TAMPA, Fla. — Gazing out on the pale continent of the Republican National Convention, it was interesting to ponder: What if Barack Obama had been a Republican?
Most likely, the masses teeming on the convention floor would have been of a significantly different complexion. Or would they? And what if Barack Obama, the Democratic president of the United States, had been white? Would he have been elected? Would he likely be re-elected?
These questions are themselves answers to a question perhaps more significant today than in any other election year: Does race matter? Of course it does. And it matters more now than in 2008 because that was the year when we, as a nation, declared that it didn’t.
But it did then — and it does now.
Obama was elected not only because of his attractive eloquence but because we are fundamentally a good people who value fairness and equality. Electing Obama was part of our reward to ourselves. It allowed us to feel that we were this good and this big.
He was also a tantalizing candidate with a message of hope that felt like honey after eight bitter years of terrorism and war. He courted our better angels and articulated our best instincts. We were going to become a purple, post-racial nation, never again to be divided. Who wouldn’t fall in love with that?
Republicans were certain that Obama was all style over substance, but their criticisms quickly were interpreted in some quarters as racial animus. Certainly some who call themselves Republicans also can be called racist. Anyone who spends time on the Internet is aware of the racist content of some political dialogue. It’s out there and it’s ugly.
Thus, Republicans have had to tread carefully to always frame their criticisms in racially sensitive ways. Dog whistles are heard everywhere. Much of this exaggerated sensitivity is just that, but Republicans aren’t helped by the optics of their composition.
Where are the blacks?
Notwithstanding the dazzling performance of Condoleezza Rice and the GOP’s raucous affection for her, African-Americans are scarce in the party of Abraham Lincoln. Republicans can honestly boast having once been the party of firsts. The first Hispanic, African-American, Asian-American and Native-American in the U.S. Senate were all Republicans. But that was before the GOP went south, banished its centrists and embraced social conservatives in a no-exit marriage.
The impression that Republicans don’t welcome blacks and other minorities is, however, demonstrably false. Note the number of minority Republican governors recently elected: Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Susana Martinez of New Mexico. Even so, the party is undeniably and overwhelmingly white and minorities (and increasingly women) don’t feel at home there.
It is not helpful that two convention attendees threw peanuts at an African-American CNN camerawoman and said, “This is how we feed animals.” Disgusting. They were promptly shown the door, but the damage was done. A few bad apples can and do spoil bushels of good intentions.
African-Americans are not a monolithic group, obviously, and many likely would find comfort in the promises of smaller government, lower taxes, balanced budgets, school choice and so on that Mitt Romney put on the table Thursday night. But this isn’t likely to happen. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that zero percent of African-Americans support Romney. (Zero doesn’t necessarily mean none, but is a statistical null.) Obama also leads Latinos under 35 and women. Romney, alas, leads whites.
Optics matter and the GOP simply doesn’t look that friendly. Regardless of what is true, when a convention hall full of white people cheers jabs aimed at the first African-American president, it feels wrong. This may not be a conscious recognition, but the subliminal is powerful. It was with a deep, inner sigh of relief that white Republicans heard Romney say that he had wanted Obama to succeed because he wanted America to succeed. Bless the speechwriters for they shall be back.
To paraphrase the original question — why doesn’t the Republican Party have a Barack Obama? — courageous Republicans might look for clues in their children’s science book, assuming they still have one. There they’ll learn that ecosystems thrive and are most productive when there is biodiversity. The same can be said of political parties. An all-white party will not long survive in an environment lacking diversity.
The strongest and fittest are those who adapt, and that species for now goes by the name Democrat.
Comments (59)
Add commentRabid right propaganda
sells well to rabid-right true believers. Try more objective reviews.
"... preaching to the choir in a style similar to Michael Moore's films, but without the humor, without the straw-man arguments and without presenting views from the other side, and is unlikely to change anyone's mind." The Arizona Republic
"... slick infomercial...destined to irritate the president’s supporters while mobilizing his detractors, even as it is doomed to win precious few converts...." WaPo.
Parker, the racist, asks "Where are the blacks?"
Well they did have Herman Cain, and the left treated him with total disdain. So take you racists rants and shove them down your throat. Concentrate on the economy. All liberals do is divide, divide, divide.
Cain's girl friend did that.
He had a good resume, except for that.
Oh, and the sexual harassment charges.
Then I take it you won't see it Chey?
See I did go to the Michael Moore films so I could make up my own mind, instead of reading a review and determining what the documentary is about.
