Here's a CSM columnist relaying similar opinion (and you can watch the video clip there):
Is it possible that the booing incident will actually be good for the Romney campaign?So Pelosi's more in line with the conservative commentary?
Some conservative analysts think it will. Their argument is that Romney will win few African American votes anyway, and that his willingness to say things he knew would be unpopular to the NAACP audience will win him support from other demographic groups.
“This gives him all sorts of instant credibility on the Right and in the middle,” writes conservative talk show host/blogger Ed Morrissey on the Hot Air website. “The middle will be pleased to see that Romney went to the convention at all, in the face of overt hostility, plus the NAACP audience comes across as a bit immature. The Right has doubted Romney’s commitment to repealing ObamaCare at times, but this shows that Romney is willing to repeat that pledge anywhere, even when it’s guaranteed to turn the audience against him.”...
Others on the right noted that Romney got some applause from the NAACP members, as well. They approved of his mention of GOP school choice initiatives and his defense of what he called “traditional marriage.”...
Left-leaning commentators were much less impressed. The liberal talk show host Ed Schultz of MSNBC tweeted that the booing was “an ugly moment for the candidate,” and that Romney tried to “sneak” the repeal Obamacare line past the audience.
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128 comments:
"Romney tried to “sneak” the repeal Obamacare line past the audience."
Really? Having watched the clip the clip, I hardly think so. There is a reason Ed Schultz is named "Special Ed". What a maroon.
Perhaps its just alien to the democrats and their hand maidens in the media that Romney actually believes it what he's saying and is unafraid. Kudos to Mittens for marching into the lion's den. I don't expect Choom to counter by going to a VFW meeting next week.
This says more about Pelosi and the commenters than about Romney.
The point for Romney is that McCain got 4% of "the Black vote," so for him any couple of percentage points he can skin off is a gain; perhaps a crucial one in some areas.
For Obama it is the opposite; he says one wrong or just not quite right thing, and he loses off the 96% he got in -08.
So Obama stays away. He has not gone near the NAACP to date, and probably won't anytime before the election.
Don't go and you're dissing African-Americans. Go, take the heat, and you're being manipulative.
Can't win, can you?
I'm sure if they stood up and cheered him, he's be OK with that too.
It wasn't preferred that they boo, but that he told them the truth regardless. That's the angle, courage and the truth, and it wins people of all races. It's a sure loser to pander in this election.
What got my attention, was when Romney said he was going to represent all Americans, and specifically said all Americans regardless of sexual orientation.
Doesn't sound like someone trying to get street cred with Conservatives.
Why wouldn't Romney speak at the NAACP convention? In going into the lion's den, every mind he changes, every vote he wins, comes right out of the Democrats' pockets.
What does he have to lose, except the time it takes him to travel & give the speech
"There is a reason Ed Schultz is named "Special Ed"."
Around our house, we call him Wiiiiilbur
I did see a Lt.Col Nicholson from 'Bridge over the River Kwai' moment for the democrats who are now understanding the republicans aren't going to quit till obamacare is crippled and laying by the roadside.
Maybe Pelosi just wants as many people as possible to know Romney got booed by the NAACP. So she's saying odd things in the hope it gets more attention.
Althouse is being played.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) told a handful of reporters. “I mean, how in the world would you stand up in front of the NAACP and say that you oppose Obamacare?
Uhm, because:
(a) he's an honest guy who didn't want to pander and lie?
(b) he realized the value of a useful soundbite?
If it was calculated, it was a great move. It was an obvious play, but it also completely appropriate. I think many Black will respect him for it, and the ones who don't are lost causes anyway. It definitely was positive to conservatives. I heard it praised all day from that side.
Well, it was a fine speech, especially the first few minutes.
Wasn't this all predicted by Media Matters a couple of days ago?
What would you have him do, leslyn?
Yep. It was either McCain or GWB who skipped the event, and the libs sniveled forever about it.
It would have been nice if Obama went in front of a Gay group in 2008 and told them he would not support them until he needed reelected. Same with Latinos. But he couldn't do that with Michelle having his balls in a jar and all.
They might just be stupid.
Pretty outrageous for a Republican to go in front of a non-Republican audience and argue for Republican policies.
I can see why so many right-thinking people are appalled.
