David Shapiro: Gabbard plays both sides in angling for White House

At 37, Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has little record of substantive achievement during stints in the Legislature, City Council and U.S. Congress. Few peers seem to look to her for leadership.

Yet her relentless self-­promotion has gained enough attention that she thinks she can be president.

Gabbard built her prominence on a twist to the old political adage that you pick your fights carefully: She carefully picks fights with her own Democratic Party.

The latest example was her op-ed in The Hill accusing Hawaii U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono and other Democrats of “religious bigotry” for asking U.S. District Court nominee Brian Buescher about belonging to the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic group that opposes abortion and gay marriage.

While ripping politicians in general for weaponizing religion for “selfish gain,” she singled out only fellow Democrats, bringing a rebuke from Hirono that Gabbard is pandering to “right-wing ideologues.”

She’s right that nobody should be disqualified from service solely because of their religion; but many of President Donald Trump’s appointees have openly blurred the line between church and state, and it’s fair to ask how their beliefs would affect public policy.

Gabbard hasn’t been nearly as vocal against the political weaponizing of faith by the religious right, which applauded her attack on Democrats.

Junior legislators who pick fights with the opposing party are a dime a dozen and get little notice. Gabbard figured out that fighting with her own party makes her a fixture on cable news and gets her op-eds in The Hill.

She’s bashed former President Barack Obama for being too soft on “radical Islam,” quit the Democratic National Committee in a huff to support Bernie Sanders and blasted Hillary Clinton for not giving Sanders enough debates — ironic coming from somebody who won’t debate her own opponents.

Her ultimate endorsement of Clinton was lukewarm, and she avoided disparaging Trump, saying she didn’t know him.

The reason became clear when she was among the first after the election to audition at Trump Tower for a Cabinet job; only after it didn’t materialize did she start seriously criticizing Trump.

Gabbard paints herself progressive by embracing Sanders while courting the Republican right with persistent criticism of Democrats over national security and religion.

Internationally she proclaims herself a peacenik, but it’s a peace where the strongman always wins, judging from her coziness with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, Egyptian tyrant Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and India’s nationalist leader Narendra Modi.

Former Trump strategist and alt-right guru Steve Bannon has said he “loves” her, and Gabbard was touted for secretary of state by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

She eventually disavowed white nationalist support, but it hasn’t stopped Democrats from wondering why these folks like her so much.

Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.