Same as the Sarah Palin movie
and that tanked, also.
These 'films' have a limited audience.
I already know the plot--
demonizing the president-- "he's not really American"-- which has been going on in one fashion or another ever since Obama took office. Sorry, I don't buy it.
And I have better things to waste my money on... like a good beer.
Poor Sarah, got pushed off Fox.
What will she run for?
Oh, and the sexual harassment charges.
Assult with a cigar is OK even if you do perjure yourself before Congress during impeachment procedings, though.
It isn't harassment when the vulnerable girl is infatuated.
Thanks for reminding us southie.
Rabid right propaganda?
LOL! Spoken like someone who has never seen the movie. I just saw it tonight and it was great. I also found it intelligent and funny. There were interviews with Daniel Pipes, Shelby Steele, Paul Vitz, Paul Kengor, David Wagner, Obama's "grandmother", Obama's half-brother, "George", old friends of B.H. Obama, Sr., a anthropology professor who knew both Anne Dunham and Lolo Soetero. What was even more interesting was the parallels between Dinesh D'Souza's own life and Obama's. Both are men "of color', both spent a substantial part of their early years in another country, both went to Ivy League schools, both were born the same year, both graduated the same year, both were married the same year, and both had close family members who were anti-colonialists.
If you liked it muehlbau,
then I know it's propaganda. Achtung!
That's pretty poor reasoning, even for you Chey...
...I'm a fan of a well-reasoned argument, not of propaganda in the style of Michael Moore or Gore. That's what makes D'Souza's documentary so great, it is nearly as fair a treatment of Obama as you could possibly expect from someone who disagrees with nearly everything Obama does (i.e., D'Souza). The background on Obama's father was extremely interesting. He even had an excerpt from an article he'd written in an economic journal where Obama Sr. suggested it would be fair to tax the rich at a 100% rate. Even more interesting was how one of Obama Sr.'s old friends said that he thought Obama Sr.'s and Obama Jr.'s political ideologies were "one".
Ha! 2016 is poised to overtake "An Inconvenient Truth"...
...which puts it just behind the highest grossing documentary of all time, "Farenheit 911" (and it's only been broadly released for less than a week). So much for the prediction it's going to "tank". D'Souza did make a hilarious comment regarding those who describe him as the Michael Moore of the right:
"To me Michael Moore is a bit like the federal government -- he's big, fat and out of control," he said, laughing. "I'm a little more like the private sector, lean and nimble."
Dinish D'Souza, who claims we brought on 9/11 ourselves?
Who says that those who deny the holocaust are 'accurate'?
Who keeps lists of 'liberal' enemies because McCarthy was right? (Maybe that's where Bachmann et al get their ideas). Charming fellow. (And btw, D'Souza is not a psychoanalyst-- just a half-baked extremist of the right-- Achtung!).
More objective analysis:
"He (D'Souza) is a childish thinker and writer tackling subjects about which he knows little to make arguments that reek of political extremism. His book (on which the propaganda movie is based) is a national disgrace, a sorry example of a publishing culture more concerned with the sensational than the sensible." Alan Wolfe, professor of political science at Boston college and author of “Does American Democracy Still Work?”
Daniel Larison of The American Conservative states, "Dinesh D’Souza has authored what may possibly be the most ridiculous piece of Obama analysis yet written. ... All in all, D’Souza’s article reads like a bad conspiracy theory."
Andrew Ferguson of The Weekly Standard writes ('The Roots of Lunacy: How not to understand Obama'), "D’Souza always sees absence of evidence as evidence of something or other. ... There is, indeed, a name for the beliefs that motivate President Obama, but it’s not anticolonialism; it’s not even socialism. It’s liberalism!"
If you're going to call D'Souza a Holocaust denier...
...at least have the decency to post an in context quote from him with a link.
But you did give me a good laugh with the "objective analysis" claim. You forget, I've actually SEEN the movie, and those slams do not address in any way the substance of D'Souza's arguments or the vast amount of evidence he presents. Let's look at some of it. Hawaii has a strong anti-colonialist under current, in spite of the fact that it's been a state for 50 years, you see this in the reparation movements in that state. Indonesia is EXTREMELY anti-colonialist. Interestingly, it was Obama's stepfather, who was Indonesian, who was the free market proponent. This so incensed his mother, who preferred the Marxist and anti-American musings of her first polygamist husband that she sent Obama back to Hawaii to avoid Lolo's influence. BTW, this is supported by excerpts from "Dreams From My Father".