Romney's grace won him some votes today. His demeanor reminds me a bit of Franklin Graham.
Nancy Peolsi's comment is malicious and race baiting.
Booing a guest just reflects what a classless organization the NAALCP is.
On the other hand, they could be suffering from a "mood" disorder. That might 'splain it.
What would you have him do, leslyn?
Leslyn, thanks for your support.
I think he figured they'd show more class than they did, but he showed the Lefties he's not quite the preppy they were hoping he'd be this Fall.
The issue is not how many blacks he'll convince to vote for him, it's how many blacks he can convince that they can't survive another 4 years of President Choom.
In other words, after November 2012, the Bradley Effect would be known as the Obama Effect.
leslyn said...
Yes, it was. Didn't you see that smirk? It cemented him with his base, who are now going to call him "courageous" for simple manipulation.
He couldn't have manipulated anybody if they'd shown even a little more class.
Of course, if he'd choked, the smirk would have been on sweet little leslyn.
Or just tear him to pieces limb by limb?
You're really afraid of dark skin, aren't you?
Actually, I thought they would start by throwing feces, then raise their arms up and sway them side to side while shrieking, "Ooo ooo ooo, ahh ahh ahhhh!!!"
There. Satisfied? Naked racism.
His demeanor reminds me a bit of Franklin Graham.
He looks like him too (I have thought to myself many times).
Obama should go in front of the NAACP and talk about his support of same sex marriage and how the struggles of gays are just like the civil rights movement of the '60s and see what happens....
I thought Romney delivered a good speech and looked good doing it.
Pelosi says he wanted to be booed. Ed Schultz says he tried to sneak the Obamacare line in (presumably to avoid boos).
Pelosi is almost never right, but she is calculating, and I suspect that she wants to emphasize that he was booed by the NAACP, which is also what the media is emphasizing - so they must think it is good for Obama.
Schutlz is never right. but Romney did deliver the line about Obamacare in an odd fashion. So Schultz, for once, may be close to correct.
It obviously was calculated by Romney. Nothing really to lose. I don't think anything to gain from blacks, but some potential gain with independents/undecideds.
Still waiting for the Leslyn approved behaviour of the candidate.
leslyn said...
Yes, it was. Didn't you see that smirk?
Was the smirk at all "chimpy"?
Leslyn, answer Original Mike's question.
Romney's appearance was akin to Palin's appearance at the Madison rally last year (or the year before, I forget). Take the fight to your opponents.
When will Obama finally appear in Wisconsin?
Leslyn:
"That didn't take long, did it?
What did you think they would do, lynch him?
Or just tear him to pieces limb by limb?
You're really afraid of dark skin, aren't you?"
That didn't take long - race card right at the start. Guess you're done now.
This will win a lot of Blacks. The independent ones can say: He wasn't afraid to tell us what he thought, even if if he expected us to disagree. Obama never does that...to anyone. In other words, he lies.
PS The Romster's appearance will go some to allay conservative fears he's another McCain or a long-lost Bush brother, but, as always, leslyn is wrong.
Conservatives will admire him for going (would Choom go someplace where he'd be booed, especially if he couldn't scream, "Rrraaacccisssmmmm", afterward?), but they'll want to see a bit more than that before they breathe easier.
PPS We hear the spokespeople of the Black Community always demanding Republicans reach out to them.
Is it about time, given the NAACP performance, that the Black Community starts reaching out to the rest of the country?
Why are inherently racist organizations still tolerated?
Why is there a Congressional Black Caucus?
Aren't we all Americans?
Where's my National Association of WHIIITE People?....oh yeah, that would be racist.
No, it wasn't especially courageous; it's politics not dueling, but what it wasn't, was cowardly, which Obama is. Even Obama's supporters blast him for that.
This thing is all about showing the contrasts, because being the un-Obama is the ticket. That's why Romney is attacked by both sides for anything he remotely syncs with with Obama on. Both sides think that's a reason not to vote for Romney, and they're right.
Remember when, after ramming ObamaCare through, Pelosi and friends decided to rub it in opponents' faces by strutting through a crowd of protesters?
Hey Nancy: Don't assume everybody else is as low as you are.
leslyn, I'm trying to understand how you think. I hope you're not a Moby, though you seem a bit like one. I'll assume you're not, so...
