Black GOP Group Running Ads Calling Obama "Elitist"
And now for a bit of happy hour comic relief. A group called the National Black Republican Association -- which previously achieved minor infamy for some really inflammatory and historically-inaccurate radio ads in the Maryland Senate race -- has set a new goal: Turn African-American voters against Barack Obama.
The Huffington Post's Sam Stein reports that the NBRA has unveiled a new set of radio ads that it plans to run in battleground states on black radio stations, but they haven't yet clarified exactly when or how big their buy will be. The ads manage the neat trick of sliming both the Democratic Party as racist and Obama as elitist:
Among the ads' more subtle pronouncements: "The Democratic Party is a racist party"; "Today racist Democrats will not vote for Obama, a black man"; "Obama is an arrogant elitist who turned his back on poor blacks and his own country"; "Look beyond Barack Obama's skin color and soaring rhetoric and you will see an arrogant, elitist millionaire"; and "Obama's mentor for 20-years was Rev. Jeremiah Wright who said innocent Americans deserved to die on September 11th."
It's unlikely that the NBRA could actually succeed at getting a great number of black voters to choose John McCain -- the ads don't even attempt to positively advocate on McCain's behalf. The ads are probably a last-ditch effort to suppress black enthusiasm for Obama's candidacy and dampen turnout.
So this is what the Republican party is now up too, using AA Repubs (i didnt even know AA Repubs existed) to attack BO so they wont be seen as racist. This has backlash written all over it. besides its too late, the AA community have already coalesce around BO.
June 30, 2008 6:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
You fall into the same fallacy that Eric does. This ad isn't intended to sway African-Americans. It's designed for normal white people.
It didn't take the Republicans long to pick up on Karl Rove's elitist talking points.
June 30, 2008 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Some of the GOP's best friends are black, don't ya know!
June 30, 2008 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Precisely, AA are use to hearing this doublespeak. This ad is direct at the same folks that Bill Clinton was trying to polarize during the primaries. It is aimed at white racial solidarity against the 'black' candidate.
Scurilous is what it is.
June 30, 2008 8:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, it's a fake astroturf group posing as a grassroots group and aiming its ads at white swing voters ("I heard Obama wasn't that good for black people anyway.").
July 3, 2008 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was going to say the same thing. The fact the members of this group are black is just the excuse they need to say things the vast majority of Republicans would like to say but can't. This an old-fashioned appeal to racism and just one more reminder that Obama is black.
July 1, 2008 9:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
If white people are "normal", are non-whites abnormal?
Just want to make sure I know my place.
July 1, 2008 8:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Normal white people. All snark intended.
July 1, 2008 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
OBAMA/CLINTON 2008 (George Clinton, that is. As per Minute 2:31 of the video...) :) I want the P-Funk!
June 30, 2008 6:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
HAHA! I noticed that.
They lost the Funkadelic vote!
June 30, 2008 7:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bow-wow-wow-yippee-yo-yippee-yay!
July 1, 2008 9:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Being Black, I find this offensive. I can also tell you that if the Black Republicans confront Black owned radio stations with this ad they will have their asses kicked back to Africa!! Have these people had their heads in the sand for the past 6 months? Obama has about 95% of the Black vote during the Primary!! Attack Obama or Michelle and we will come in in droves come November to vote for Obama. We will stand back and allow anybody, black or white unfairly attack them.
If this was a white person making these statements, al sharpton would be everywhere condemning it
What have the GOP done for Black people recently. Or poor people. They are nowhere near nominating a black person to be nominated for the Presidency!! They should be supporting Obama. Benedict Arnolds, all of them!!!!
June 30, 2008 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't you just love the smell of desperation in the morning? I simply cannot understand how or why there are African American republicans, or Gay republicans, or women, or... Okay, I can't understand why anyone who isn't a rich, white, Christian male would chose to associate with this party.
The more they attempt to smear, the more voters will turn out to vote against them this year.
Sorry, smear campaigns are so 2004...
PEACE
June 30, 2008 7:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
June 30, 2008 9:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
July 1, 2008 9:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yep, this is for white voter consumption. Elitist? I find that offensive and completely untrue. How many houses does obama have by the way? And how much in credit card debt? And ummm, does he pay property taxes like little people? Elitist? How in the f*ck do republicans get away with this all the time? The elitist party is the republican party. It really is kafkaesque.
