Thursday, August 31, 2006
Racism, Discrimination, Stereotypes and Ignorance - All Part Of The GOP Platform
Could this really be an election-year campaign strategy? Could Republicans really be focusing their energy and attention on racist and discriminatory comments as a means to potentially draw out a certain demographic of voters?
Is there any other possible explanation for the recent flurry of comments made by Republicans running for office in November?
The following are just examples, and are by no means a complete and exhaustive list:
August 25th - Katherine Harris states that the separation of church and state is a lie, and "...if you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin...."
August 18th - Tramm Hudson, running to take Katherine Harris' seat in the House of Representatives, notes that "I grew up in Alabama. I understand, uh, I know from experience, that blacks are not the greatest swimmers or may not even know how to swim." Hudson is facing a five-way GOP primary race in Sarasota, Florida.
August 11th - Do we really need to go over George Allen's "macaca" comments, which he made immediately (we're talking the next SENTENCE immediately) after he stated, "My friends, we're going to run this campaign on positive, constructive ideas... and it's important that we motivate and inspire people FOR something." Literally, not even a SECOND passes between the end of that statement, and his "Welcome to America, Macaca" comments.
One of the worst offenders, however, seems to be Conrad Burns, A Republican running to keep his Senate seat in Montana. At a picnic for supporters last week, Burns even admitted it himself - he stated, "I can self-destruct in one sentence.... Sometimes in one word."
Obviously, Burns likes to prove that statement as being accurate. Take his comments to firefighters in July, where he stated that they had done a "piss-poor job," and even singled one of them out, stating, "See that guy over there? He hasn't done a g-- damned thing." Racist and discriminatory? No. Ignorant? Absolutely. There were firefighters who had traveled 2,000 miles to assist the state in fighting their fires.
So, he's proved "ignorant." Now let's move on to his racist and discriminatory comments. For that, look no further than the assorted video of Conrad Burns speaking about his "nice, little Guatemalan man" - comments which have received criticism from both Democrats and Republicans alike.
Not strong enough for you? Well, look no further than yesterday, when Burns made comments, with Laura Bush standing by his side, about terrorists who "drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night." Laura Bush, following comments from Sen. Burns, thanked him, saying: "Ending our dependence on foreign oil, reforming our immigration system, rebuilding the Gulf Coast and keeping our country safe from terrorism are not easy tasks, but they're absolutely vital goals," said Bush.
"And to accomplish them, we must have serious national conversations conducted with civility and respect," Bush said. "And Conrad Burns is a positive and powerful part of that dialogue."
Accusing taxi drivers of being terrorists is civil and respectful, Laura? Really?
Legislating sin. Blacks can't swim. Macaca. Taxi drivers are terrorists.
Are these really isolated incidents, or do they spell out something larger about Republicans and the GOP in general, and the methods by which they are running their campaigns? Most of these are "low profile" events that have been caught on videotape, displaying how these candidates "relate" to the "common man."
Most recently, however, the event was a fundraiser with the First Lady standing next to the individual making the comments, and agreeing with them.
At least we can be thankful that by and large, the American people are seeing these incidents, and are showing their disapproval.
In Virginia, where Allen once enjoyed a double-digit lead over Webb, Jim Webb now leads Allen - 47.9 to 46.6 - still within the margin of error, but it clearly shows the effect of "Macaca" on Allen.
While Katherine Harris leads in her Republican primary race, but in a match-up between Katherine Harris and Democrat Bill Nelson, there's no contest - Nelson has a commanding 63-20 lead over Harris.
In the Montana race, Conrad Burns is running even with Jon Tester - Burns had been trailing in the past months. Currently, they're tied at 47. We here at PTF still believe that this will be a Democratic pick-up in Montana.... Why? Because Conrad Burns will continue to shoot himself in the foot, and because he's ONLY at 47 at this point - Republicans have been pushing HARD to keep this seat. Even at this early point, a dazzling Who's Who of the GOP has marched to Montana and to the aid of Conrad Burns - Laura Bush, Elizabeth Dole, Dick Cheney, Jack Kemp, Bill Frist.... For all of this "star power," Burns should have a commanding lead over Tester - instead, all he can muster is a tie. Look at the money the campaigns have spent thus far. Burns has spent a staggering $4.6 million to Tester's $1.2 million - and they remain tied.
Trust me.... Jon Tester is going to take this seat away from Conrad Burns in November, which will allow the former Senator from Montana a lot more time to spend with his nice little, Guatemalan friend.
Tags: Conrad Burns, Katherine Harris, George Allen, Tramm Hudson, Republicans, GOP, racism, politics, elections, campaign
Posted by FleshPresser at 2:28 PM /
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Could this really be an election-year campaign strategy? Could Republicans really be focusing their energy and attention on racist and discriminatory comments as a means to potentially draw out a certain demographic of voters?
August 11th - Do we really need to go over George Allen's "macaca" comments, which he made immediately (we're talking the next SENTENCE immediately) after he stated, "My friends, we're going to run this campaign on positive, constructive ideas... and it's important that we motivate and inspire people FOR something." Literally, not even a SECOND passes between the end of that statement, and his "Welcome to America, Macaca" comments.
While Katherine Harris leads in her Republican primary race, but in a match-up between Katherine Harris and Democrat Bill Nelson, there's no contest - Nelson has a commanding 63-20 lead over Harris.
