GOP ready to exploit racist sentiment?

[Ma'ake]

I just heard a political analyst state that Republicans will be ready to capitalize on racist opposition to Obama, will be ready to steer voters to McCain based on those sentiments, fears of unrest, etc.

Nice.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. And in my wife's home state of Kentucky, more than a few folks have come right out & said they can't vote for Obama because he is black.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by Ma'ake

I just heard a political analyst state that Republicans will be ready to capitalize on racist opposition to Obama, will be ready to steer voters to McCain based on those sentiments, fears of unrest, etc.

Nice.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. And in my wife's home state of Kentucky, more than a few folks have come right out & said they can't vote for Obama because he is black.

I can't argue with any of this. I fear this is an election McCain will win but thoughtful Republicans will be left feeling more than a bit icky about how it happened.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by Ma'ake

I just heard a political analyst state that Republicans will be ready to capitalize on racist opposition to Obama, will be ready to steer voters to McCain based on those sentiments, fears of unrest, etc.

Nice.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. And in my wife's home state of Kentucky, more than a few folks have come right out & said they can't vote for Obama because he is black.

I would be disgusted by it. Obama has more than enough political ideals that are reason to defeat him.

Also, I can see the Dems using the race card to their advantage as well, stating that if anyone that doesn't vote for him is a racist.

Both sides will make this a very ugly summer.

[myboynoah]

Politics can be hard ball sometimes.

Let's at least let the Repubs act before we condemn them. So far it has been Dems that have introduced race into their primary. Also, as IPU has pointed out, Dems have not shyed away from playing their own race card in the past. I expect the same this time.

[MikeWaters]

Hell, dems are coming out in droves against him because of racism.

[YOhio]

I can't imagine how vile a party has to be to appeal to raciscm...

Maryland Democrats mocked Michael Steele, the eventually triumphant black GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, by passing out Oreo cookies at a debate last September 26. Message? Steele is black on the outside and white within.

In November 1998, Missouri's Democratic party ran radio ads on urban stations to boost black turnout. "When you don't vote, you let another church explode," the spot warned. "When you don't vote, you allow another cross to burn. When you don't vote, you let Republicans continue to cut school lunches and Head Start."

Shortly after torpedoing the campaign of Atlanta's black ex-mayor, Maynard Jackson, to become Democratic National Chairman, Clinton pal Terry McAuliffe referred to "colored people" in a speech soon after becoming DNC chief in February 2001. He said he meant "people of color."

At a February 9, 2001 speech to the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, California's Democratic Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante said "nigger" when, he apologetically explained, he wanted to say "Negro" in the title of a black labor organization.

http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock010603.asp

[ERCougar]

Originally Posted by Ma'ake

I just heard a political analyst state that Republicans will be ready to capitalize on racist opposition to Obama, will be ready to steer voters to McCain based on those sentiments, fears of unrest, etc.

Nice.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. And in my wife's home state of Kentucky, more than a few folks have come right out & said they can't vote for Obama because he is black.

That'll work for a few voters in a few states. If that's their strategy, they might as well turn it in now. It will backfire, big-time, perhaps even in some of those "racist" states. I don't know which annoys me more--racists, or those who assume everyone from the South is racist. Never mind--racists bother me more, but still...

I suspect his race will be much more of a benefit than a liability.

[BYU71]

Originally Posted by Ma'ake

I just heard a political analyst state that Republicans will be ready to capitalize on racist opposition to Obama, will be ready to steer voters to McCain based on those sentiments, fears of unrest, etc.

Nice.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. And in my wife's home state of Kentucky, more than a few folks have come right out & said they can't vote for Obama because he is black.

I will bet that political analyst is someone in the Crissy Matthews mold. Crissy went off last night on the voters in Ky and West Vg. Virtually calling at one point 33% of those who voted for Hillary as doing so because they were racist. Later, the polling showed the amount of those proclaiming they will defect from Hillary to McCain to be the same as dems who defected to Bush.

It has long been a ploy of the dems and their political media analysts to use the "they are racists, homophobes, bigots, et al." They also use the scaremonger card as the gleefully scare the hell out of old people and and foster hate for the rich.

Why don't they get called on it?

[Ma'ake]

Unraveling racism (literally & figuratively) is elusive. What is real, what is not?

For example, I have zero doubt that the good members of this board have not a shred of racism in their thoughts & views. Honestly. This is a credit to you guys.

At the same time, I know that many others have an engrained type of racism, either overtly or covertly, conciously or subconciously. Their "public" stance is vigorously non-racist - as it is very unfashionable - but underneath the facade are some hardened views. I know it because I've felt it, caught the stares & expressions of digust from some of the white folks in my wife's home town in Kentucky when they figure out who I'm married to. When I first experienced it, I laughed, thought it was absurdly silly.

And, honestly, there are a lot of black folks who "play the part" in adhering to all the negative stereotypes. There are areas of our country that are really, fundamentally dysfunctional. You can see the legacy of slavery & racism in the people.

I should point out that many white folks in these areas I believe are honestly trying to shed their views. Positive examples of upstanding, good black people help the cause, definitely. I want to believe racism is diminishing. Time heals, more slowly than we want.

My experience has been that racism (both ways) is much stronger east of about Denver, folks in the west just don't care about race as much, the issue is not a "part of our DNA". (When 70,000 while people show up to see Obama in Oregon, it's not due to guilt... they genuinely see the guy as a hope for a better future. 70,000 white people back east showing up for Obama would cause a stir, IMO.)

One thing I know very strongly... the political football of race (both ways) is something the good folks on this board can't really know or feel, very strongly. We just can't really relate. We're up in the grandstands, rooting for one team or the other, we see the political connection & interests in postures around the issue, but we have no real idea what it's like in the trenches. When black people claim racism, I honestly believe they see it, feel it, even sometimes where it doesn't exist. (That's a really shitty existence, when you think about it.)

I'm going to (try to) ignore the racism issue in politics. It's noise we just can't relate to.

[Ma'ake]

Originally Posted by Ma'ake

I'm going to (try to) ignore the racism issue in politics. It's noise we just can't relate to.

Who am I kidding? I'm going to comment on GOP exploitation of the issue. Just as Nixon's "southern strategy" was disgusting, I'm going to point out other disgusting examples when I see them. (I'm in somewhat of a unique position because I'm of the dominant group but can definitely relate to the minority group. Hell, I'm under the same roof!)

And you know what - I'm going to be more sympathetic to the "black" position because I've seen what it's like for folks on the short end of the stick.

Anyone who thinks the GOP is above something like a 2008 version of the southern strategy is naive. Karl Rove hasn't retired, and the hunger for political power will bring out genius with mal intent.

Politics is hardball, but the quest for political power & exploitation of racism is divisive (both ways, admittedly). My sense is Dem positioning on race is far more open & clumsy than GOP exploitation. Politics is a lot like business, and the GOP is simply more adept at sophisticated marketing, IMO. The English majors just don't match up well with the Business majors when it comes to marketing. (Please note - I'm not saying that Republicans are racist, only that in the back room, those on the controls are just better at their craft)