June 30, 2008 6:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think they get away with it because the "consultants" to Democratic campaigns are literally fifth columnists. How on earth did a creature like gwb get into the White House, much less a second term? Because the Democrats do absolutely everything they possibly can to self-destruct, that's how. They run against their base, they say incredibly stupid things, they don't stand up for anything or stand up to anything. And all because of the "advice" they get from "consultants."
June 30, 2008 7:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, whoever it is for, they certainly got it wrong. It was the vast majority of blacks that voted for Obama that are racist.
June 30, 2008 6:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gee, it just couldn't be that Obama represented the ideas that they wanted in a prez and Hillary didn't now, could it? You know, things that actually count to most Americans such as not voting for the war...or "as far as I know".
June 30, 2008 7:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's sad that you probably don't even realize how bigoted that statement is.
June 30, 2008 7:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ummmmmm..... No. What's sad is that anybody can actually fool themselves into believing it's mere coincidence that over 90% of African Americans voted for the African American candidate.
Nothing racist there. No sir. Everybody just move along now.
June 30, 2008 8:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's sad EastWest is that you had no complaints when black people voted over 90% Democratic for the pass 30 years for white candidates.
If it wasn't racist when blacks voted as a block for a white candidate, why is it racist now?
June 30, 2008 8:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think we're wasting our time with these two.
June 30, 2008 8:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're tying yourself into knots trying to justify African American racism. And when your "argument" such as it is won't hold water you claim to be wasting your time and want to bail out of the discussion. It wouldn't be a waste of time if you actually had the high ground here. But you don't. And you know you don't, which is why you want to run away from it.
Racism is racism. No matter what color skin the racist has.
And as for that specious crap about 90% of blacks voting for whites before this, so what? If you're trying to say they were just waiting for a black candidate they could vote for instead, you know what that makes them? Racists!
If you vote for somebody based on his race that makes you a racist. Period.
Getting back to my original point: Anybody not besotted by His Divine Lightness can see that if over 90% of "AA's" as you call them voted for The Dear Leader - It isn't a coincidence! It's racism!
June 30, 2008 9:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Voting for an individual who's acting in your best interest isn't racist.
You're a fool.
June 30, 2008 9:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
"You're a fool." The rheorical equivalent of "Oh, yeah? Well, you're a mean old poopy head!"
Voting for somebody because of their race is racism. You can put lipstick on a duck, but at the end of the day it's still a duck. Only a fool would believe otherwise. Only a racist would claim otherwise.
June 30, 2008 9:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was runnin' through the summer rain,
Tryin' to catch the evening train,
Until that old familiar pain,
Went weavin through my tangled brain,
When I tipped my bottle back,
I smacked into a cop I didn't see . . .
That police man said, "Mr. Cool,
If you ain't drunk, then you're a fool."
I said, "If that's against the law,
Tell me why I never saw,
No man locked in that jail of yours,
who wasn't just as lowdown poor as me?"
This is a test . . . This is only a test.
June 30, 2008 9:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gotta add a PS here....
Clinton and Obama are as close as they come idealogically. The only criterion you can be using to determing "acting in your best interest" is race. That, Fathoms old buddy, is racism.
Quack.
June 30, 2008 9:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
You flunked . . .
June 30, 2008 10:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lipstick on a duck. Quack.
June 30, 2008 10:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
You could possibly have managed to claim to be making a plausible point until you then claimed that african americans voting for whites all these years didn't show that they weren't just voting based on race. that just doesn't make any sense. if they were voting purely based on race then they wouldn't have voted for any white candidates beforehand. or are you suggesting they (conveniently for your argument) just started voting based on race this time only. also, what about the millions of whites who voted for only white candidates all these decades? are they also racist since they weren't voting for any nonwhite candidates?
July 1, 2008 12:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why anyone thinks that the demographic group that was the least likely to vote for George W. Bush, Worst President Ever by popular acclaim, is beyond me.
June 30, 2008 10:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
What I meant was:
Why anyone thinks that the demographic group that was the least likely to vote for George W. Bush, Worst President Ever by popular acclaim, needs to apologize for their voting patterns is beyond me.
June 30, 2008 10:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
And your stellar record of voting for white people is what? Not racist? buhwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Please find a republikkkan site to blog on. You are ridiculous.