You said in response to OM's question that "If I were the candidate, I'd go and say the same things." Do you mean you'd advocate Romney's positions? I doubt it. I think you mean that you're saying you think Romney should have done what he did, in fact, do, which was to go before an audience and advocate the policies he thinks are best.
But I'm still trying to figure out the liberal mind. It's a mystery to me. Can you help?
This was all a waste of time. Blacks will not vote for Wonder Bread over the Halfrican in any considerable way. With strenuous effort Romney might get, what, 1-2% more of the black vote than McCain? 1-2% of 13% of the population. That's peanuts. Or bananas. Whatever fits the theme. Point is, Romney is either a total retard to think he could swing any black voters, or he's extraordinarily devious by using the NAACP, Democrats, and the media to achieve some ulterior motive--possibly to convince a skeptical base and swing the not-inconsiderable number of moderates who think the NAACP is a pathetic organization of menacing race-baiters.
omg I totally want to have a Moesha marathon right now. Is it on Netflix?
leslyn said...
If I were the candidate, I'd go and say the same things...But I wouldn't pretend it was courageous.
These days, honesty (and not shirking or shrinking) passes for political courage. You of all people should know that.
Coketown, are you suggesting that the NAACP "is a pathetic organization of menacing race-baiters"?
Coketown said...
This was all a waste of time. Blacks will not vote for Wonder Bread over the Halfrican in any considerable way. With strenuous effort Romney might get, what, 1-2% more of the black vote than McCain? 1-2% of 13% of the population. That's peanuts. Or bananas. Whatever fits the theme. Point is, Romney is either a total retard to think he could swing any black voters, or he's extraordinarily devious by using the NAACP, Democrats, and the media to achieve some ulterior motive--possibly to convince a skeptical base and swing the not-inconsiderable number of moderates who think the NAACP is a pathetic organization of menacing race-baiters.
As I say, it's about convincing blacks that, if they know they can't take another 4 years of Zero, but can't abide the idea of voting Republican (which anyone else would do), staying home is just as good.
"But I'm still trying to figure out the liberal mind. It's a mystery to me. Can you help?"
It goes something like this:
I just find it really hard to believe that a candidate for President would make a "calculated move" in an election campaign. That's not really fair, especially if it works.
Maybe this happened because Romney is a Mormon.
He's been a missionary and I'm sure has had all sorts of terrible things shouted his way. Showing up where he isn't wanted and saying what he has to say is probably just like breathing to him.
Obama, on the other hand, is a professor. He's used to being in rooms full of people who wanted to hear what he had to say. At worst, they slept, or didn't show up.
Which is why you'll never see Obama talk in front of a Tea Party event.
@leslyn: So, he did the right thing (i.e. what you would do), but still you criticize.
Like I said: He can't win, can he?
One good mistake like this every couple weeks, and this thing is gonna be a walk in the park for Romney.
Coketown, are you suggesting that the NAACP "is a pathetic organization of menacing race-baiters"?
Yes.
"This was all a waste of time."
No. I would have criticized him if he hadn't gone. Whether or not it gets him any votes doesn't matter.
Bill O'Reilly had Marc Lamont Hill on tonight. Bill asked bluntly whether blacks who vote for Obama because he's black were being racist. Marc bubbled around about how that wasn't the question, so Bill asked whether whites who might vote for a white candidate because he's white would be racist. Marc bubbled more.
Do leftists understand the very concept of racism?
Coketown, you're a racist.
"Scary thought! Now I'll have nightmares."
I'll bet you will. But after November 8.
Romney, like Reagan used to do, was talking over the heads of the NAACP which is a bunch of race hustlers who make their living off racism. There are a lot of blacks who are sophisticated and know how wrong Obama is who are looking for the permission in their own minds to vote against him.
They elected a black president. That's been done. Re-electing him is much less a symbol, especially when he is such a disaster. I've seen quite a few blacks say they aren't voting for him again. That number may go up now.
There isn't any real reason he couldn't have given his speech and left out Obamacare and kept to the bits that were bound to be well received.
I don't know that it's courageous to include what he'd expect wouldn't go over well. He'd have to decide if people would accuse him of pandering or feel like he'd been pandering if he left it out.
