I admit, I’m surprised: Romney campaign stirs the racial pot
I wish I didn’t have to write this, but apparently I do:
In his ambition to become president, Mitt Romney is trotting out the race card, calling upon and reinforcing old resentments and racial stereotypes to generate votes and support.
I had resisted that notion for months, despite evidence otherwise. I had given Romney a lot more credit than that, both as a person of decent instincts and as a leader. I honestly did not think that he would stoop to the likes of a Newt Gingrich, for example, with his description of Obama as “the food-stamp president” pursuing “Kenyan” values.
In addition, I think conservatives often have a valid point about the “race card” being played too quickly, based on too little evidence. I consider it a serious accusation that should only be made reluctantly, and only with sufficient proof to make it stick.
Unfortunately, the accumulating evidence against Romney has grown too powerful to deny.
Some of you perhaps came to this conclusion a while ago. Some of you no doubt reject it altogether and will continue to do so vehemently. That’s fine, because I’m only speaking for myself. And personally, the straw that broke the camel’s back came in a new interview with USA Today in which Romney charged that Obama was gutting the work requirement in welfare law in order to “shore up his base.”
Because as everyone knows, Obama’s true base can be found among those shiftless Americans too lazy to work and eager to collect welfare bucks for doing nothing, right Mitt? (And if you doubt the power of that narrative among an alarmingly large number of Americans, come back in an hour and read the comments that are sure to follow this post).
In hindsight, the claim that Obama was trying to gut the work requirement — and the prominent play that the Romney camp has given the claim — should have been enough to confirm his shameful intentions. In one ad, for example, Romney claims that “Under Obama’s plan, you wouldn’t have to work and you wouldn’t have to train for a job. They just send you your welfare check.”
Every independent observer to study the claim has confirmed that it is false. Not just slightly false, totally false. Politifact calls it a pants-on-fire lie. The Washington Post gives it Four Pinocchios. FactCheck.org also concluded the charge is false.
The reality is that several state governments, including Republican administrations in Utah and Nevada, sought flexibility in how to administer the law. That’s a conservative idea, right? Give states flexibility in figuring out how best to do things? When Obama took office, just 29 percent of welfare recipients were actually working or taking job training, so the idea of trying something new seemed attractive.
As Gary Herbert, the Republican governor of Utah, wrote in a letter last month defending the waiver request, “Some of these participation requirements are difficult and costly to verify, while other participation requirements do not lead to meaningful employment outcomes and are overly prescriptive.” Utah has no intention whatsoever of weakening work requirements, Herbert wrote.
But when the administration acceded to such requests, it was immediately accused of wanting to give taxpayer money away to welfare bums.
But again, the falsity of the charge is not what gives it away. What gives it away is the Romney campaign’s insistence on taking a very minor bureaucratic change and trying to elevate it into a major issue in the campaign. There is only one possible explanation for pushing the welfare claim so hard, and for hinting that the change is being implemented to “shore up (Obama’s) base.”
And that is an appeal to racism.
– Jay Bookman
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1,111 comments Add your comment
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
August 27th, 2012
3:41 pm
Morality?
August 27th, 2012
3:34 pm
Thugette – show me where he said that he asked the fed gub’ment to drop the work requirement specifically. Put up or shut up Thugette.
Ooooh a manly man! I may just swoon!
First, President Obama has not removed the work in welfare YOU BIG SILLY!
Second, if you have opposable thumbs you just might be able to google the issue and discover a copy of a letter signed by Mr. Romney (yes! his very self) asking for what the President has done.
Smarten up or not. Your pick.
Mr. Silly Pants.
Bristol Palin
August 27th, 2012
3:42 pm
Common Characteristics of a Welfare client:
1: Less than a HS diploma
2: No marketable working skill sets
3: Having children prior to 18
4: Having children out of wedlock
If the shoe fits, wear it!
Don't Tread
August 27th, 2012
3:42 pm
I see…pointing out that giving money to people who don’t want to work for it is now “racism”?
Say, where’d those goalposts go, Stretch?
Morality?
August 27th, 2012
3:42 pm
Now you insult mid western farmers by saying they are 99.9% white and are on welfare. First of all farmers are only about 1% to 2 % of the population and while it is true they often receive gub’ment subsidies it isn’t welfare. Perhaps you should start looking on labels to be sure you aren’t getting food grown in the USA. You pricks are a dime a dozen.
hitch
August 27th, 2012
3:43 pm
USMC – how’s the economy? Well, it’s a whole lot better than it was on Jan. 20, 2009 when Bush left office. Dow Jones down 25% under GWB, UP 60% under Obama. Romney: “Let GM go bankrupt.” Yeah, he’ll do wonders for the economy.
