While it might be an obvious "Us, too!" response to the election of Barack Obama, it still represents a big step forward.
On the other hand, let's keep in mind that two weeks ago the RNC was prepared to select the moron from Tennessee who was mailing "Barack the Magic Negro" tapes, and it took six ballots to get Steele elected over this asshole:
...South Carolina party chairman Katon Dawson [...] who until just recently belonged to an all-white country club and has said he got involved in politics as a teenage opponent of busing programs in the 1960s -- not exactly the best face to oppose Barack Obama's agenda.
Still...progress is progress. Mr. Obama has indeed brought change to Washington.
UPDATE: Steve Benen begs to differ...
...no one should exaggerate the significance of the RNC chair. A couple of years ago, Bush tapped Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, a Cuban-American, as chairman of the RNC. Refresh my memory: did that have any impact whatsoever on outreach to Latino voters? Did it make the party seem more inclusive and diverse? I don't think so.
Hey, it's not Bush's fault the party is riddled with metastasized racism...
3 comments:
"Refresh my memory: did that have any impact whatsoever on outreach to Latino voters? Did it make the party seem more inclusive and diverse? I don't think so."
Here's the thing that the Republicans don't get. They think that if Bush appoints a black Secretary of State and has a large amount of blacks in his cabinet and the RNC is run by a black guy, they are suddenly seen as inclusive. Republicans seems to think that blacks will suddenly swarm to the Republican ballot because they promote a couple blacks.
Here’s what will actually work: stop treating blacks like they are stupid. It’s about the issues. Blacks don’t just automatically vote for black candidates. If that were the case, Hillary Clinton wouldn’t have initially lead Obama in the black vote. Obama had to prove himself. It also doesn’t help the Republicans that nearly every Presidential race in the last couple decades was run on fear of blacks. When you run against “Willie Horton”, “Welfare Queens” and other boogie-men, a little bit of RNC affirmative action at the top isn’t going to make you seem like a big tent.
When you run against “Willie Horton”, “Welfare Queens” and other boogie-men, a little bit of RNC affirmative action at the top isn’t going to make you seem like a big tent.
Game over. I couldn't say it any better than that.
Excellent point about Obama and Hillary, Bob. That is often overlooked. Even in retrospect, I think too many people assume Obama walked into the race and swallowed the black vote whole on the first day. Didn't happen that way at all.
This move is all about patting each other on the back, and giving asshats like O'Reilly a face to point at to diffuse the issue. It'll be the policies that are telling.
Still, I'll take my progress where I can get it.
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