And seriously... Was it a "I'm being clever" smirk, or was it a "you're not going to like this next part" smirk? (Or was it a "yes, they are boo'ing me but I'm gonna wait it out" smirk?)
But I do think that Jason is right to suggest an equivalent for Obama. If Obama was giving a speech to the same crowd, would he include gay rights?
Or would he limit his speech to just the good parts?
Do leftists understand the very concept of racism?
I honestly think that "imprint" of racism is so fixed in their minds (and for so long) that they can't recognize a photographic negative when they see one. It's hindered vision at best and willful blindness at worse.
Orwell might say that they struggle to see the very nose in front of their face.
The "what is he supposed to do?" question really is impossible to answer from the other side. If he wanted cheers from the NAACP, though, what he had to do was talk about discriminating against white farmers, I suppose.
leslyn, you say "It's simply politics."
OK. The term "politics", in general discourse, refers to the partisan side of debate. Morality, philosophy, ethics, etc. are on one side. Those things refer to reason, logic, values, etc.
Politics, then, is on the other side: the partisan side, the one that doesn't care between right and wrong, but only between right and might. So you're saying Romney's unhappy speech before the NAACP was a power-seeking thing? What, he hoped he would gain support from his audience? or it was a dog-whistle of some strange kind?
Maybe you are just a Moby. Can you come out, if so?
I think it was a calculated move on Robinson Cano's part to leave Billy Butler out of the HR Derby and consequently get booed by the KC fans.
Did you see him smirk?
Scary thought! Now I'll have nightmares
Given that one characteristic of Franklin Graham is that he has light skin, the only possible conclusion is that leslyn is a vicious anti-white racist.
I wouldn't pretend it was courageous.
Not a Gutsy Call(TM), in other words.
When the chips are down black people are going to vote for the black guy, no matter how terrible he's been.
However. Even though there's no way he's going to peel off a statistically significant number of black votes, the more comfortable black people are with Romney the less likely it is that they'll vote at all if they're unhappy with Obama.
Good contrast between leading from the front and leading from behind.
Romney announces a clear policy and says follow me.
Obama sends veiled promises of security from a flow of government checks for the day the coming days when the economy really crashes due to energy strangulation and irrational regulations forbidding commerce.
The NAACP is not going to follow Romney into an austerity program to help private business owners. They ain't fools.
"It cemented him with his base, who are now going to call him "courageous" for simple manipulation."
"“I think it was a calculated move on his part to get booed at the NAACP convention,”"
"if he has staff members who vetted that speech or inserted some of the things that I heard, they should be fired," Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) told a handful of reporters. “I mean, how in the world would you stand up in front of the NAACP and say that you oppose Obamacare?”"
Sigh. leslyn thinks black people are easily manipulated. Polosi agrees. And Cleaver feels Romney staff members should be fired for not advising Romney to pander to the NAACP. Why do the "tolerant" party insist on treating black people as children?
The most horrible part of this speech of course is that Romney used a [gasp] teleprompter. He even read out loud "end quote". Oh my. Can you be a real patriot and read off of a teleprompter?
Why do the "tolerant" party insist on treating black people as children?
For the same reason it treats <26-year-olds as incapable of buying their own health insurance.
And the same reason it treats people as if they're incapable of saving for their retirement on their own.
And the same reason it treats people as if they can't find good schools for their kids on their own.
Learned helplessness is the Democrats' long-term strategy.
Obama can't go to every event ever, of course, but he had to decide if he needed to go to this one.
Think of it this way... every single thing that he *did* decide to attend is implicitly more important than the NAACP convention.
Several people have said (likely correctly) that Romney had no chance of convincing black people to vote for him. 96% in the bag for Obama.
OTOH, if a fundraiser with Sarah Jessica Parker is more important as part of Obama's very serious presidential duties than giving a speech to the NAACP convention (which it clearly is), the people who have said that Romney gains nothing, might turn out to have been wrong.
Chip S., your reasoning implies that leslyn is part of some vast left-wing conspiracy.
I doubt that's the case. I think she/he believes she/he has reason on her/his side. It's an important distinction.
What causes leftists to go left?
it was a good speech and an especially appropriate forum or the Rep candidate to give it. As Romney said, he wants to be a president for all Americans, even those who may not vote for him. As he also explained, he comes from a state where the Rep candidate is used to asking people who aren't Reps for their vote, and giving them the reasons why he deserves it.