USMC
August 27th, 2012
3:43 pm
“You got the first word right but the second word is Tigers. L S U!”–Getalife
LOL! I thought I might get a laugh out of you Getalife. Glad to see you still have a pulse and sense of humor! SEC SEC SEC.
(You can go ahead and thank us for your new QB, Zack Mecklenburg. He’s going to be good for you guys this year.)
Lord Help Us
August 27th, 2012
3:43 pm
Sham, give this article a read:
‘Of the 12 most recent ads posted, five are about welfare. That’s more than the number dedicated to health care (four) or introducing Paul Ryan (one) or the economy (one).’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/08/27/race-and-the-2012-election/
I see evidence of a strategy (possibly backed into it when it showed results), but, nonetheless, evidence of a strategy that will likely persist.
RB from Gwinnett
August 27th, 2012
3:44 pm
I’d still like one of you libs to tell me how long somebody needs to be on welfare/section 8/food stamps/peachcare/etc before they stop being poor.
And what causes most of our “less fortunate to be less fortunate anyway?
getalife
August 27th, 2012
3:44 pm
My views on you cons is well known but I think we can blame the gop for your radicalization.
I think the DHS needs a huge increase of funding to focus on this threat.
Gail
August 27th, 2012
3:44 pm
With around 13% of the US population being black, I don’t think that Mitt Romney was talking racial. You and others inferred that. I believe that there are more white people on welfare so to say it was a racial statement is a stretch.
WAW
August 27th, 2012
3:45 pm
Come January, they gonna change the commodes in the White House. That ain’t gonna really be necessary ’cause the (R)’s are just waiting to mess up the buttermilk.
Steve
August 27th, 2012
3:45 pm
Good God Almighty, the libs and progressives are so thin. They don’t say word one about Biden’s deliberate and scripted race bating with the “put ya’ll back in chains” bomb but they climb all over Romney when he makes a joke. You people are so transparent we can see right through you. Nothing there…hollow…ZERO substance.
Peadawg
August 27th, 2012
3:45 pm
“I admit, I’m surprised: Romney campaign stirs the racial pot”
I admit, I’m surprised: Jay has stooped to reaching for the race card.
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/14274/WTKWereYouThinking.jpg
ITS ALL BUSHS FAULT
August 27th, 2012
3:46 pm
Common Characteristics of a Tea Party member:
1: Less than a HS diploma
2: No marketable working skill sets
3: Having children prior to 18
4: Having children out of wedlock
getalife
August 27th, 2012
3:47 pm
“You can go ahead and thank us for your new QB, Zack Mecklenburg.”
Yeah, we had to get Penn States quarterback in case he can’t take the pressure to beat Alabama.
Morality?
August 27th, 2012
3:47 pm
Fraid not – the economy isn’t doing better under Obama. Thugette you ranted a lot of words but proved NOTHING. That’s O.K. It’s your opinion and we all have one.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
August 27th, 2012
3:49 pm
Well, I was going to jump in here but after reading the comments I see y’all already have plenty of rednecks on here and I couldn’t of said it better than them, especially this Jim.
So I’ll just say have a good night everybody.
JP
August 27th, 2012
3:49 pm
Obama has run a real slime campaign full of lies and pandering. Loved it when Obama minion Stephanie Cutter got caught in a lie about the Joe Soptic ad. If you want the news, go the Fox. No self-respecting fish would want to be wrapped up in the AJC.
Rodney King
August 27th, 2012
3:50 pm
Can’t we all just get along????
Jay
August 27th, 2012
3:50 pm
BTW, some additional info on that soldiers’ militia:
“Pauley said (Pvt) Aguigui funded the militia using $500,000 in insurance and benefit payments from the death of his pregnant wife a year ago. Aguigui was not charged in his wife’s death, but Pauley told the judge her death was “highly suspicious.”
She said Aguigui used the money to buy $87,000 worth of semiautomatic assault rifles, other guns and bomb components that were recovered from the accused soldiers’ homes and from a storage locker. He also used the insurance payments to buy land for his militia group in Washington state, Pauley said.
Jm
August 27th, 2012
3:50 pm
Appears the liberals are caught in a vortex on this one
They can’t decide if Romney is racist, or if they are racist because they assumed Romney was racist when he referred to welfare recipients which they assume are black
Liberals are a mess
Steve-USA "None of the Above"
August 27th, 2012
3:50 pm
ITS ALL BUSHS FAULT -
You are crazy but I get a laugh out of your posts. I will give you this you certainly have endurance when it comes to ranting.
