( CNN ) -- This is no way to run a party . The details of the scandal sweeping the New York Republican Party are tawdry , sad and infuriating -- and a wake-up call to a national party that is urgently seeking to make inroads among black , Latino , and young voters . Barely two weeks after RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and New York state Republican Chairman Ed Cox held a press conference at a black church in Brooklyn to launch the party 's ambitious , $ 10 million diversity campaign , FBI agents arrested Malcolm Smith , a longtime black state legislator . According to federal prosecutors , Smith spent months organizing cash bribes to two top city Republican officials in exchange for a slot on the ballot in this fall 's Republican primary for mayor . Unfortunately for Smith , a real estate tycoon he enlisted to make cash payments was , in fact , an undercover FBI agent , according to federal prosecutors . The criminal complaint against Smith and five others -- including a Republican City Council member and the chairman and vice chairman of two Republican county organizations -- details mind-boggling details of recorded conversations and alleged handovers of envelopes stuffed with money . All the scheming , say prosecutors , was done in the hope that Smith might secure the Republican nomination and somehow win the race for mayor in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans 6-to-1 . Smith will get his day in court , along with the five other men and women named -- but the damage to the party is incalculable . In a 100-page plan of action , Priebus and the RNC laid out a pilot project to build support among black urban voters , and specifically declared that `` big-city mayoral races provide our best 2013 opportunities for these projects . '' New York can probably be crossed off that list , and the fallout will be felt in other cities as the case unfolds . And that 's a shame . Republican leaders are right to make their case to young , urban , black and Latino voters , and should be grooming candidates from all communities . America 's two-party system ca n't function properly if the parties are racially divided . The flirtation with the Republican Party by Smith , a lifelong Democrat -- if done honestly -- might have started a new conversation within black circles about the cost and wisdom of always supporting Democratic candidates and policies . It has long been noticed that black communities contain their share of church-going social conservatives ; the GOP theory is that intelligent outreach to those voters could tilt close contests to Republicans . That 's not likely to happen now . Smith 's troubles -- and the arrest of Republican leaders accused of taking money to advance Smith 's cross-party ambitions -- will supply ammunition to conservative party leaders who are skeptical about the new diversity strategy . The scandal also weakens the argument , popular among national Republicans , that big-city Democratic political machines are corrupt and wasteful . In New York , at least , the shoe is on the other foot , with GOP party leaders in the nation 's biggest city hauled from their homes in handcuffs and facing up to 40 years in prison or more . It now falls to New York 's Republican chairman , Ed Cox , to straighten out this mess . Cox knows his way around a scandal : As the son-in-law of the late President Richard Nixon , he had a ringside seat as the Watergate debacle unfolded . Cox must do whatever it takes to chase any crooked characters out of his party -- and try , against the odds , to continue Priebus ' outreach strategy . Doing so will be a challenge , because the next black or Latino Republican candidate will face the question : Are you another Malcolm Smith ? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Errol Louis .
State lawmaker accused of bribing GOP officials to put him on ballot for New York mayor . Errol Louis : For a party trying to woo blacks and Latinos , the damage is incalculable . Louis : It could have started discussions about blacks always supporting Democrats . But it also might have led some Republicans in states like Georgia or Texas to think twice before voting for Obama.