His reasons were quite powerful -- O's miserable leadership is hurting the black community more than any other, so that community in particular would benefit from a change in direction. Unless, of course, they like sky-high levels of unemployment and dependency as far as the eye can see.
As for Pelosi, she's a bit foolish to focus on Romney's pledge to repeal O-care or the reaction to it by a partisan Dem audience. If that's the topic of discussion in any form, it's a bad day for Obama and the Dems.
Hard to imagine why black voters wouldn't be enamored by a candidate who said after his speech "if they want more free stuff, tell them to go vote for the other guy"?
Them being the blacks he just spoke to earlier. But safely far away in Montana. That's presidential material, my friends.
"He even read out loud "end quote"."
That's what you do to indicate to the audience that you just stopped quoting and what follows is mine. You've never heard this before?
Garage... Obama used a teleprompter to deliver a speech to Elementary School children.
Before that happened I don't recall too much ribbing over Obama's teleprompter use.
When Romney does something that silly, we can tease him over it too.
Can you be a real patriot and read off of a teleprompter?
Yes, at least as long as you don't use it to repeat the same speech over and over again, know how to properly pronounce the words on it, and don't sound like a high school drop out when forced to speak without it.
"Obama used a teleprompter to deliver a speech to Elementary School children."
That was special.
"Hard to imagine why black voters wouldn't be enamored by a candidate who said after his speech "if they want more free stuff, tell them to go vote for the other guy"?
Them being the blacks he just spoke to earlier. But safely far away in Montana. That's presidential material, my friends."
Because being black is all about free stuff?
Gawd, garage. It's too late to roll my eyes this hard. It hurts.
leslyn, you're either too clever for me, or an idiot. "Dog whistle" is a common term in recent politics; look it up.
I don't want to assume you're stupid (though I think Mobying might be challenging for the brain), so I'll assume you're too clever for me. Romney went before the NAACP, said what he thought was right, got boo'd, and it was all a clever trick to gain power?
How did he hope to gain power? Can you please spell it out for us?
leslyn, I'm not laying a trap here. Ha ha ha! Yes, I am! No, I'm not.
Because being black is all about free stuff?
Why are you asking me and not Romney? He said it. And it was in response to a question of him being booed at the NAACP.
No, BobE, b/c I was only addressing the "party" aspect of jeff's question, not talking about leslyn per se.
But presumably the supporters of a particular political agenda share similar worldviews, generally speaking. No conspiracy necessary.
What causes leftists to go left?
Interesting question. I doubt there's a single reason.
What seems to be the main reason rightists go right is that they learn some economics. Not b/c there's anything about it that requires people to lean right as a matter of logic, but b/c it makes clear the basic fallacies that leftist politicians commonly deploy in debate. Certainly that's what converted me from my previous typical-college-sophomore fashionable leftist stance.
You know, like the stance Obama still takes. Probably b/c he never learned any economics at all.
leslyn has her own reasons, though, and I wouldn't presume to know what they are.
garage said Why are you asking me and not Romney? He said it. And it was in response to a question of him being booed at the NAACP.
Hey, hey! Ho, ho! This stupid comment has got to go!
Oh, Bob Ellison.
Hey, hey! Ho, ho!
You really made a mess of that. I bet you can't dance either!
I'm a lousy dancer. Terrible. Don't even go there.
Got rhythm, though.
I think it is giving Romney too much credit for political genius to say that he PLANNED to get booed.
But it is certainly true that it makes him look better with voters.
When you're right, you're right. It would've scanned better as
garage mahal has got to go!
Okay so... someone asks... "Romney, how could be such a dummy as to tell the NAACP that you were gonna take away their free stuff?" And Romney says "If they want free stuff, they can vote for the other guy."
The insulting assumption is still not on Romney's part, it's on the part of the person who asked a question implying that the NAACP is about getting stuff from the government.
Change it to "Romney, how could you be such a dummy to tell the League of Women Voters that you were opposed to Obamacare," and he said, "If they want free stuff, they can vote for the other guy."
I know who I'd feel was disrespecting me.
He said it.
Oh noes! His chances of winning the black vote -- ruined! Curse that loud mouth of his!