I salute you!
They BOTH suck
August 27th, 2012
3:50 pm
http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/112/2005_Romney_Letter.pdf
Brosephus™
August 27th, 2012
3:50 pm
Scout
Please retract asap. Once again, you are as wrong as any one individual can be.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/08/obama-orders-flags-at-half-staff-for-armstrong/1?csp=34
President Obama has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff for Neil Armstrong’s funeral, now set for Friday.
Obama ordered the action as “a mark of respect for the memory of Neil Armstrong.”
Once again, you simply amaze me at how one can jump to so many conclusions and be so wrong.
Sandra
August 27th, 2012
3:51 pm
For any of you who think this is not racism, let me give a real fact about racism in my family (of which I am deeply ashamed but it doesn’t change the facts of it!). My brother spouted that non-sense to me and I asked him who this change was targeted at. It wasn’t poor whites on welfare, it was those sorry, good for nothing n…..gers and filthy Mexicans that he (Obama) wanted to pay off to keep them voting for him. (please keep in mind that these were his words and NOT mine). When I explained that Mitt’s statement had been proven to be a lie by many sources and that it did not reduce the work requirement, he just told me that I didn’t know what I was talking about and all these ‘liberal media’ folks just ignore the truth. I told him that was racist and he said yes he was and proud of it. He tends to forget where he came from. I could only tell him that I love him but at the same time am very ashamed of his attitude. The really said thing is that there are so many people out there just like him. Georgia is full of them!
So for you people who say it doesn’t matter, I will tell you that you can be entitled to your opinion but you are never entitled to make up your own facts. Neither is Romney or any of his billionaires.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
August 27th, 2012
3:51 pm
Steve
August 27th, 2012
3:45 pm
Good God Almighty, the libs and progressives are so thin. They don’t say word one about Biden’s deliberate and scripted race bating with the “put ya’ll back in chains” bomb but they climb all over Romney when he makes a joke. You people are so transparent we can see right through you. Nothing there…hollow…ZERO substance.
for the umpteenth time – Santorum shackles
You say mater….
Skip
August 27th, 2012
3:51 pm
At least the Con’s have come over to the It’s not just Blacks that are on welfare. From now on half the time “welfare mom” will mean the white chick with big hair. All thanks to Jay.
Thulsa Doom
August 27th, 2012
3:51 pm
Brocephus,
Well it just happens to be true. There are in fact more whites on welfare. It may be very statistically misleading but it is true nonetheless.
Jay’s is just reaching and stretching really far to inject race into everything- particularly in this latest rant. Race baiting is a staple of the kook left. Its what they do.
josef
August 27th, 2012
3:52 pm
And, Big Daddy, right on time there comes the Du-k-sha-nee…hee, hee. Right?
Morality?
August 27th, 2012
3:52 pm
Go Dawgs! Beat them scanky Game Crocks and Spuddier. UGA is #1.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
3:53 pm
Brosephus:
I just saw this and therefore retract my statement. However, I think he deserved more than just the day of his funeral. Should have happened immediately as was done on two recent occasions for others and for longer.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/08/obama-orders-flags-at-half-staff-for-armstrong/1
Brosephus™
August 27th, 2012
3:53 pm
I’d still like one of you libs to tell me how long somebody needs to be on welfare/section 8/food stamps/peachcare/etc before they stop being poor.
Can you point to where somebody can be on welfare/section 8/food stamps/peachcare/etc and become rich?
THe stupid is strong with that one….
Nothing worse that setting up a bogus argument for someone to defend. Well, hombre, defend your own bogus argument for once.
They BOTH suck
August 27th, 2012
3:54 pm
Bro
Shouldn’t be amazing any longer. Closer along the lines of expected.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
August 27th, 2012
3:54 pm
Morality?
August 27th, 2012
3:47 pm
Fraid not – the economy isn’t doing better under Obama. Thugette you ranted a lot of words but proved NOTHING. That’s O.K. It’s your opinion and we all have one.
teh dim runs deep in this one
pointing and laughing at YOU…
Welcome to the Occupation
August 27th, 2012
3:54 pm
Class of ‘98 : “Blacks will vote for him no matter what, because of the color of his skin.
That’s actually a racist statement.
ATLAS SHRUGGING
August 27th, 2012
3:55 pm
Bookman you could have blogged about someting important like….
