Exile, I need a comment on this:
Black Democratic leaders in Maryland say that racially tinged attacks against Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele in his bid for the U.S. Senate are fair because he is a conservative Republican.I don't want to have to ask "where's the outrage?" so please don't make me...
Such attacks against the first black man to win a statewide election in Maryland include pelting him with Oreo cookies during a campaign appearance, calling him an 'Uncle Tom' and depicting him as a black-faced minstrel on a liberal Web log.
Operatives for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) also obtained a copy of his credit report -- the only Republican candidate so targeted.
But black Democrats say there is nothing wrong with 'pointing out the obvious.'
posted by RFTR @ 12:40 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
the outrage is both here and there, as it should be. I was interested to hear Steele's claims to be an independent voice in the Republican caucus. While I do not generally agree with his politics I do not think it is at all fair or intelligent to take political attacks on Steele into the realm of his racial identity.
racial politics in the African-American community is certainly complicated, but if people are going to concern themselves with politics at all, they should make an effort to master their emotional responses to the opposition. The visceral attacks that seem to come from some simple individuals who cannot recognize that while the candidacy of steele may not be progress for democrats in maryland, because he is quite a good candidate, it certainly is progress for blacks in maryland.
I do not hope that Steele wins, but I do hope that this race can be conducted with some civility and that if Steele does win, it will not be after an acrimonious campaign that will further cement him in the right-wing of the GOP.
to add further comment;
I think it was wrong and counterproductive for Michael Steele to blame this sad and overblown incident on the Democratic Party saying "The Democratic Party has finally reached a new low with the worst kind of racist gutter politics..." I think that it is pretty clear that this came from a person with left-wing leanings, NOT from the Democratic Party.
I applaud Lt. Gov Tim Kaine (D-VA) for pulling his advertisements from the offending website. he is taking a lot of flak for it from liberal bloggers. they have a right to their opinion on the matter, but it showed some refreshing concern for civility and decency for Kaine to take such action.
It may not be the Democratic Party that started this--but there's no question that they condone it.
In fact, as pointed out in the article above, they have expressly approved of such behavior.
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