Tampa and the invisible Southern white male
Cowboy-hatted Texas delegates were a strong presence on the floor of the Republican National Convention – but not so much on the stage. AP/Patrick Semansky
TAMPA — With Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in the history books, and a three-day meeting of Democrats in Charlotte only days away, one bankable fact is clear.
The modern convention – at least the part you see on television — is less about what a political party is, and more about who it needs.
As a result, there were many dogs that didn’t bark at the just-ended Republican National Convention.
Same-sex marriage was never disparaged, except in the vaguest terms. Illegal immigration received only a rare mention. When it did surface, the word “illegal” had disappeared. The tea party – the most important political movement of this young century – didn’t exist in Tampa. At least, not by name, and not on television.
The edges were smoothed on anything that might offend skittish independents needed if Romney is to win in November.
But the biggest dog that didn’t bark in Tampa – perhaps “howl” is the better word – was the Southern white male. Of the dozens and dozens of personalities that populated an Isaac-shortened roster of speakers, only a handful came from the GOP’s most reliable and dominant voter base.
Ted Cruz, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate from Texas, was part of the non-stop parade of Hispanics on the stage.
Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell, both U.S. senators from Kentucky, could be dismissed as mere border-state figures. To cite former Gov. Jeb Bush is to reignite the debate over whether Florida truly qualifies as part of the South.
And before you point to that Confederate veteran, the outlaw Josey Wales, remember that Clint Eastwood was once mayor of Carmel, Calif.
No, the only white males from traditional Southern states on the RNC’s prime-time stage were former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Attorney General Sam Olens, former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich, and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.
That’s actually less than meets the eye. Olens, Gingrich and McDonnell were required to share their podiums with women.
(This was particularly important for McDonnell, who this year introduced legislation to require some women seeking an abortion to obtain a transvaginal ultrasound. A less stringent version ultimately passed.)
“That’s bizarre,” conceded delegate and state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, addressing the lack of people who look like him who were put before TV cameras. He quickly elaborated that it bespeaks a successful future for the GOP – despite the fact that, according to one study, only 2 percent of the 2,286 delegates to the convention were African-American.
“The strongest message out of this whole deal is the strength of our farm team. No pun intended,” he said. Black pointed to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, former Alabama Democratic congressman Arturo Davis, and Mia Love, an African-American candidate for Congress from Utah.
“I celebrate it as a great way to depict the strength of the party. I don’t celebrate it as a smart move,” Black said.
And yet it was that, too.
“[Romney strategists] are more concerned about their swing states now, and they should be. I don’t feel snubbed,” said state Labor Commissioner Mark Butler, a convention guest.
Might there be other reasons for avoiding Southern men? Probably.
“It’s who endorsed who. And most of the folks in the South went with Newt,” said state Sen. Barry Loudermilk of Cassville. Olens, he pointed out, was the most prominent statewide elected official in Georgia to step out front for Romney.
But Loudermilk also agreed that the presidential contest is essentially over in the South.
In an interview this week, GOP strategist Ralph Reed said much the same thing – though on a slightly different topic. The Tampa convention became the place where Romney finally felt comfortable enough to discuss his Mormon faith.
Reed maintains that anti-Mormon bigotry is a bigger problem among liberals. The founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition admits that it exists among conservatives, too, but says that this no longer matters.
“If you’ve got a grandma sitting in the third row of an independent Baptist, white sideboard church who can’t bring herself to vote for a Mormon because she believes it’s a heresy, she’s more than likely in north Georgia, upstate South Carolina or eastern Tennessee,” Reed said. “And we don’t need her.”
Similarly, Republican support from Southern men is presumed. The race has moved elsewhere.
Democrats are no different. They need to reach across from the other side of the chasm in order to re-elect President Barack Obama.
Consider some of the speakers scheduled to appear this week: former President Bill Clinton, Georgetown law school graduate Sandra Fluke, Carolyn Kennedy, former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, and Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts candidate for U.S. Senate. An abundance of white faces will speak for a party whose base is largely African-American.
U.S. Rep. John Lewis will address the convention, but Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, who has become a semi-regular surrogate for Obama on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” currently has no televised speaking role in Charlotte.
