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

[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)

[ERCougar]

Originally Posted by 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.

A couple of thoughts...
I grew up in Utah, in predominantly white suburban neighborhood. I had very little exposure to black people, and nearly all of these encounters were favorable. It was very easy to eschew any racist attitudes that I would encounter.
I then left Utah for school, and while I encountered more black people, interactions continued to be favorable, and I remained comfortably non-racist. I think this is probably the extent of the exposure of most New Englanders.

Then I came to the Detroit area. I worked in the ER with predominantly poor black patients. These people were driving Navigators, getting hair extensions, expensive nail jobs, sleeping with everyone, and doing it all on Medicaid. And with it was the attitude that the world owed them a living and they "weren't gonna get no job at McDonald's". Our black mayor was extremely corrupt and everyone knew it. In short, all of the negative stereotypes about race were ringing true. It would literally be shocking--worth mentioning to colleagues--if we encountered a two-parent family. There were obviously exceptions, but I would find myself groaning inside when I'd pick up a chart with a "black" name. It was this guttoral subconscious reaction--not something I had any control over--and it was troubling. I literally felt myself becoming racist, and I didn't like it.

However, even after I've developed some of these racist reactions, I would be thrilled to vote for someone like Obama, because he's proof that a black guy can make it. He's proof that staying married and true to your kids can work out. He's evidence that America is willing to put forward a black candidate, even elect him president, and that takes away a whole lot of excuses. He's proving that a man can remain true to his heritage while "acting white".

Against all that, however, is the problem that I don't like his ideas. I don't think we can afford them. I think there's nothing new about them, despite the rhetoric. As much as I would love to see an intelligent, articulate president (which he obviously is), I'm worried for what he'll do to the country. And my concerns are despite his race, not because of it.

[BYU71]

Bottom line for me is I don't like Obama's views. He is a democrat. Not only is he a democrat, he is a liberal democrat. I also don't like some of the ideology of some of the people he has been close to in the past. Quite frankly, I don't trust him.

I find myself wishing he had the views of J.C. Watts, Steele or some of the other black leaders in the Republican party. I would love to vote for a black man for President of the United States. I don't think America is a racist nation, I think we have racists in the nation, but we aren't a racist nation.

Having a black President would help silence those who live off of still calling us a racist nation. However, my desire for that doesn't overcome my desire to not have this nation move toward a socialist agenda and move toward becoming European.