NOW THIS IS INTERESTING.
Mia Love becomes first black, Republican woman elected to Congress
Los Angeles (AFP) - Even
her name is media friendly. Mia Love instantly became the darling of the
Republican Party on Wednesday, after being elected as its first black
female member of Congress -- and she is a Mormon to boot.
She has also
rapidly drawn comparisons with Barack Obama, not least since she wowed
her party's 2012 national convention with a tale of
rags-to-political-riches, much like the young Senator Obama did in 2004.
"Many
of the naysayers out there said that Utah would never elect a black
Republican LDS woman to Congress," she said at her victory rally,
referring to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or
Mormons.
"Not only did we do it, we were the first to do it," said
the 38-year-old, who was previously mayor of Saratoga Springs, a city
35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City.
Born Ludmya
Bourdeau in Brooklyn to Haitian-American parents, Love catapulted
herself into Washington's political spotlight by winning the
Mormon-dominated western US state's Fourth Congressional District.
Love's
parents came from Haiti in the mid-1970s, and she recalls in interviews
how her father at times took second jobs cleaning toilets to pay for
school for their three children.
She graduated from the University
of Hartford, Connecticut with a degree in Fine Arts. A Catholic by
upbringing, she found the Mormon faith before finding her white Mormon
husband Jason Love.
Love is a minority in both
her state and church: barely one percent of Utahans are black or
African American, while only an estimated three percent of Mormons are.
Mormons make up about 60 percent of Utah's population.
- 'Poster child' for GOP diversity -
She
is fond of recalling what her father told her on her day of college
orientation: "Mia, your mother and I never took a handout. You will not
be a burden to society. You will give back," she notes on her own
website.
Love made headlines
when she took the stage at the 2012 Republican National Convention in
Tampa, Florida -- which nominated Mitt Romney, also a Mormon, as its
presidential nominee.
"My parents immigrated to the US with 10 dollars in their
pocket, believing that the America they had heard about really did
exist," she told the crowd.
"When times got tough they didn't look to Washington, they looked within."
Damon Cann, politics professor at Utah State University, said Love is bound for greater things in Washington.
"Since
the election of Barack Obama, the Republicans have been more serious
about trying to showcase the diversity within the Republican Party," he
told the Salt Lake Tribune.
"And Mia Love is potentially the poster child for diversity in the party," he added.
Despite
proclaiming her first-black-Republican-congresswoman credentials in her
victory speech Tuesday night, Love was keen Wednesday to downplay
suggestions that her race or gender won the election.
"I wasn't elected because of the color of my skin, I wasn't elected because of my gender," she told CNN in an interview.
"Understand
that Utahans have made a statement that they're not interested in
dividing Americans based on race or gender, that they want to make sure
that they are electing people who are honest and who have integrity.
"That's really what made history here. Race, gender had nothing to do with it."
Commentators agreed that Love is a real asset for the Republicans.
She
"is poised to become an important symbol for the GOP as the party seeks
to broaden its appeal among blacks and other minorities, who typically
vote overwhelmingly Democratic," noted the Christian Science Monitor.
The
Washington Post added: "A party threatened with electoral extinction
among African Americans and immigrants now has someone to brag about in
Washington.
"Love's
compelling personal story is an oasis. She's not just a black face in
what's often described as a party full of angry old white men. She's a
path forward," it said.