The 2012 presidential contest isn’t about who is already in your corner. It’s about who isn’t.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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157 comments Add your comment
Bernie
September 1st, 2012
3:28 pm
rlm @ 3:02 pm – Pray tell where the Republicans have been inclusive, other than with the hand full of Billionaires of America. As a matter of fact Mitt despises his OWN Party! You little people of the Republican party, do not deserve to even see his taxes or provide to you any of his plans or intent other than MORE WAR for OUR Son’s and daughters. And that’s OK with All of YOU!
Surely he would never DO such a thing for his Fair headed precious BOYS! IF he is to make to the White House. Your hatred and disdain for the Black Man that currently occupies that residence, you reject more than anything even the obvious wrong FIT for America in Mitt! You are even willing to sacrifice the financial Welfare of this Great Nation in order, to try to prove what a failure President Obama is. When even that does not work, you and Mitt have resorted to age old VICE of LYING! Lying with a straight Face and looking directly into OUR EYES!
Despite ALL of your many FOUL actions and numerous attempts. President Obama has still managed to be ONE of the GREATEST PRESIDENTS that will be remembered IN American HISTORY. just the thought of such an accomplishment, makes Many of the Invisible White Males CRAZY! SELAH! ( That is the TRUTH)
You Guys need to get a grip on reality. Grow up and become an Adult. You need to stop being such pubescent children throwing tantrums. we are experiencing One of the greatest financial disasters created wholly by one of your most beloved ONES. W & and the torturing VAMPIRE, who seems to still live and continually to spew Hatred, even with another’s Heart!
I forgot to add that in the choice of Vice President was well, Who is the Author and CREATOR of the “GET GRANDMA MEDICARE PLAN”. Just throw Grandma and GrandPA and the rest of Us over the CLIFF. Without a care or second thought and YOU think That is a GREAT achievement! And Then on TOP of THAT…LIE ABOUT IT…and then say its NOT SO! They NOW say, they ARE THE ONES, who WILL SAVE IT!
GOOD GRIEF!
Willie
September 1st, 2012
3:41 pm
Galloway is just part of the hypocrite media too busy humpung Obamas leg in ratured joy to actually tell the truth. This column is another secretly coordinated obedient offering to Galloways’ masters.
The truth is the there are millions of republicans of color and that their ranks are growing as more and more folks see that the lumbering big government “solutions” of the democrats have utterly failed.
cc
September 1st, 2012
3:59 pm
20/20 @ 2:56 pm:
liberalefty said, “Obama is better than jesus because OBAMA is real and jesus is a myth”
This statement echoes the beliefs (non-beliefs) of a vast number of the socialists (formerly referred to as ‘libs’ when I was nice), and is truly a sickness in our nation. The Bible tells me that I am not to judge but that I would know them by their fruits. Unfortunately for liberalefty, there WILL be a judgment before one far more powerful than the Kenyan. Liberlefty will not be allowed an attorney or any protesters with signs showing their solidarity with him/her. He/she will face that judgment alone and hear the words, “Depart from me, I know you not.” There is one unpardonable sin and I believe you know what it is.
cc
September 1st, 2012
4:06 pm
newt schmoot @ 3:12 pm:
I haven’t seen it yet but am looking forward to it. Friends from other parts of the country have emailed me telling of long lines at the theaters where it is being shown. They have all commented on the number of young people and people of color forming those lines.
Apparently the Kenyan is finally being ‘vetted’!
cc
September 1st, 2012
4:08 pm
Bernie @ 3:28 pm:
Another pearl, Bernie! You are so funny!
Gulf Coast Rising News | Tampa and the invisible Southern white male – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)
September 1st, 2012
4:23 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
Bernie
September 1st, 2012
4:24 pm
cc @ 4:08 pm – It Would be funny, if it were not So sadly True……:)
Mark
September 1st, 2012
4:35 pm
Enter your comments here
honested
September 1st, 2012
4:45 pm
cc,
I’m sure you can find backwater little towns where a movie about a failed blowhard will sell a few tickets.
Pick dismally hot places with dark theaters and good A/C.
