GOP has a model from 2nd District

Republican Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL, last week won election to represent Texas’ 2nd Congressional District, which is in Harris County and shaped like President Donald Trump’s hairdo.

A few days later, Crenshaw became the Republican Party’s brightest rising star after an appearance on “Saturday Night Live” that made a profound impression on conservative voters, GOP leaders and Fox News pundits.

“Houston has found itself a great new leader,” said Dana Perino on Monday, after the “Saturday Night Live” segment.

Actually, Houston has given the GOP a role model. And the voters of the 2nd Congressional District deserve the credit for choosing Crenshaw amid a blue wave in Harris County and despite the best efforts of the party. Trump didn’t mention Crenshaw at his rally in Houston last month. The president encouraged Texans to re-elect the incumbent, Republican Ted Poe, which wasn’t an option, given Poe’s impending retirement.

So the reaction to Cren-

shaw’s appearance on “Saturday Night Live” tells us more about the state of the GOP than the congressman-elect himself.

His visit was spurred by a comment made by comedian Pete Davidson the previous week, related to the eye patch Crenshaw wears as a result of injuries he suffered in Afghanistan in 2012, when a roadside bomb killed his Afghan interpreter and nearly killed him.

Davidson took heat after the previous week’s “SNL” when he suggested Crenshaw “looked like a hit man in a porno movie.”

Gracious acceptance

The resulting kerfuffle highlighted one of the more impressive first-time candidates for Congress. Crenshaw responded with equanimity, saying although it was probably best to avoid jokes about war wounds, no apology was necessary.

Still, “SNL” offered him one — and brought him onto the show to air it. That was the right thing to do, and the resulting segment was moving, besides being funny. Crenshaw revealed himself to have a surprisingly good sense of comic timing, as well as the kind of graciousness that has gone missing from our political debates lately.

“Americans can forgive one another,” said Crenshaw, after accepting Davidson’s apology.

He took the opportunity to honor the nation’s veterans and paid tribute to Davidson’s father, who was among the first responders who died during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

It’s easy to see why this struck a chord with conservative voters, in particular.

Republicans and Democrats have spent the last two years slathering each other in bile, with Trump one of the worst offenders. As president, he wields the power of the state as well as the bully pulpit.

For conservatives, this is painful as well as frustrating. In addition to everything else, Trump doesn’t share their views on certain issues and rarely defends their principles and values. But Democrats are quick to insist he speaks for all Republicans — and nobody else has been, lately.

Crenshaw’s appearance on “SNL” must have felt like a breath of fresh air for the Americans in search of another voice.

In addition to having conservative credentials, Crenshaw is a normal, decent person with a clear commitment to public service.

The same is true of Van Taylor, a Marine and GOP state senator who was elected last week to represent Texas’ 3rd Congressional District in Collin County.

But the Republican leaders and pundits heralding Crenshaw’s arrival on the political scene are glossing over some relevant context as they bid to cast him as representative of the party writ large. Some have invoked Crenshaw’s previously low profile as evidence of bias on the part of the media, which pays plenty of attention to Republicans like Iowa congressman Steve King, to say nothing of Trump.

Those leaders and pundits are taking the wrong lesson from Crenshaw’s election, I think. His victory wasn’t a fluke, exactly — and the 2nd Congressional District was a safely red seat in 2016.

Crenshaw probably wouldn’t have run for Congress had Poe run for re-election. He would probably be in the Navy, if not for the blast.

And Crenshaw wouldn’t have won the Republican nomination if party leaders had their druthers. Gov. Greg Abbott backed longtime activist Kathaleen Wall, who spent $6 million in the primary and failed to make the runoff. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett endorsed state Rep. Kevin Roberts. Crenshaw’s most influential supporter was Michael Berry, the radio host.

And then during the course of the runoff, some Republicans accused Crenshaw of disloyalty. He had declared his support for the president after deciding to run for Congress.

Bush supporter

But that came after Crenshaw supported Jeb Bush in 2016 in the primary and criticized Trump’s call for a Muslim ban in a Facebook post.

By his admission, Crenshaw didn’t vote that November.

None of that reflects poorly on Crenshaw. He is an impressive candidate, the kind of Republican who can win support from across the aisle, even in the Trump era.

We saw that last week. Crenshaw beat Democrat Todd Litton by 7 points, even though Litton was a qualified candidate and the district isn’t as red as it once seemed.

And it turns out Crenshaw won during the early voting period, as well as on Election Day. Voters saw his merits before “Saturday Night Live” called attention to his candidacy. Republican leaders and pundits didn’t, perhaps.

That’s telling.