The three networks have, thus far, ignored the revelation that American taxpayers will only recover a mere $24 million of the $527 million lost on Solyndra, a new report by the Dow Jones newswire revealed last week.
The evening newscasts and morning shows have skipped the announcement.
The Washington Examiner explained on Thursday, “In a little-noticed move, Solyndra LLC officially released it bankruptcy plan this week. The official word from it is that taxpayers will recover only $24 million of the about $527 million.”
The only utterance of Solyndra last week came when Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus brought it up on Sunday’s This Week.
Talking to an unhappy-looking George Stephanopoulos, the RNC chairman zinged, “The entire philosophy of…Barack Obama can be summarized in one word and that’s Solyndra. That’s Barack Obama’s philosophy.”
The Examiner piece quoted the Dow newswire as pointing out that “documents filed Friday evening in a Delaware bankruptcy court say private equity firms, including one whose chief has ties to the Obama administration, will get back at least half of the $70 million they put into Solyndra early last year as the company battled for survival.”
As the Examiner’s Sean Higgins reminded, “US taxpayers, on the other hand, won’t be so lucky.”
U.S. taxpayers will lose 95.5 percent of their investment, but Obama-connected investigators will get back “at least half.” Imagine how the media would react if the situation was reversed and this were true of a Republican president and his or her wealthy donors.
Thulsa Doom
August 27th, 2012
3:55 pm
Some nice fictional stories here today.
“I will tell you that you can be entitled to your opinion but you are never entitled to make up your own facts. Neither is Romney or any of his billionaires.”
And “Romney or any of his *billionaires*” has what to do with your story about a racist brother??? Nice story and then you lost all credibility with the rant at the end.
USMC
August 27th, 2012
3:55 pm
“USMC – how’s the economy? Well, it’s a whole lot better than it was on Jan. 20, 2009 when Bush left office. Dow Jones down 25% under GWB, UP 60% under Obama. Romney: “Let GM go bankrupt.” Yeah, he’ll do wonders for the economy.”
That’s a LOSER for you this year, Hitch, and the DemocRat operatives know it. Obama has had 4 years to fix the economy and he has been an utter failure and “everyone” knows it; hence the war on women, and racism charges, The HAVES and HAVE NOTS, etc.
Obama has dug our country into a fiscal disaster. Obama is in WAY over his head. The tide is turning. How can Obama possibly defend his record??? They can’t.
Ahem
August 27th, 2012
3:55 pm
Steve Shamrock
August 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
Jay is squirming…
Give him a break. He is standing here after having his pants pulled down.
Brosephus™
August 27th, 2012
3:56 pm
Well it just happens to be true. There are in fact more whites on welfare. It may be very statistically misleading but it is true nonetheless.
And pray tell how that is misleading? What is misleading about more welfare participants being White as opposed to Black? Percentages don’t cost money. Actual people do. So who costs taxpayers more tax dollars for welfare Blacks or Whites? Answer that one, and explain how that is misleading.
Jim Pierce
August 27th, 2012
3:56 pm
Bookman the baiter……….
Sandra
August 27th, 2012
3:56 pm
@Jim,
Obivously you are tired of Jay’s ’slanted’ views but Kyle Wingfields are ‘fair and balanced’???
getalife
August 27th, 2012
3:57 pm
More specifically, I blame the gop senate leader for his focus on getting our President after a collapse and not uniting to fight for our recovery. He fought against our recovery to divide our country all for the next election..
Divided we failed and now you cons are radical extremists..
Compromise
August 27th, 2012
3:57 pm
“It’s not just Blacks that are on welfare. From now on half the time “welfare mom” will mean the white chick with big hair. ”
Now you’re talking, too many people, white or black, without jobs.
Morality?
August 27th, 2012
3:57 pm
Like Jessie “himey” Jackson said black folks aren’t capable of being racist – at least no their definition of racist. Never mind the “New Black Panther Party”.
TaxPayer
August 27th, 2012
3:58 pm
Income Status of Children (in families) under Age 18 in 50 states for 2010:
White
Poor:5,037,262
Not Poor:33,939,982
Black
Poor:3,855,570
Not Poor:6,292,439
Hispanic
Poor:5,383,915
Not Poor:11,243,163
Asian
Poor:417,183
Not Poor:2,848,744
Moderate Line
August 27th, 2012
3:59 pm
Unfortunately, the accumulating evidence against Romney has grown too powerful to deny.
+++++
Is Obama racist for not getting rid of the work requirement since Romney accusing Obama of getting rid of it is racism?