Nothing like taking a good nap while pointless drivel drones on from the screen.
honested
September 1st, 2012
4:46 pm
The simple truth is, it doesn’t matter what the repugniklans trotted out on the stage for their 5 share rated hate-fest, nobody cares.
Now they can look to 2014 and determine if they will have any sort of National presence, or just be a hate filled southern party.
honested
September 1st, 2012
4:48 pm
And to be clear, the ‘failed blowhard’ I referred to is not the President, but the producer.
20/20
September 1st, 2012
4:59 pm
A letter to the leftist/socialists who are constantly whining about the Republicans interfering with women’s rights, e.g., abortion, etc. Let me clear this up for you:
Point 1: An overwhelming majority of non-believers (atheists, agnostics, humanists, animists, seculars, etc.) are of the pro-choice faction; they believe it is a woman’s right to have an abortion -that it is a matter of a woman’s “health,” yada, yada, yada and so on ad nauseum.
Point 2: The above, in almost unanimous lock-step are Democrats and vote Democrat – come hell (no pun intended) or high water. They, almost unanimously, will not or will never vote for a Republican.
Point 3: A great majority of conservatives, i.e., Republicans are church-going believers in God and hold true as they can to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible;
The Republican Party is no more anti-woman than Hitler was a Sunday School Teacher. The media and Deborah Wasserman-Schultz, et al., have foisted that lie on the media which is all too happy to grab and run with it.
Liberals, Socialists have a person trying to get re-elected who has failed to get the American economy moving and has not created enough jobs to make a difference. He and the Democratic Party cannot let anyone go near his horrible record ergo the constant shift away from that and the national debt. As long as the Democrats deflect criticism and/or questions about the failed bin Obama presidency, they will have a fighting chance to win the re-election.
Libs, you really need to get away from the tired discussions of women’s rights, war on women, bin Obama’s accomplishments, etc. Get away from yesterdays tired non-argument about bin Obama “getting” bin Laden. I guess the Navy Seals were there to shoot a documentary.
Another blogger posted 80+ things that bin Obama promised he would do when he was elected and has failed to do. The count is growing. Fortunately for our Republic, not all voters are as ignorant of the actual facts as you on this blog are and they will vote accordingly…Romney.
cc
September 1st, 2012
5:02 pm
honested @ 4:45 pm
“a movie about a failed blowhard”
That accurately describes the movie. It is indeed “about a failed blowhard” soon to be exiting the White House. You finally admitted it so I guess there may be hope for you after all!
Congratulations for having the courage to speak the truth! You finally have lived up to your screen name!
cc
September 1st, 2012
5:15 pm
honested, Bernie and liberalefty:
If the Kenyan is so sure of his re-election, why is he selling his Chicago home and buying another in Hawaii in anticipation of a January, 2013 move? Could it possibly be because his private polls tell him he has lost already?
http://hillbuzz.org/the-obamas-already-preparing-for-move-to-hawaii-in-january-2013-hyde-park-neighbors-talking-about-chicago-house-being-sold-soon-63935#comments
cc
September 1st, 2012
5:18 pm
honested @ 4:48 pm:
Forget it! Movies/documentaries are not about the director. You stated it correctly the first time, and you stated it very clearly.
20/20
September 1st, 2012
5:36 pm
Willie: may I say a big AMEN! to what you just said? The Democrats think they have all the black voters in their “plantation” where they can keep an eye on their voting. They don’t give a rat’s A$$ about the black folk except to get that almighty vote. I guarantee the Republican Party will treat black Americans like everyone else and ask them to join in saving this republic from financial ruin.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
September 1st, 2012
5:41 pm
“Millions” of Blacks vote GOP? Without a man of color vying for the office, nine percent of Blacks voted GOP, the same nine percent of Blacks who are Roman Catholic. Get it?
A message being sent to the invisible Southern white male (you are to extreme)
September 1st, 2012
5:45 pm
@newt schmoot
September 1st, 2012
3:12 pm
Has anybody here seen the new documentary about Obama’s life “2016″ in local theaters? A blurb in the AJC this morning said it is #7 at the box office nationwide – the highest any documentary has ever ranked. Sounds like a lot of Americans are trying to find out more about the President, don’t really know his life story. I’d be curious to know what your thoughts are, if you’ve seen it.