June 30, 2008 10:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Funny, Why is it racist for Black people to vote our interest? isn't that what people do when they vote? They find the candidate that mirriors their own intrerst the most, and vote for them. Why is it racist if the candiate is black, and black people vote for him. Using that logic would I be wrong in saying that every white person that voted for a white candidate was racist, of course I know thats not true, but the argument can be made. And I must remind you that it wasn't just Black people that voted for him. There were lots of Whites that voted for him also. Look lets face it, this was a long time in comming.
July 1, 2008 8:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
speaking like you have facts when you only offer your opinion as fact. fogu2 always the same always wrong!
June 30, 2008 11:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
speaking like you have facts when you only offer your opinion as fact. fogu2 always the same ...always wrong!
June 30, 2008 11:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was soooo happy when my college team flamed out in the Sweet Sixteen. Lord knows I didn't want them to reach the ELITE Eight
In fact, I wish America was mediocre. I mean, why settle for the best you can have the rest?
We've had 7+ years of stoopid. I look forward to someone with a brain.
And for those idiots who want a President you can have a beer with. Our current President is too much a pussy to even handle a beer.
June 30, 2008 6:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
This ad won't make it to market.
June 30, 2008 7:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously. Eric, why even call it an ad? It's a youtube slideshow with a voiceover, it barely qualifies as a "video". If someone pays for this to be broadcast, it's an ad. Until then, it's rudimentary Internet slime, only remotely interesting because there's a (tiny) established group associated with it. The Obama Girl videos have more impact and relevance than this nonsense.
June 30, 2008 10:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Alan Keyes, JC Watts and the condiliar are an "Association" now ???
June 30, 2008 7:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
They appear to have um, nominated one. Has a single African American Republican presidential candidate ever won so much as a primary?
June 30, 2008 7:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Comic relief, my ass. This is just more poison from the Lost Boys.
It's an unbelievably stupid thing to call Dems out on. They just nominated a Black man - yet they won't vote for one? If any Black person - or any non-Black person - falls for this...wow.
June 30, 2008 7:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
This kind of politics is poisonous for America and the world. Racism is lethal and one of the real "poisons" that is killing our earth.
June 30, 2008 7:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is Rove behind this???
June 30, 2008 7:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can you explain the ideas that Obama presented that Clinton didn't? I did not see all that much policy difference, so having 95% of the Black vote is interesting.
June 30, 2008 8:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't get the idea here. They are claiming that Democrats won't vote for Obama because he is Black, but that Blacks should not vote for him because he is elitist. Is that actually the claim or am I confused?
June 30, 2008 8:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who is actually associated with this so-called group? I would actually like to see these 'black' people before I just assume they're actually Black Republicans--b/c that is a def minority in this country...
June 30, 2008 9:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
'black republicans'?!? is that an oxymoron? sorta like 'defense intelligence' or 'jumbo shrimp', i guess. by the way, did anyone see the GOP convention in 2004. there was one event on stage that had several 'black republicans' or people of that leaning and the audience was entirely white. i guess the GOP wanted to show it was 'diverse'. it looked like a utah jazz game. how silly.
June 30, 2008 9:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
So... it's a bunch of black, elitist millionaires calling Obama a black, elitist millionaires. Wonder how that's going to turn out.
Given what I heard about the whole "keepin' it real" thing (no "selling-out"), I don't think blacks are going to listen to the NBRA all that much. Call it a hunch...
June 30, 2008 10:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
As a black person it is so comical to see "black" people try to play the game.
This is not our game to play and we look awkward and stupid. The Kennedy's made black people Democrats in his plea to us to become POTUS and that is why we still vote Democrat. Its the same reason why many white people vote Democrat or Republican because our parents told us to by their actions and influences.
Racism will never go away because for some reason the "Great" country can never be blimished but I think we all went thru puberty. I just can't believe Americans can't except which is clear written in our history books. Black people know that this can never be corrected but white America seem to never want to accept their own history as we are forced to in this educational system.
As for Barack, he IS our only choice that has been provided by our masters like soul food. We will accept anything that you give us and we are still Americans as it Rev. Wright. But, we can not be angered by our position as Pat Buchana says, "no other country has done so much for black people". I like this line because we have always appreciated been enslaved and building a country on our free labor. Lets see if the IBEW, CWA, etc. will be willing to do the same. I think they should but that wouldn't be "American".
So, lets all look at this as an opportunity to count our blessings and what we have today and say "Thank God for America".