I don’t get this argument at all.
Brosephus™
August 27th, 2012
4:00 pm
Scout
Why don’t you run for president then? That way, you can be the one to make those decisions. It could be that Obama might be granting the wishes of a man who has pretty much led his life in private despite his national status. Who knows? I’ll leave that decision to Obama and the Armstrong’s. I’m more than certain that they have communicated with each other.
CJ
August 27th, 2012
4:01 pm
You start out in 1954 by saying, “Ni**er, ni**er, ni**er.” By 1968 you can’t say “ni**er” — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Ni**er, ni**er.”
Lee Atwater
Liberal Chicks Hate Kids
August 27th, 2012
4:02 pm
Oh brother. The only one playing the race card is YOU.
Mandingo
August 27th, 2012
4:03 pm
Jay , this double standard has always existed in our country. My father is 75 years old and retired from the Army after 30 years of service. He says anytime things get hard the average white guy has to try and find someone to blame for his troubles.We all can agree the average GOP white guy is not blessed with a lot of intellectual horsepower.This shrinking voting block will always pick up the bait and run with it.Welfare, no welfare , job , no job people will always do what they feel they have to to eat. ( legal or illegal ) Black Americans learned this lesson generations ago. Changing policies do not have the crushing effect most Johnny Rebs would like to believe it does on the poor.
Jefferson
August 27th, 2012
4:03 pm
Gomer is full.
Ahem
August 27th, 2012
4:03 pm
Methinks Jay wishes he could retract this one.
He may indeed wish that; but expecting a liberal retracting or apologizing is like waiting for Biden to overcome his bigotry. Ain’t gonna happen.
Recon 0311 2533
August 27th, 2012
4:04 pm
Is Jay also a paid Obama campaign worker.
josef
August 27th, 2012
4:04 pm
BROSEPHUS
This is just plain ignorance run amok. If I were reading this in the lilly white and progressive Pacific Northwest, all I’d have to do is replace Knee-grow with Drunken Indian, and it would translate verbatim. And that few melanin enhanced locals there would be right up in the middle of the bad mouthing and stereotypes.
Yes, the “Native” American does have a higher rate of alcoholism. Yes they do have the highest percentage of their population on the dole. The question is, why? Reckon maybe it might have something to do with that little thing called history?
You know how pissed I get whenever we throw this into “race” when what we are talking about is classes of people with a history of disenfranchisement. But, no, it’s black-white and nothing in between. Jeeeze…
Li'l Aynie
August 27th, 2012
4:04 pm
Romney is playing to his Tea Party supporters who have one and only one agenda: get those black people out of the White House!
deegee
August 27th, 2012
4:05 pm
I saw an unhappy looking Reince Priebus on Morning Joe this morning. Reince made the claim that Obama is trying to implement European economic policies. Chris Matthews went completely off on him. Chris was P.O.d about the whole “foreignization” of Obama from the GOP. He brought up the “no one ever asked to see my birth certificate” joke, the claims by the right that he is un-American, that he has no legitimate claim to the presidency, etc. It was quite the exchange of vitriol. Reince wasn’t happy at all.
Chris Sanchez
August 27th, 2012
4:05 pm
Claiming (correctly or incorrectly) that the Obama administration is trying to gut the work requirement for welfare is not racist. Saying that a potential Romney administration would “put ya’ll back in chains” is far more racist than anything the Romney camp has said.
Lies and more lies from ALL points of the political spectrum…it must be an election year!
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
4:05 pm
Here JAY ! Let me help you !
Charts:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Welfare+Charts&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=r9I7UOWVM5Si8gSc8YGoCA&ved=0CB4QsAQ&biw=1600&bih=805
Aquagirl
August 27th, 2012
4:06 pm
I just saw this and therefore retract my statement. However, I think he deserved more than just the day of his funeral. Should have happened immediately as was done on two recent occasions for others and for longer.
Oh, fer chrissakes. Just man up and admit it’s Obama, and whatever he does is wrong, period. And there’s nothing that will ever change your mind.
Mitt Who Are You?....Do You Trust A Man Who Wears Religious Underwear and Who Believes in the White Horse Prophecy?
August 27th, 2012
4:06 pm
@RB from Gwinnett
August 27th, 2012
3:44 pm
I’d still like one of you libs to tell me how long somebody needs to be on welfare/section 8/food stamps/peachcare/etc before they stop being poor.
And what causes most of our “less fortunate to be less fortunate anyway?
