Virginia GOP courts the Macaccan vote
This Saturday in Northern Virginia, Republicans will hold a 1,000-plus person rally that will hopefully draw more ethnic minorities to the party and to John McCain. Democrats have usually scoffed whenever Republicans try to cast themselves as diverse, partly fueled by the images of this year’s vanilla-pure RNC. Still, McCain campaigners have translated his policies into Spanish and Korean and are managing bi-lingual phone banks in an attempt to widen their base. Fairfax County, the largest in Northern Virginia, has a non-white population of approximately one-third of its total residents. Though NoVa has trended Democratic in statewide elections, Democrats are hoping Obama can carry the state in the presenditial election while Republicans are praying to maintain their hold. The Republicans have enlisted the help of Representative Tom Davis and former Senator George Allen to speak at the rally. Allen, of course, narrowly lost his Senate seat in 2006 largely because he was caught on videotape calling an Indian-American “Macaca.” While he obviously will take care not to insult his audience extemporaneously, a draft of his speech released to the press shows that great pains have been taken to ensure restraint:
3 Comments
What’s Up Dude. You knew I was going to have something to say about this one, but I’ll save it for my blog article this weekend. Let me comment on this one.
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It’s amazing that a party who continuously makes the claims of being the party of Lincoln and Frederick Douglas as a “We Got Blacks Too” pitch still doesn’t get it.
As a “mysterious” Black person let me offer a bit of advice to the GOP on getting more people of color than isn’t White to take you seriously. Talk To Us. You have a handful of Black Republicans that you continuously push to the back who still have some credibility in the Black community. You have a few Latino Republicans that still have some credibility in the Latino Community, etc. Why don’t you listen to what they are telling you. Duh.
You have a Black Republican that if he would run for President would get it. You know him as Colin Powell, but we know him as an Obama Supporter. When you put someone like Alan Keys in front to talk it’s not going to play too well. When you put an Alberto Gonzollas in front to talk it’s not going to play too well. Call J.C. Watts. I’m a Democrat and don’t trust Republicans in general, but I like this guy and tend to agree with some of the things he says.
The 36 black delegates in 2008 RNC Convention represent a 78% decline from the 167 black delegates at the 2004 GOP convention.
So where did all the Negros go? Ask the Republican congressman from KY who called Barack Obama a BOY. Ask Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) who called Michelle & Barack “Uppity”, a phrase that normally the N-Word behind it.
Good Luck on that Minority Rally, I’ll be out campaigning for Obama/Biden.
It is a shame that you are not able to rationally discuss these topics and must (as most if not all liberals are wont to) resort to slander, untruths and hyperbole.
As to guns, the laws that you mention to do not make the citizenry less safe but more safe. Criminals will not obey any laws only the average citizen who will sometimes need weapons to defend themselves. I have on two occasions needed a gun to prevent a home invasion and once the theft of my automoble. The police would not have been able to arrive in time as is always the case.
As to republican party (the party of Lincoln) being comprised of “good ole white boys” as you alluded to, it is of course a sophomoric smear; the type that only the left is truelly capable of.
Hi Bill. In reverse order:
–your point about the Republican party being the party of Lincoln: I assume you are only mentioning Abraham Lincoln so that you can lump the accomplishment of ending slavery under the Republican tent. While it certainly was a great deed, coalitions and platforms change over time, and the modern-day Democrats probably have about as much in common with the old Republicans as they did with the old Democrats.
–your point about the Republican party not being exclusively white: only 36 of the 2,380 delegates at the RNC were black. George Bush won only 8 percent of the black vote in 2000. Is that not a clear indicator of something? But I do agree with you on one point–the Republicans are generally not, with few exceptions, “good.”
–your point about gun safety: for my full take on gun laws, you’ll have to look elsewhere on this site, but suffice it to say that I feel the line between “law-abiders” and “criminals” is an awfully thin one. Gun accidents are more common than guns stopping intruders. I have no problem with people keeping registered guns at home (with the proper safeguards). But in a crowded city with a large poor population, increased gun use against any one of perceived slights is not conducive to preserving the general welfare.
–your point about “all liberals” resorting to “sophomoric slander”: I’ll let the cognitive dissonance sink in on that one.