No, Chip S., garage helps out around here. We righties might go insane without a little leavening.
Poetic license, Bob.
I'm a lousy dancer. Terrible. Don't even go there.
I hear ya man. I have this foot shuffle/finger clapping type thing. Just awful.
Is that St. Vitus' Dance?
Boy, those blacks sure are easy to manipulate, aren't they? They fell for it hook, line, and sinker!
garage, my problem is that I like the beats but can't sell the moves. Well, my wife hasn't seen better. Maybe that's my key to success.
garage, my problem is that I like the beats but can't sell the moves.
I don't know any moves is my problem. Not one.
Not sure what to make of the fact that this thread has developed into a lamentation about a lack of rhythm.
The whole speech is on Youtube and it's very good. But what I particularly noticed was that in the speech Romney says Obama won't live up to his promises and Romney wasn't booed for that. I think that an attack on Obama at the NAACP which results in only a few scattered incidents of booing is really a big story. I handed out anti-Obama fliers at an Obama speech in 2008 and got a lot more booing than Romney got at the NAACP in 2012. Also Romney attacked the teachers unions without getting booed. He defended free enterprise. If people say Romney is a racist because a Republican then you can refer them to this speech. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAhJh0ADd9k So that also makes it worth while.
I found the speech to be inspiring, and I like Mitt more for having delivered it there. I was surprised at my own reaction, to be honest.
BZ, #Mitt
Perhaps it was a manipulative ploy on Romney's part. But if it were, the easy way to foil it would be to simply not boo.....So far as it is possible to boo in a polite and respectful way, it was polite and respectful booing. I would comment, though, that he was their guest. He didn't barge into their meeting to lecture them on Obamacare. They invited him and, as such, he was owed a respectful hearing.
Next up, Barack Obama speaks to the NRA
It's been a long time since the middle name of a Republican presidential candidate wan't 'milktoast' or was that 'Milhouse.'
leslyn - stop being gross. oh and a racist too!
If Mittens can pull off 10% of the black vote, Obummer is finished.
Nope. That's Eric you're thinking of.
How is "they'll vote for the black guy" an example of *manipulation*? Was Obama a white guy who decided to turn black in a cyncial ploy to win votes? :)
"But I've noticed this odd hectoring from you before."
What the fuck is your point, leslyn?
"The insulting assumption is still not on Romney's part, it's on the part of the person who asked a question implying that the NAACP is about getting stuff from the government."
It's a noble effort, Synova, but Garage, having made his little passive-aggressive insinuation (racists!) is now retreating behind his Invincible Wall of Stupid. Behind this wall, simple matters of grammar and logic become inexplicable to him, rendering argument useless.
Leslyn-- did you ever consider that you are the racist?
Romney was not aiming for the majority within the NAACP; he is hoping to peel off a few of the less enthusiastic fellow travelers.
If he can get it up to 8-10% of "the Black vote," he is elected.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) told a handful of reporters. “I mean, how in the world would you stand up in front of the NAACP and say that you oppose Obamacare?
Hilarious.
leslyn said...
say the same things. (Noted: he's now "courageous" to his base.) But I wouldn't pretend it was courageous.
Really?
Who is calling Romney courageous?
AprilApple. Leslyn is the vilest sort of racist. Smug and certain and pompous.
and anyone at all that he can get is a gain.
For Obama, it is the opposite, which is why Obama is not going near any NAACP events.
Leslyn: I thought speaking unpopular opinions was courageous. Truth to power and all that. Or are only certain unpopular opinions courageous? I need a flow chart.
Can you be a real patriot and read off a teleprompter?
Reagan managed it quite nicely. Of course, he knew how to pronounce "corpsman," too.
Leslyn is the vilest sort of racist.
Wait a minute now.
These people are vile racists, and even they're probably not the vilest ones.
leslyn's just a liberal trying to downplay what appears to have been a successful speech by Romney. I agree, though, that the "fear of black people" bit was unjustified.
The speech was effective, that is why Dems are screeching so much about it.
Per usual, they doth protest too much and, as a result, more people will see the speech and wonder what all the bitching by the Dems was about.
When will Dems learn that such protest tactics hurt their cause.
I would also say we need more "White" politicians to show up at "Black" events, and more "Black" politicians to show up at "White" events.