Let's look at some of his influences, shall we? Frank Marshall Davis, card carrying Commie (and I'm not using hyperbole, here, he really was a card carrying Commie). Bill Ayers, domestic terrorist (or freedom fighter in the parlance of anti-colonialism). Rev. Wright, one of the foremost advocates of liberation theology. He's a particularly interesting influence given that Obama sat through his anti-American diatribes for years and then tried to disavow them and the PRESS LET HIM GET AWAY WITH IT. Professor Unger, a self-professed Commie, who was so radical that even Brazil couldn't tolerate him so he had to find safe haven at Harvard.
And if anyone ever took the time to read "Dreams from My Father" they'd know that he sought these type of people out as "friends" during his college years (and I would argue beyond):
"To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists."
muehlbau, arguing with the chey's of the world, is like
arguing with a brick wall. People like her, and scary, itter, and their ilk are so full of hate and rage, they can never see the other side of the coin. They are just like 'bama, blinders and cotton in the ears!!
Lean & Nimble , Like Chris Christie Gov. of The Jersey Shore
Pretty Amazing some folks cannot seem to understand the difference between an infomercial and a documentary.
Someone once told me the difference is fictionalization.
For you Bill Clinton followers out there ,you know who you are , dont forget it was moon colony Newt who was chasing Bill & our current Sec of State around DC ,while he was at the same time getting some practice disproving the family values platform with current ( 4th)squeeze , Calista .
Look for Bill at the NC Convention, some people might be surprised he devotes his time & Energy for good all over the planet ,vs another former AR Gov who does infomercials for people who think gold is almost as important as rewriting history . If your confused again , that other former AR. Gov. is Mike Huckabee......
Have you seen the movie, Captron?
If not, you really should suspend judgment, because you haven't made an independent judgment, you are just following the flock of sheeple.
And I know what you're saying, PD, but every time he argues it gives me a chance to tell people a little bit more about the movie, so it's all good!
The liberal panic
is intensifying. This movie has them terrified that their lies won't cover up what they truthfully have been attempting.
Communist roaches are scurrying for cover now that the light is on.
Unbalanced One , Like your mom told Denton a while back
" What do you think , I like to stroke my ego on here or something" " Where can I go where somebody - will buy what Im selling , cause Im an overeducated women who prides herself in putting liberals in their place" ????? Nice Goal !
There are few truer works spoken by individuals that discredit themselves more than you" open minded" GOP individuals that go on and on about nonsense.
If your truely interested in learning something about your GOP party ,I would suggest you go rent yourself a copy of Game Change , starring Sarah Palin and the Neo Con machine.
Gives new definition and meaning to the elephant in the room , and WHY now 4 years later when somebody asks the question about " Are you better off Today" ?
You can sit back and say , I guess so because the DJIA is up 100% and the Std & Poors is up 50% + ,besides the fact we dodged that giant Republicon machine ploy !
Thank goodness Economists were consulted vs the " Tax Pledge Crowd" who continue to promote what Bush 1 called" voodoo economics" as known as FAILED trickle down economics !
Almost Forgot Movie Suggestion , This weekends box office Biggie
That is if your tired of that elephant in the room.
Movie title , # 1 Now , Its called " Possession "
Hope the title does not hit too close to home for some....
Also, when the truth is offered
to a true commie, they lash out to the point of stuttering as captron just did! heh heh
Now captron is doing the southie trick.
He comes on and tries to change his posts to hide his gaffe.
(A liberal would say stupidity, if responding to a conservative)
It's really pathetic when you lefties change your statements after you realize what you said. But after all that IS the communist way that YOUR leader Obama follows. Lies and more lies and more lies. I don't know how you people can sleep at night.
I'm going to copy more of your "First" comments to throw back at you two after you try the Obama coverup trick.
It'll be cap or southie said this: ( ) before they changed it to this/that ( ).
I can hardly wait.
Cap...are we being stalked?
Eek!
HEE HEE
I see I did my job about a movie.
LOL south that would be a big NO.
Have you seen the movie, OFB?
Pretty good crowd at the 5:15 p.m. showing on Sunday. Almost as many as there were at the Spiderman movie I went to a month ago. It's rather scary that Dinesh was right about all three predictions he made at the end of an earlier book, because the one's he's making this time around are devastating.
A blast from the past...
Cap...are we being stalked?
People like you stalk yourself, and deserve it.
Don't post lies and they won't follow you.
Have not seen
Yet Judith. Grams worked all weekend & some little store by you kept calling my name Sun. My mother said it was good & scary though.