But first, Margaret B. Crosby, a 36-year-old scholar, is preparing for a GOP primary fight versus Dave Rogers.

08:07 AM EST on Thursday, December 18, 2003

BY EDWARD FITZPATRICK
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Margaret B. Crosby is aiming to become the first black Republican woman elected to Congress.

Crosby, a scholar who lives in Providence, has announced plans to take on Dave Rogers in a GOP primary, with the winner challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy.

While African-Americans are now identified more closely with the Democratic Party than the GOP, that was not the case earlier in American history, said Crosby, who has a doctorate in history from Brown University.

Crosby said congressional Republicans approved the 13th, 14th, 15th and 19th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, thereby abolishing slavery, providing for equal protection and giving women the right to vote. "African-Americans and women don't realize how much their rights are bound up with the fierce fights Republicans waged in Congress for these basic rights," she said.

Crosby also noted that the first state-level Republican parties were formed on anti-slavery platforms in 1854. So this year marks the 150th anniversary of those events, she said, calling her candidacy "a wonderful way to revive that legacy."

Crosby is a research fellow at King's College-London, working on a project called "Constituting the Nation" with colleagues from Germany, Britain and France.

She said she wants to bring her educational background to bear in Congress. "Government is a complicated science, and those who serve in the federal legislature should know something of that science so they can serve effectively," she said, paraphrasing the framers of the Constitution.

Journal photo Margaret B. Crosby

Crosby, 36, often quotes from the Federalist Papers, and she looks to the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall as a role model.

In discussing her candidacy, she quoted Founding Father Pelatiah Webster: "The grand secret of forming a good government is to put good men into the administration." She added that, "Naturally, I would amend that to say 'good people' rather than 'good men.' "

Republicans have emphasized "returning confidence and honor to the presidency," Crosby said. "And we have to be as rigorous in restoring competence and honor to Congress," she said. "So that's why I'm running."

A 2001 congressional report found that 22 black women had served in Congress, and all were Democrats. But each year several black Republican women run for Congress, said Lisa Ziriax, spokeswoman for the National Federation of Republican Women. "It's definitely a matter of time," Ziriax said. "We just need the right candidate in the right race. Running against an incumbent can be tough."

Kennedy, now serving his fifth two-year term, received 60 percent of the vote when Rogers challenged him in the last election.

Crosby accused Kennedy of "behaving like a typical safe incumbent." She said, "The Founding Fathers would have rejected the idea of a professional politician, and that is what you see with Patrick Kennedy."

Crosby said she has read the speeches of Robert F. Kennedy. "He was erudite, and we are not getting that from Patrick," she said. "Patrick has shown he is not Camelot, not RFK, not JFK."

Crosby said it was "outrageous" for Kennedy to say he has "never worked a [bleeping] day" in his life during a June fundraiser. Kennedy was asserting that rich people such as himself are the chief beneficiaries of President Bush's tax cuts. Crosby said, "He may not give a rip about the tax cut, but Joe Blow may want to use that money to buy shoes for his children."

Kennedy press secretary Ernesto C. Anguilla said, "The congressman is very proud of his accomplishments. There is clearly going to be a [Republican] primary, and after the primary he'll continue doing what he's been doing, which is bringing his message to the people of Rhode Island."

But before facing Kennedy, Crosby must take on Rogers. Crosby criticized the former Navy SEAL for promoting his candidacy by vowing to swim the length of the 1st Congressional District, from Pawtucket to Newport.

"I will not swim the Bay. I think it degrades the whole process," Crosby said. "These types of political antics are a sign of the corruption of American political ideals." She said she uses the word "corruption" in its broader sense and not to mean bribery.

Crosby noted Rogers has not been a SEAL since 1994, saying, "When you hand in your résumé, people ask, 'What have you been doing during the last five years?' "

Rogers said the swim "helps us demonstrate to people how hard I am willing to work for the people of the 1st District," and he said feedback has been "utterly fantastic." Rogers said Crosby is entitled to her opinion. "But she ought to be more careful with words like 'corruption,' which has a very specific meaning in Rhode Island," he said.

Crosby said she was an "Army brat," born in 1967 in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., to Callie and Joe Crosby. She went on to live in Virginia, Germany and Japan, and went to high school in San Francisco.

Crosby said she met a record executive in New York and became pregnant with her daughter, Erin, who is now 11. She said that when she was hospitalized during the first trimester with severe morning sickness, Erin's father called to say she was on her own. "It was an unthinkably bad time," she said.

But when she was six months pregnant, Crosby went to back to college. And it became a turning point. She was sure she'd failed a mid-term in a world history class, but she ended up with one of the highest grades. Three days before giving birth, she took the final exam and got an "A."

"My father told me: The best revenge is success," Crosby said. "Just go on."

Crosby went on to earn a master's degree and a doctorate in history from Brown University. She said it was challenging getting through grad school as a single mom, but with help from some "good people," she did it. She said she and Erin's father ended up having custody battles, and Erin lives in California with her father.

Now, Crosby is now launching her first campaign for elected office. She said she has just begun fundraising and hopes to raise $1.5 million. "I'm not in this to take a stab," Crosby said. "I'm in this to win."

MARGARET B. CROSBY PARTY: Republican

OFFICE SOUGHT: U.S. House of Representatives, 1st District

CURRENT POSITION: None

PREVIOUS OFFICE: None

AGE: 36

RESIDENCE: Providence

PROFESSION: Scholar

EDUCATION: Received bachelor's degree in history from Auburn University at Montgomery in 1994, master's degree in history from Brown University in 1995, and Ph.D. in history from Brown University in 2001.

FAMILY: Single. One child, Erin, 11.