I think this whole thing of turning voting districts into ethnic enclaves is a mistake for the people it is supposed to help.
The practice naturally results in machine politics with a small octogenarian ruling clique in each fief and a small voter turnout, because what's the use when you know the anointed ones are going to be elected anyway.
Same thing in Congress, the system gets Black people elected to Congress, but the Congressional Black Caucus is marginalized as a special interest voting block. The Dem party leadership "negotiates" with the CBC leadership, and the troops are told to vote as they are told, and don't even think of rocking the boat.
This is not the way to get your ideas accepted at large nor to develop national leaders from within your "community."
The politically neutral National Journal seems to think Romney was both courageous and successful in speaking to the NAACP:
The prospect of speaking to a crowd that overwhelmingly supports your opponent is not only politically risky; it's personally intimidating. In such settings, and under such an intense microscope, one small misstep can snowball into a news-dominating disaster.
leslyn said...
(the "lion's den" is such a fearful metaphor
Meet Charles Blow...fear monger.
ChipS. Thank your for that walk down memory lane. That is the exact image that today's racists, people like Leslyn, have when they consider any conservative through their vile and pompous and smug racist lens. They long for those days, the days that some of us lived through and lost blood and friendships over. It was not a time that in any way resembles today and the" heroic "twits like Leslyn that view themselves as so fucking pure would not have been found in those troubled times. They make me sick.
Moi, disingenuous? How so? I even correct typos when quoting!
"If you don't know...you should" is logically fatuous.
Leslyn. I know enough from your comments on this thread. You slander an entire group of commenters about whom you know nothing and then you wantto mount your high horse again? Fuck off, racist.
Use the whole quote.
Your comment doesn't make sense in any context.
leslyn said...
You really ought to know more about the people you slander.
You're an Internet idiot with a government job.
Eric said... "When the chips are down black people are going to vote for the black guy, no matter how terrible he's been."
Jeff said,
"Sigh. leslyn thinks black people are easily manipulated. Polosi agrees."
Nope. That's Eric you're thinking of.
Say what you want. I'm just pointing out something that's obvious.
Mitt showed respect for the NAACP (and the blacks represented by the NAACP) by showing up at their convention, not pandering, and taking his verbal whoopin' like a man. Most blacks disagree with Mitt but can at least respect his honesty. 99% of life is showing up (according to the great moral authority Woody Allen)and Mitt showed up.
Mitt also earned points with GOP voters by his straight talking rather than contorting his message for a particular interest group.
Obama did not even show up, advantage Mitt. Mitt was clearly more courageous than Obama.
Mitt does not have to persuade blacks to vote for him to make inroads on the black vote. If Mitt can persuade enough blacks to stay home and not vote, it will help him tremendously in several of the toss up states. The reality is that blacks who want jobs or want to keep their jobs or don't want their taxes raised, will do better financially under a GOP gov.
By showing up and presenting himself at the NAACP convention, blacks see for themselves that Mitt is not some kind of racist, right wing monster.
Biden insulted NAACP audience by assuming they would be too stupid to see through his rhetorical trick of claiming that because Romney and the Republicans are against Obama's particular 'solution' to Health Care inadequacies, that means they don't want to solve the problem AT ALL.
Question is, yes, that tactic is unethical, but was he correct in his assumption?
Bob Ellison said...
"Chip S., your reasoning implies that leslyn is part of some vast left-wing conspiracy. I doubt that's the case."
Conspiracy is a loaded word but obviously politics is extremely organized on a vast scale in the USA on both the left and right. The "vast left wing conspiracy" is the dem party. On the right, the corresponding entity is the GOP. Calling it a conspiracy makes no sense since it is an extremely visible activity.
"I think she/he believes she/he has reason on her/his side. It's an important distinction. What causes leftists to go left?"
You are probably vastly overstating the importance of ideology on the left and vastly understating the importance of old time corrupt, back scratching politics. Dems are almost all members of privileged interest groups (PIGs) that want the gov to give them special privileges (affirmative action for women, blacks, and hispanics, for example). These PIGs band together to extract more benefits from the gov. It is that simple. Lefty ideology is simply a convenient myth they have constructed so that lefties don't have to confront the reality that they are selfish PIGs at the gov trough.
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