Republican Racism and the Obama ads - should John McCain step up and denounce this type of ad?

11 thoughts on “Republican Racism and the Obama ads – should John McCain step up and denounce this type of ad?”

1. Only hard left netroots consider the ad racist, unless putting blacks on TV is racist.

   The ad exposes Obama’s lack of intellectual integrity and shows the kind of people he seems to gravitate to.

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   1. how you’re skeptical of everything the Dems do, but when the Republicans do something, you couldn’t scrutinize it less.

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   2. Now I know it’s racists! Thanks for solidifying WLJ opinion here.

      McCain is pathetic. While’s he’s running ads filled with lies and talking about lipstick, mooseshit and kiddie porn, Obama is actually campaigning on issues that matter to this country.

      Why is McCain putting our country last? What a disgrace.

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      1. Remember Dubya’s ‘ownership’ society?  Remember in our history when American’s could own slaves and only white male landowners could vote?  Well, the GOP in Michigan apparently longs for those days of yore…

         Today a diary on Daily Kos tells of a new plan to disenfranchise voters–Americans–during their darkest days, as they are losing their homes.

         The diary links to this article from the Michigan Messenger:

         The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP’s effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.

         “We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses,” party chairman James Carabelli told Michigan Messenger in a telephone interview earlier this week.

         The article goes on to expose the links between the state’s largest foreclosure firm and the GOP:

         The Macomb GOP’s plans are another indication of how John McCain’s campaign stands to benefit from the burgeoning number of foreclosures in the state. McCain’s regional headquarters are housed in the office building of foreclosure specialists Trott & Trott. The firm’s founder, David A. Trott, has raised between $100,000 and $250,000 for the Republican nominee.

         The Macomb County party’s plans to challenge voters who have defaulted on their house payments is likely to disproportionately affect African-Americans who are overwhelmingly Democratic voters. More than 60 percent of all sub-prime loans – the most likely kind of loan to go into default – were made to African-Americans in Michigan, according to a report issued last year by the state’s Department of Labor and Economic Growth.

         Instead of building an equitable society, the McShameful campaign is talking about lipstick.  Instead of empowering Americans and helping the down-and-out, Mr. Keating 5 and his GOP cronies are blocking voters, in their time of need, from exercising their basic rights.  

         This, I suppose, is not a surprise from a campaign that thinks Americans facing tough economic times are ‘whiners’ and who keeps lobbyists on his payroll, even as they moonlight for multi-national banking firms.

         AS the Denver Post reported:

         Phil Gramm said it again.

         Anyone who thinks we may be in for some tough economic times is a whiner – and an “economically illiterate” one at that.

         Gramm is the former U.S. senator from Texas who some say went too far with deregulation, setting the stage for the Enron collapse.

         His wife, Wendy, not only sat on Enron’s board but its audit committee.

         Gramm, 66, also has been criticized for loosening banking laws during his reign as chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, yielding the current mortgage meltdown and banking crisis our nation faces today.

         He left the Senate in 2002 and is now a vice chairman at Swiss banking giant UBS Securities LLC, which is under investigation for helping super-rich Americans avoid taxes via offshore bank accounts.

         Gramm will not be in a recession no matter what the economy does.

         But, as he famously told the Washington Times in July, America is a “nation of whiners” facing a “mental recession.”

         Calling the voters whiners when you are co-chairman of John McCain’s presidential campaign isn’t very smart, no matter how literate you think you may be.

         Gramm was forced to step down for this slight at the little people. But apparently he can’t help himself, even after his remarks provided some of the key fodder for Barack Obama’s acceptance speech in Denver last week.

         He continued his whining about whiners at a Republican National Convention event in Minnesota on Tuesday.

         Luckily for McCain, the TV cameras weren’t rolling, but reporters were present, including Dow Jones’ Corey Boles.

         “If you’re sitting here today,” Gramm said at a Financial Services Roundtable, “you’re not economically illiterate and you’re not a whiner, so I’m not worried about who you’re going to vote for.”

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2. Obama went to Detroit and praised a corrupt mayor whose name happens to be Kwame Kilpatrick.  That’s what they have in common.

