Democrats and Racism

[Tigger Woods]

Will Democrats ever stop playing the race card? Comparing McCain to George Wallace? You can't make this stuff up .. (Even Obama has distanced himself from this nut job.)

WASHINGTON (Oct. 12) - Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and veteran of the civil rights movement, says the negative tone of the Republican presidential campaign reminds him of the hateful atmosphere that segregationist Gov. George Wallace fostered in Alabama in the 1960s.
Republican candidate John McCain on Saturday called Lewis' remarks "shocking and beyond the pale."

The Obama campaign said the Illinois senator doesn't believe McCain or his policy criticism is at all comparable to Wallace and his segregationist policies.

In a statement issued Saturday, Lewis said McCain and running mate Sarah Palin were "sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse." He noted that Wallace also ran for president.

"George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights," said Lewis, who is black. "Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

One of the seminal events of the civil rights movement was the bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church on Sept. 15, 1963. Four black girls died in the blast, which was linked to a Ku Klux Klan group.
Late Saturday, Lewis released another statement saying it was not his "intention or desire" to directly compare McCain or Palin to Wallace.

 

[John Smith1]

This is not the Democrats throwing the race card, this is John Lewis. He doesn't speak for every Democrat just like any random Rep congressman would speak for the entire Republican party.

 

[Humphrey Bear]

Well here are a couple more Democrat state Reps from Ohio that feel the same way as Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat.

I wonder if they think that the people that voted against the black Republican candidate for Governor last time were doing it only because he was black?

Democrats accuse locals of being racist toward Obama

Published:Tuesday, September 16, 2008

By David Skolnick

A local Republican official is shocked by the Democratic legislators’ comments.

YOUNGSTOWN — With the Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees in the Mahoning Valley today for a rally, two local Democratic state legislators said they believe a main reason polls show a tight race is because of racist voters.

“Race — that’s the only reason people in the Valley won’t vote for him,” said state Rep. Thomas Letson of Warren, D-64th, about Barack Obama, his party’s presidential nominee. “There are 1,000 reasons to vote for Obama and one reason why you won’t — race.”

“Staunch Republicans” who make up 35 percent to 40 percent of the population would never vote for a Democrat regardless of race, Letson said.

It is the independents, the “swing voters” and Democrats who are or will support Republican John McCain who are the “racists,” Letson and state Rep. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th, said.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/sep/16/democrats-accuse-locals-of-being-racist-toward/

 

[Mermaid02]

I'm not voting for him and it has NOTHING to do with the color of his skin..... It is possible to disagree with a person of another race without being racist.

 

[lindalinda]

Of course most McCain supporters are not racist. But pointing out racism is not playing the race car. Racism is a factor here, there is simply no way to avoid it.

 

[agentpleakley]

I told myself not to post on these other political threads - but I must say this.

Republicans/conservatives not voting for Obama are not voting for McCain because they are racists -- a true conservative would never vote for Obama -- he is too far on the socialist end of the democrat party for a conservative to ever vote for him.

Obviously - the only racists not voting for Obama are Democrats!

 

[Goofyluver]

The atrocity here is that because one person says something...ALL Democrats are held responsible for holding the exact same position. Apparently...if one Democrat likes spaghetti...all of them like spaghetti.

 

[Iluvfrenchquarter]

I'm not voting for him and it has NOTHING to do with the color of his skin..... It is possible to disagree with a person of another race without being racist.

You're absolutely right. Most thinking, educated Americans make their decisions based on the issues, regardless of party.

Unfortunately, race WILL play a role in this election. In my own state (PA), our governor said during the primaries that rural PAers won't vote for a black man. I've seen videos of people saying they will never vote for a black person. My husband was called a n*lover because of the Obama magnet on our car.

I have no problem with someone not voting for Obama because they disagree with his positions on the issues. People like that create a level of reasonable debate, which is what this country needs more of.

 

[Humphrey Bear]

Of course most McCain supporters are not racist. But pointing out racism is not playing the race car. Racism is a factor here, there is simply no way to avoid it.

Pointing out racism is one thing as it comes from both sides, but for a politician on the left to say that there are 1000 reasons to vote for Obama, but the ONLY reason to vote against him is because of his race, is a little over the top don't you think?

When people make statements like these, it makes people stop listening to the arguments about race. Sort of a boy that cried wolf kind of thing. Then real racism gets ignored.

 

[LuvDuke]

Subscribing just to see where this one goes.

 

[luvmy3]

Its funny how when one brings up race, its always about the people not voting for Obama. How about those voting FOR him because of the color of his skin, are they racist too?

 

[Charade]

This is not the Democrats throwing the race card, this is John Lewis. He doesn't speak for every Democrat just like any random Rep congressman would speak for the entire Republican party.

From my vantage point, most of the racial inferences in this presidential campaign has come from the Democrat party, Obama himself, the Obama campaign and their supporters.

And yet the Republicans are routinely labeled as racists. Just take a look at the recent Palin threads. There was nothing racial in them but the claim was made regardless.

As Uncle Remus would say, "It's factual".

 

[DancingBear]

Pointing out racism is one thing as it comes from both sides, but for a politician on the left to say that there are 1000 reasons to vote for Obama, but the ONLY reason to vote against him is because of his race, is a little over the top don't you think?

When people make statements like these, it makes people stop listening to the arguments about race. Sort of a boy that cried wolf kind of thing. Then real racism gets ignored.

Agreed.

 

[Charade]

Its funny how when one brings up race, its always about the people not voting for Obama. How about those voting FOR him because of the color of his skin, are they racist too?

So the congressman mentioned in the OP isn't voting for Obama?

Doubtful.

The answer to your question is yes.

 

[DancingBear]

I don't agree with the analogy to Wallace (plus, after all, it was Wallace who ended up getting shot), but it's not fair to call John Lewis, an American hero, a nutjob.

 

[Charade]

Of course most McCain supporters are not racist. But pointing out racism is not playing the race car. Racism is a factor here, there is simply no way to avoid it.

You can avoid most of it. You'll never eliminate it. Focus on real racism and not so much on the feigned racism.

More often than not, feigned racism gets most of the attention.

 

[Charade]

I don't agree with the analogy to Wallace (plus, after all, it was Wallace who ended up getting shot), but it's not fair to call John Lewis, an American hero, a nutjob.

What analogy would you use then?

 

[DancingBear]

What analogy would you use then?

Why do I have to use any? I don't think it's fair to compare McCain and Palin to a guy who was an outright segregationist.

 

[Charade]

Why do I have to use any? I don't think it's fair to compare McCain and Palin to a guy who was an outright segregationist.

OK. Just checking.

 

[loco4dis]

I think this latest racist screed by the democrats is the tipping point. Combine it with news that Obama supporters are throwing molotov cocktails at McCain supporters http://www.katu.com/news/30847164.html and Nancy Pelosi is so sure of an Obama win that she's ready to call the House back into session and start SPENDING OUR MONEY,
and I think there is just enough time for the people of this nation to wake up, walk back from the precipice of disaster that an Obama presidency represents, and cast a vote for the nation, not the snake oil salesman.

Four years of vicious race-baiting? Most Americans are going to say "No thanks." Obama will lose. They'll have their little riots in the cities. The nation will watch and collectively say "Thank God we didn't listen to those folks!" and McCain will get to work restoring the economy.