************************************************************************
If you don’t know Obama by now, you will never know him.
God Lord, he’s been president for over three years.
BTW, this hatchet man who made the movie NEVER spoke to
Obama so how can he make a movie about him?
This is just Republican negative propaganda.
But guess what, Obama supporters are STILL HIS SUPPORTERS.
We are going all the way with him.
Come h*ll or high water.
An observer
September 1st, 2012
5:46 pm
Jim Galloway, are you a southern white male? Feeling lonely and forgotten?
cc
September 1st, 2012
5:56 pm
“BTW, this hatchet man who made the movie NEVER spoke to Obama so how can he make a movie about him?”
I have watched documentaries about Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, John Brown, George Washington Carver, Eli Whitney and literally hundreds of other people. The directors of these documentaries “NEVER spoke to” the subjects of their documentaries, either.
What the hell is your point?
Attack Dog
September 1st, 2012
6:07 pm
So, what will Todd Akins say on behalf of all real Dixiecrats?
cc
September 1st, 2012
6:11 pm
“We are going all the way with him.”
You’re all moving to Hawaii in January with him?
Bernie
September 1st, 2012
6:20 pm
CC: @ 6:11 pm – I have some DEPENDS coupons I have collected for Clint. Those things are expensive too! Do you have an address for Clint, so that I can make sure he gets them. Or should I just send it care of OVER THE HILL, Movie STARS, Los Angeles, Ca.
I also have some Buttermilk flavored Ensure too! YUMMM……
Attack Dog
September 1st, 2012
6:25 pm
Thank the Lord. A Dixiecrat admits that Hawaii is a State; I think. However, the address will be 1600.
Attack Dog
September 1st, 2012
6:27 pm
Ralph Reed should be sharing a federal prison cell with Karl and Nathan, but noooo…
Attack Dog
September 1st, 2012
6:34 pm
Elizabeth Warren may or may not have Native American blood, but Ralph Reed certain lytried to bleed them dry.
cc
September 1st, 2012
6:34 pm
Bernie @ 6:20 pm:
Oh, Bernie, give me a break! My sides hurt now from laughing and here you are making me laugh again! You’re so funny!
To answer your question, though; just mail them to Whoopi Goldberg and tell her to share them with Joy Bahar.
cc
September 1st, 2012
6:35 pm
Enter your comments here
cc
September 1st, 2012
6:37 pm
Attack Dog:
Yes, Hawaii is one of the ‘57 states”. Kenya, however, isn’t one of them.
Attack Dog
September 1st, 2012
6:48 pm
Nope Kenya is not one of the “57, but will some Dixiecrat explain why Matt Romney stumped for his dad in Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands?
honested
September 1st, 2012
7:05 pm
cc,20/20,et.al.
THERE ARE NO KENYANS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!
Do you guys have no attachment to reality whatsoever?
honested
September 1st, 2012
7:06 pm
Attack Dog,
Second the call for ralph reed to pay the piper!
Then someday, we’ll find out why casey can’t tie his shoes!
honested
September 1st, 2012
7:09 pm
January 2013 should be a hoot.
The Obama Second Term will begin and the Public may awaken to the reality that both the GA One Party and conserrrrrrrrrrrrrvatives in general have nothing whatsoever to offer them.
Did the conserrrrrrrrrrrvatives leave the holes they crawled out of open so they could quickly scurry back in?
cc
September 1st, 2012
7:12 pm
Attack Dog:
You are totally clueless and not worth the effort . . .
++++
March 8, 2012
Matt Romney will stump for his dad in Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands.
Matt Romney is hitting the beach. For work, that is.
His dad’s campaign announced Thursday that Matt, 40, would be traveling to the Northern Marianas Islands and Guam to meet with local GOP groups with an eye on securing the support of the handful of delegates up for grabs way off in the Pacific Ocean.
Source: http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/ballot-2012/2012/03/08/romneys-son-sent-to-pacific-islands-in-search-of-delegates
honested
September 1st, 2012
7:15 pm
cc,
Delegates?