***************************************************************************************************************
HERE’S A QUARTER……
Call your sister
Call your mama
Call your cousin
Call your neighbor
Better yet…….How long will you stop being poor?
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
August 27th, 2012
4:06 pm
Recon 0311 2533
August 27th, 2012
4:04 pm
Is Jay also a paid Obama campaign worker.
The question is….Is Recon a paid sex worker?
Once maybe….twice tops
Morality?
August 27th, 2012
4:07 pm
Being on welfare doesn’t necessarily mean you are lazy and don’t want to work. It could actually mean that you have had bad luck in your life, drug addicted parents or an illness not caused by bad habits such as drugs, smoking, lack of exercise or eating bad food. I volunteer at a food bank and a whole lot of people have lost their life long jobs due to this depressing economy. Don’t label everyone on welfare as lazy or sorry because some are seeking work and want to work.
USMC
August 27th, 2012
4:07 pm
I admit, I’m NOT surprised: JAY BOOKMAN stirs the racial pot!
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
4:07 pm
This quote could never be more true than for this thread:
“The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”
Ronald Reagan
Peadawg
August 27th, 2012
4:07 pm
“Methinks Jay wishes he could retract this one.”
Atleast I HOPE he wishes to retract this one.
Loretta Paraguassu
August 27th, 2012
4:08 pm
Jay, you wrote this column with great restraint. The tactics of the Romney campaign are the tactics of individuals with no qualms about using racism, lies and deceptions of all manner and means.
Joe Hussein Mama
August 27th, 2012
4:08 pm
http://www.electoral-vote.com/
Looks even better with the Rasmussen data left out, too.
Brosephus™
August 27th, 2012
4:08 pm
josef
As I stated earlier, that statement has the hallmarks of being a double entendre. One can read/hear it and hear whatever they choose to make that statement mean. A racist will hear it as being racist. A classist will hear it as being classist. Whatever group one does not care much for will be the inherent target group in that statement.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
August 27th, 2012
4:08 pm
Chris Sanchez
August 27th, 2012
4:05 pm
Claiming (correctly or incorrectly) that the Obama administration is trying to gut the work requirement for welfare is not racist. Saying that a potential Romney administration would “put ya’ll back in chains” is far more racist than anything the Romney camp has said.
umpteenth and 1 ….Santorum….Shackles
you say tater
Jm
August 27th, 2012
4:09 pm
Common Characteristics of a Tea Party member:
1: Less than a HS diploma
2: No marketable working skill sets
3: Having children prior to 18
4: Having children out of wedlock
LinkReport this comment
-that’s incredibly racist
CJ
August 27th, 2012
4:09 pm
“The only one playing the race card is YOU.”
Actually, I suspect that Republican strategists have a two-pronged approach. First, they implement the Southern Strategy (bitherism, “free stuff”, welfare). Second, they simultaneously bait their opponents into accusing them of racism, so that they can play the victims: “Who? Us? You’re the one playing the race card.”
As far as Republican strategists are concerned, being accused of “playing the race card” is a bonus. It plays well for them. This comments section provides overwhelming evidence.
George Washington Carver
August 27th, 2012
4:09 pm
Hey, its too many people responding and talking here..Seems like a lot of Romney supporter. Mitt says, “Lets CUT TAXES for them and my rich buddies”.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 27th, 2012
4:10 pm
josef:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKDLQWEvubc
Lord Help Us
August 27th, 2012
4:10 pm
‘I’d still like one of you libs to tell me how long somebody needs to be on welfare/section 8/food stamps/peachcare/etc before they stop being poor.’
Heck, how long does it take someone to stop being purposefully ignorant…
TaxPayer
August 27th, 2012
4:12 pm
If only Republicans had something positive to say about their own candidates……….
Mitt Who Are You?....Do You Trust A Man Who Wears Religious Underwear and Who Believes in the White Horse Prophecy?
August 27th, 2012
4:12 pm
@Chris Sanchez
August 27th, 2012
4:05 pm
Claiming (correctly or incorrectly) that the Obama administration is trying to gut the work requirement for welfare is not racist. Saying that a potential Romney administration would “put ya’ll back in chains” is far more racist than anything the Romney camp has said.
Lies and more lies from ALL points of the political spectrum…it must be an election year!
*******************************************
SANCHEZ Myth Robme says, DEPORTAR a ti mismo de nuevo a Mexico
josef
August 27th, 2012
4:12 pm
BROSEPHUS
Yep.
