting to slut-shame herself (?) on C-SPAN, and hosting a new version of “Wheel of Fortune” in which constituents spin the wheel and try to guess what her next policy position will be.
The people who've worked for her appear to have left with no illusions about those policy positions. On her vote to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, a "former senior aide" tells the Beast: "
And no, her staff doesn't think her frequent and often-baffling policy shifts are meant to signal anything at all, aside from an utterly insatiable need for attention.
See, this is where we have to point out that this nation would be a hell of a lot better off if the staffers stuck shepherding clearly incompetent or self-promoting elected officials would tell constituents these things as soon and as loudly as possible, rather than only when a journalist comes knocking. There should be mandatory exit interviews for congressional staffers. Whenever anyone leaves, they should be expected to accurately describe all the ways in which their elected boss most sucked. Following this, government workers would compile a report of those complaints, cross-referenced against all the earlier staffer reports, and produce an annual report of which public officials are the worst to work for and why.
Oh, sure, you say. And the only result would be that none of those staffers would ever work in politics again, while those most self-promotional and least policy-interested members of Congress would simply hire new people and fling themselves in front of television cameras as if none of it had happened. Well, to that, I say: Yeah, you're right. That's exactly what would happen.
At the very least, though, we should take Mace's ex-staffers at their word and stop trying to interpret her seemingly random policy shifts as anything but her trying to drum up excuses for more television time. Looking at you, Capitol Hill journalists. Looking at you, editorial writers. Time to power down the Mace interpret-o-trons and let her policy incoherence speak for itself.
RELATED STORIES:
Awkward: Nancy Mace's 'Daily Show' appearance goes about as well as you might imagine
Rep. Nancy Mace's attention-seeking escalates with 'Scarlet Letter' stunt
After making an all-new set of enemies, Rep. Nancy Mace may face a familiar GOP primary foe
Campaign Action