How many Electoral Votes does the Marianas have?
I didn’t think so.
cc
September 1st, 2012
7:17 pm
honested:
“January 2013 should be a hoot.”
It will be! That is when the “failed blowhard” obama (as you so aptly called him) will depart the White House forever.
honested
September 1st, 2012
7:20 pm
cc,
Please, hold your breath as you await what will not occur!
Attack Dog
September 1st, 2012
7:23 pm
It is rather funny that ” even Dixiecrats can explain what “57″ is, but can’t comprehend what it means.
cc
September 1st, 2012
7:24 pm
honested:
Pretend you have a brain capable of actual reasoning! The first clue is the date, March 8, 2012. The second clue is the wording, “meet with local GOP groups with an eye on securing the support of the handful of delegates”.
Hmmm . . . “GOP groups” and “delegates” . . .
By Jove, they must be talking about the convention and the nomination!
Attack Dog: dumber than the average dog!
Attack Dog
September 1st, 2012
7:25 pm
Ralph Reed should be in jail, and Rick Santorum should have been the Dixiecrat nominee, whuh people and all.
cc
September 1st, 2012
7:30 pm
Attack Dog @ 7:23 pm:
It means that the Kenyan didn’t know how many states comprise the United States. Actually, if memory serves, he believed there to be more than 57 becuase he said he had been in 57 states and would have been to all of them before th campaign ended.
After your delegate fiasco, I believe I’m done with you for tonight.
cc
September 1st, 2012
7:46 pm
honested:
Your description of obama as a “failed blowhard” says it all. It matters not whether you intentionally wrote that or if it was a ‘Freudian slip’. We now know exactly what you really think.
You’re finished as a defender of the Kenyan.
Attack Dog
September 1st, 2012
8:11 pm
It is amazing how Dixiecrats lose their own argument and then pretend they made a serious point. “Mission Accomplished!” I guess that was a Freudian Slip too! Ralph Reed and Karl Rove should be in jail, and Rick Santorum should have been the GOP nominee.
honested
September 1st, 2012
8:43 pm
cc,
I left out a sentence, there was no slip.
Just like there is no ‘Kenyan’ in this discussions, just the delusions of a pathetic fringe in the soon to be evaporated repugniklan party.
Attack Dog
September 1st, 2012
8:45 pm
…anti-Mormon bigotry is a bigger problem among liberals? That’s like saying real Dixiecrats do not have a problem with Jewish and Catholic. I don’t remember any Dixiecrat Freedom Riders or many voting for JFK.
hiram
September 1st, 2012
9:45 pm
Did td change his name to cc?
cc
September 1st, 2012
10:00 pm
hiram:
No, he didn’t. If that was meant to insult me, it failed. td is one of the few people blogging here who knows what is happening in this country. It’s a cinch that none of you socialists have a clue . . .
honested
September 1st, 2012
10:05 pm
cc,
‘What’s happening to this country’ is a reflection of the dangers of letting the hopelessly deranged continue to vote.
We need look no farther than our current and previous governors to see just how dangerous that ‘deranged voting’ can be!
A message being sent to the invisible Southern white male (you are to extreme)
September 1st, 2012
10:09 pm
@cc
September 1st, 2012
7:46 pm
honested:
Your description of obama as a “failed blowhard” says it all. It matters not whether you intentionally wrote that or if it was a ‘Freudian slip’. We now know exactly what you really think.
You’re finished as a defender of the Kenyan.
**********************************************************
cc defend this:
Mitt Romney – a man whose own father built cars and nurtured communities, and was one of the old-school industrial anachronisms pushed aside by the new generation’s wealth grab – has emerged now to sell this make-nothing, take-everything, scr*w-everyone ethos to the world.
Mitt Romney is Gordon Gekko, but a new and improved version, with better PR – and a bigger goal.
A takeover artist all his life, Romney is now trying to take over America itself. And if his own history is any guide, we’ll all end up paying for the acquisition.
cc
September 1st, 2012
10:25 pm
A message being sent to the invisible Southern white male (you are to extreme) @ 10:09 pm:
Cite your source.