   No, he didn’t know that at the time…I guess he hadn’t ever listened to the Michigan media who have been digging up dirt on Kilpatrick since 2002, well before Obama went to Detroit.

   So, to recap, showing Obama with white women equals racist.  Showing Obama with black men equals racist.  Boy, I wonder what will happen when there’s an attack ad on Obama showing a white male or black female…

   This crap is just as annoying as repubs crying sexism over any attack on Palin…

   Oh, and by the way, you’re welcome for the link.

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   1. This was on TV last night during an interview with the Michigan Gov.

      What makes it racist?  What does Kwame have to do with Barack?  Does he consult with Barack on foreign policy or Homeland Security? Does he give financial advice?  What does Kwame do for Barack?

      He is Black and under arrest, that is the connection.  

      Dabee, are you foolish enough to believe that the White woman at the end of the Harold Ford ad was not done intentional to make white men nervous? And are you foolish enough to not believe the picture of Barack with a mug shot of guy that has nothing to do with this election, except his race, is not an intentional visual for those less inclined to believe that Blacks are not all criminals or that we all associate with criminals?

      The Governor called it racist.  And now we learn that also in Michigan those with foreclosed homes are being prevented or at least hassled to do what is considered the basis of the American Constitution?

      Are you naive enough to believe all this is one big coincidence?

      The repubs are terrific at understanding Americans.  

      Do you all know Max Cleland?  Former US Senator that lost his legs and half an arm in a grenade explosion in Viet Nam.  He lost his Senate seat because the repubs were terrific at showing him to be unpatriotic.  They showed pictures of him and Bin Laden and claimed he lied about how he lost his legs and arm.  The campaign they launch against him was a disgrace.

      If we do not stop these types of attacks, then we get what we deserve.  The repubs are doing a very good job at painting Barack as a sexist – Scary Black man that hates women.  How crazy is that.  No on can show me ONE sexist thing that Barack has ever said or done.  

      John McCain is the sexist, the list is long – but the repubs are masters at understanding the psyche of Americans.

      This ad, just like the Willie Horton ad, the Max Cleland ads and the lipstick escapades is proof positive.

      Come on America, let’s get smart.

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      1. that’s your decision.  Who called the indicted mayor of Detroit his friend and a great leader?  If you want to move the goalposts and say Kilpatrick has to be a member of Obama’s cabinet to connect the two you go right ahead.  It’s a ridiculous argument.  Obama’s words and Kilpatrick’s record are clear, that’s reality.

         As to Harold Ford, show me where I said it wasn’t racist.  You can’t.  In fact, I said the opposite last time you had a blogging hissy fit over racist ads.

         (As a aside, I will find it hilarious when Harold Ford decides to run for something else and someone shows a picture of Ford and his white wife and someone calls it a racist attack…)

         So W, are you foolish enough to believe that there’s no connection between Obama and Kilpatrick other than them being black?

         And I’m sorry, but the Chambliss ads against Cleland were much worse than this ad against Obama.  You can’t factually connect Cleland and OBL.  You can connect Obama and Kilpatrick…BHO did it himself when he opened his mouth at that event.

         The only point I agree with is that these type of ads are awful and do nothing to help our democracy.

         Dems need to quit complaining about repubs taking the low road and then wondering why we lose elections.  We need to focus on winning elections, not giving an campaign ethics lesson every time we get schooled by repubs IMO.

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3. My point, the Repubs know the psyche of America.  They go to the heart of what is said amongst friends in certain neighborhoods.

   They play on our most racist and fear based emotions.  That is why Willie Horton works.

   Michigan is a battleground state.

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   1. While I certainly agree with your position, think about that statement.  The airwaves dodge poor neighborhoods?  I can’t be positive, but I think that even cable only channels don’t have the ability to run ads in only certain zip codes.  

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      1. Denver is a little different, but you can definitely air in Boulder, or Adams, etc.  In a larger city, you can get very targeted. Different cities and counties have different cable outlets, etc.  And most major cities are surrounded by cities. For example, When people say Los Angeles, they could mean Beverly Hills, Compton,  Santa Monica, Malibu or Watts each of these are their own city. And each has it very different demographic.

         The interview with Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan she was very concerned about how the McCain camp was using Kwame in the negative attacks in these neighborhoods.

          

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