E Pluribus Unum

Howard Fineman writes in Newsweek about the retirement of J.C. Watts, the only African-American Republican in Congress. Watts, a former star college quarterback from Oklahoma is said to be frustrated with his party's rigid conservative mindset:

Some conservatives never forgave Watts for his support of affirmative action, which he regards as a necessary but temporary stopgap. His analogy, not surprisingly, is to football: Affirmative action is like the NFL draft, in which the weaker teams are allowed to pick first. The goal: to level the playing field. To Watts, it seemed to be a matter of common sense.

They never forgave him? I'm surprised to hear this. After all, he said it was a temporary stopgap! Talk about vindictive. This doesn't sound like Reagan's big tent to me. Granted, Fineman does not write for the National Review; therefore in the minds of the conservatives he is referring to, his motives are suspect. In fact, I would predict that Fineman's assessment of Watts' situation will be discounted by the conservative intelligensia. That said, my hunch is that there is more than a grain of truth to his account.