JM
@ 4:09
How so? I am interested in knowing how you come to that conclusion and I assure you I am NOT being snarky…
bman
August 27th, 2012
4:12 pm
so, it seems as if Romney has joined the politics of today. If anyine truly believes this is bad, just wait for some of the things you will hear from the “other side” over the next couple of months.
On a mild, medium or hot scale? This is mild.
weetamoe
August 27th, 2012
4:12 pm
Usually a dog whistle is only a dog whistle and it cannot be heard by humans unless they pretend to hear it—kind of like pretending that suit really has an emperor in it. During the 2008 campaign the race card was played against the Clintons and against the ailing Geraldine Ferraro, once a democrat candidate for VP. The dead horse of racism has been beaten so often that nothing is left but the stink.
Williebkind
August 27th, 2012
4:13 pm
“1: Less than a HS diploma
2: No marketable working skill sets
3: Having children prior to 18
4: Having children out of wedlock”
Now that looks very familia of a particular group that will vote for Obama.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 27th, 2012
4:13 pm
Class of ‘98:
The number of whites voting against Obama in ‘08 in a state like say Mississippi was probably more or less exactly inversely proportional to the number of blacks who voted for him, give or take.
So which are the true racists?
Morality?
August 27th, 2012
4:13 pm
A lb admitting he is wrong happens about as often as a man stepping on the moon. We aren’t sure it ever really happened.
Thulsa Doom
August 27th, 2012
4:13 pm
Class of ‘98 : “Blacks will vote for him no matter what, because of the color of his skin.
That’s actually a racist statement.- Welcome to the occupation
So is it racist if it also happens to be factually accurate some if not much of the time?
Hows about the ole Howard Stern experiment on the streets of Harlem? He takes McCain’s positions such as on abortion, the Iraq war, etc. and attributes them to Obama in his man on the street interviews. And then the respondents state that it because of these positions that they will vote for Obama. It pretty much drove the point home. And in a humorous way also I might add. So I guess Howard Stern is a right wing racist also huh?
http://thesilentmajority.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/howard-sternlisten-and-weep-man-on-the-street-in-harlem/
DebbieDoRight - The Only Thing Wrong With Capitalism is Capitalists..
August 27th, 2012
4:14 pm
First off, let me say that I’m amazed at the lack of reading comprehension for some on this blog. Then I’m going to repost their illiterate drivel, (the names have been changed, blah, blah, blah):
President Obama and his campagin have “not” done the same thing? What about telling Americans that Romney has committed a felony? I could go on and on and on with ridiculous things Obama’s campaign has done. But what is the point? The point to all of this is that BOTH SIDES lie…
OBAMA has come out of the closet and suggested something RACIAL about Romney? Please cite link.
Inaccurate claim – OK. Trying to paint a false picture of who Obama’s base is – OK. Racism – I don’t think so. You haven’t made the connection, unless you think that everyone on the right thinks that everyone on welfare is black
They do.
Not surprised the left equate a comment about poor and welfare as “racist.” Aren’t they the ones who Biden said we wanted to put the chains on
You, I imagine, are a part of the “Republican Delusional Brigade”; who refused to see anything wrong with anything a republican does. I feel very sorry for you.
True story- The security guard at my inlaw’s country club has quit after several years (decades) of service. Why? According to her, she can make more on welfare than working
Oh please! After working 70 years, she wasn’t quitting, she was RETIRING!! Duh! And that “welfare” she was going to get? Well, it’s really her SSI or Pension that she EARNED!
You guys are really, really, too far gone. Really.
josef
August 27th, 2012
4:15 pm
HE WHOSE NAME I MAY NOT USE
Yep. And don’t we all take a nice stroll down the Trail of Crocodile Tears with that one…? He just sooooo fits our stereotype…
TaxPayer
August 27th, 2012
4:15 pm
Then again, Republicans probably see “race baiter” as a positive attribute for Mitt. It must appeal to them.
Thulsa Doom
August 27th, 2012
4:15 pm
“Heck, how long does it take someone to stop being purposefully ignorant…”
Lord help us,
I dunno. A pretty long time I guess. You’ve been doing it since childhood….
Lord Help Us
August 27th, 2012
4:16 pm
‘Blacks will vote for him no matter what, because of the color of his skin.’
Just like blacks voted overwhelmingly for Bill Clinton ‘because of the color of his skin.’
Your ‘facts’ need some help…
josef
August 27th, 2012
4:16 pm
WELCOME
Why Mississippi? Why not, oh, say Indiana? Seriously, why…?
