May 6, 2010
Not bad for a party of racists
Don't look now but one of the left's favorite attack vectors against the Republicans is about to crash and burn.
At least 32 African Americans are running for Congress on the Republican label. The Washington Post ascribes this sudden influx of new African American blood to Obama:
Among the many reverberations of President Obama's election, here is one he probably never anticipated: at least 32 African-Americans are running for Congress this year as Republicans, the biggest surge since Reconstruction, according to party officials. The House has not had a black Republican since 2003, when J. C. Watts of Oklahoma left after eight years. But now black Republicans are running across the country.
[...]
Party officials and the candidates themselves acknowledge that they still have uphill fights in both the primaries and the general elections, but they say that black Republicans are running with a confidence they have never had before. They credit the marriage of two factors: dissatisfaction with the Obama administration, and the proof, as provided by Mr. Obama, that blacks can get elected.'
Methinks it is more of the former rather than the latter. Black Republicans, for the most part, eschew the politics of racial identity and run for office based on their record of accomplishment - just like any other candidate. This, more than the color of their skin, will make them competitive - or not - in the districts they are running.
Not bad for a party of "racists," eh?
Hat Tip: Ed Lasky