June 30, 2008 10:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
ohh goodness. i am black as well. unfortunately who can be upset because everything they said was in fact true. if they said something that was a lie then i could get upset.
June 30, 2008 11:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am not angry. I am just not surprised that we try so hard to fit in and forget who we are. It is very interesting to see that so few are feared as much.
I am speaking to the interest any black person would find in this country other than just being here an what it takes to survive. At the end of the day, all of this means nothing. We play because we have nothing else to do.
BTW... I was taught a half truth was a lie. Barack voted against a minimum wage law because it was no sufficient for todays economy. If you tell someone something, it should be complete and not manipulated to get your agreement. But, we can accept what we are told or raise the black fist.
June 30, 2008 11:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Something interesting to read:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/us/01texas.html
There is no reason to get upset at all. Let us dream of the day when all men are created equal.
June 30, 2008 11:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
my favorite quote from that piece:
"“Joe is not some wild cowboy,” Mr. Horn’s lawyer, Charles T. Lambright, said at a news conference on Monday. “He was put in a place where he didn’t have any other choice.”"
'any other choice' indeed. he was sitting in his house with a loaded shotgun in his hands talking on the phone for several minutes being told to stay put by a dispatcher and he CHOSE to get up off of his ass and CHOSE to walk outside of his home and CHOSE to point his shotgun at the two men and CHOSE to pull the trigger three times killing both men. I thought the conservative 'law and order' types were all about personal responsibility or does that only apply to minorities and poor people???
I can't see or haven't seen any evidence suggesting someone was standing behind him with a gun FORCING him to do so and taking away his choice to not do anything other than let the police whom he was told were enroute to do their job. He wasn't in the 'hood, so being told the police were on their way actually meant they would get there and show up shortly which they did.
Just because the men were undocumented immigrants and committing a crime didn't mean they deserved to die. they were threatening loss of property not life or limb. the punishment should have been commensurate with the crime. I can't see how this is anything other than premeditated murder. He said he was going to kill them and went out there with the intent to do so and he did. not to mention, if you listen to the tape there was no time for them to surrender or accede to his command, he yelled and then shot them. in the back. what a fucking coward! they were no threat to him.
July 1, 2008 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama told us this was coming..."they will try to scare you.." "...they will you you I'm Black"...
I can't wait to see the big Nov. loss all over these Repugs...
June 30, 2008 11:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
This reminds me of a stand up routine that talked about the Alaska KKK - they were very focused.. "We hate Earl" (I'm mangling it but you get the point).
I have a feeling the National Black Republican Association is a lot like that. "We represent all the African American Republicans. Alan, Joe, Rick and Wilbur over there."
July 1, 2008 2:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
My favorite part is in minute when they show Martin Luther King Jr. looking all awesome and then show Barack Obama looking all shaggy with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. That made me laugh.
July 1, 2008 5:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty I'm Free at last.
Free to vote for who I want, Free to vote when the time comes, Free to be me, Free not be a racist or intimadated by the AA republicans.
Free to vote for Obama, not just because he is black, but this country is heading in the wrong direction and it's time for a change. The AA republicans whomever they may be, cannot tell me otherwise, you take the bitter with the sweet and keep on pushing.
The AA republicans are already defeated they're not telling me nothing that I haven't already heard or read, if this is their smear tatic or scare tatic has not convinced me to do otherwise.
Racism will always be in this country even if it's your own race that's doing all the bad mouthing no matter what your skin color is, but I chose not to particapate in the racism. Racism is unpleasant, it stinks, it's lowdown and dirty, but there are some who just can't help themselves so they chose to take this path and feel good about it.
It is my understanding that all people bleed the same color of blood, which is (RED) no matter what your skin color is.
OBAMA POTUS 08
July 1, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is nothing new. One of the oldest tricks in the book is to divide and conquer. Turn one segment of the targeted population against another and then sit back reaping the benefits of their disunity.
The best slave-catchers were other african tribesmen not europeans. They knew the terrain and the language. They were much more effective.
The best indian trackers and fighters were other indians. Again, they knew the terrain and the language. They were much more effective.
The white repubs figure they can't get away with openly using race as a bludgeon to attack obama so they'll let some african american repubs do it for them.
July 1, 2008 1:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Those guys need the Drop Squad.
July 4, 2008 7:09 AM | Reply | Permalink