Greg
August 27th, 2012
4:16 pm
If there is any racism in this, it is put forth by you Jay. You are equating people on welfare to people of color. It is not a race issue at all, in fact I think it is perfectly clear that citizens receiving welfare are far more likely to be liberal and a part of Obama’s base rather than Romney’s simply because of policy choices, not race.
John Birch
August 27th, 2012
4:17 pm
Your comment…”Obama’s true base can be found among those shiftless Americans too lazy to work and eager to collect welfare bucks for doing nothing” says loads about your own perspective. You are clearly implying that welfare recipients, the shiftless and lazy, belong to a particular race, which is not true and, therefore, a blatantly racist comment on your part. You should be ashamed of yourself and seriously consider going back to that bastion of morality, Penn State, for further education in logic and journalism.
Doggone/GA
August 27th, 2012
4:17 pm
“was probably”
Your argument might have just a bit more credibility if you based it on FACTS, and not guesses
Sigh
August 27th, 2012
4:17 pm
Race baiting is something the GOP has gotten very good at, ever since they saw how effective it was with Willie Horton. The message then, and is now, is quite simple: white people work hard but “other people” (read into what you want) don’t work, but worse, they take from those hard workers in the form of handouts.
I haven’t seen all of Romney’s welfare ads, but the last one I did see had only the back of one black person’s head. Everybody else was white, and they were all working like the good citizens they are. That’s the racial undercurrent of these ads. It’s not meant to be obvious, so I’ll forgive those of you too dense to pick up on it. Once Romney has established who the “worker” group is (i.e., whites) and who the “other” group is (i.e., non-whites) through suggestion, he can refer to this division without invoking racist terms.
That’s exactly what he did in the interview. He then took it one step further and ascribed the “others” (remember, the people who take handouts and don’t work) as the President’s base.
The earlier post that mentioned this is more about “takers” or “those who have and those who don’t” is on target. Jay is also right, they are very much linked (and Romney thinks so too, since his ad linked them). The problem is, vast swaths of the United States perceive the “takers” to be minorities and Romney’s lying advertisement reinforces those beliefs. Even if you have an accurate view of welfare recipients, the “takers” argument still applies. By running this patently false advertisements (By the way, where is the outrage for lying to the American people? The race topic is important, but a candidate for the Presidency is LYING to us and still wants us to elect him?…but I digress), Romney is creating a dividing line between the “workers” and the “takers.” Make no mistake about it, his supporters view themselves firmly in the “workers” group.
The right’s media machine is amazingly effective. They understand nuance, the power of suggestion, and the barely-there racism that permeates within the “workers.” Then when they get called out on it, they get to call their detractors racist. Beautiful. It’s too bad that the right’s supporters can’t see how easily they’re being manipulated.
Thulsa Doom
August 27th, 2012
4:18 pm
Nothin like some good ole fashioned race baitin to get Jay and the kooks all stirred up. Romney and welfare recipients = red meat for the denizens of kook land.
USMC
August 27th, 2012
4:19 pm
“I admit, I’m surprised: Romney campaign stirs the racial pot”–JAY BOOKMAN
Everyone remember this article AFTER the election.
Jay has just thrown the towel into the ring.
This is really telling. Jay Bookman and his handlers have given up on “Obama’s Record” and are showing their hand. They know they have a loser and are flopping around like fish in a frying pan!
Jay knows deep down how much of a failure Obama has been.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 27th, 2012
4:19 pm
josef, funny you mention Indiana, which is where I sit as I write this..
TM
August 27th, 2012
4:21 pm
read the Wash Po link by Jay==Apparently you attack a lie with a lie
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign is being disingenuous when it suggests Romney sought the same sort of waiver authority when he was governor, when there is little evidence that is the case. The claim that Romney sought waiver authority in 2005 is worth a solid three.
Three Pinocchios
(for Obama)
josef
August 27th, 2012
4:21 pm
DDR
“True story- The security guard at my inlaw’s country club has quit after several years (decades) of service. Why? According to her, she can make more on welfare than working”
If after several decades of working there she was STILL making a low enough salary that welfare would be better, that seems to speak to more to the character of those employing her than her own character…I guess they never heard of the concept of a “living wage.”
George Washington Carver
August 27th, 2012
4:22 pm
@Lord Help Us …‘I’d still like one of you libs to tell me how long somebody needs to be on welfare/section 8/food stamps/peachcare/etc before they stop being poor.’
Lord, why don’t you go to Utah, Wyoming etc. and do research..They should tell you how long it takes. Since the millionaires there seems to like welfare and EBT programs.