Reader Interactions

98Comments

  1. 1.

    myiq2xu

    I’m sure all those retired Jews from New York, as well as blacks, Puerto Ricans and Cubans will appreciate being able to show off their “Confederate heritage.”

  2. 2.

    Rarely Posts

    LOL! In Florida we are proud to display the con flag. Jeebus. Looks like Florida is still too red.

  3. 3.

    tBone

    The Republican National Committee has commissioned polling and focus groups to determine the boundaries of attacking a minority or female candidate, according to people involved.

    Seems like a lot of work. Why don’t they just watch that old SNL sketch with Richard Pryor and Chevy Chase?

    “DEAD Honky.”

  4. 4.

    Dennis - SGMM

    …plans to protect the GOP from charges of racism or sexism in the general election…

    I predict that this will work out just as well as the GOP’s plans to rebrand itself.

  5. 5.

    SamFromUtah

    …plans to protect the GOP from charges of racism or sexism in the general election…

    In other news, Gary Coleman is putting together focus groups to research protecting himself from charges of shortness.

  6. 6.

    calipygian

    Erick lays it out in a typically coherent manner:

    By the time it’s all over, the only defense Obama is going to have is to resort to the standard liberal playbook and scream racism when anyone dares point out his voting record. And the public we have not heard from year, the public that swings elections but generally does not engage in primaries, are going to come running to John McCain begging him to save the nation from the liberal anti-gun former cokehead whose feminist wife hates America.

  7. 7.

    demkat620

    Why don’t they just try, I don’t know, not being racist or sexist?

    They never learn do they?

  8. 9.

    Caidence (fmr. Chris)

    The Republican National Committee has commissioned polling and focus groups to determine the boundaries of attacking a minority or female candidate, according to people involved.

    Why am I picturing a bunch of fat, pasty Cheetovores in the corner of McDonald’s challenging each other to successively louder shouts of “NIGGAAR!!” and “PEENISS!!” until they get kicked out?

  9. 10.

    dslak

    Should Obama take the nomination, the GOP is going to hoist itself on its own petard, and Obama won’t have to say a word about it.

  10. 11.

    demkat620

    “The Democrats, God bless ’em, are about to hand us the prototypical liberal boogeyman as their nominee.”

    Exactly what the hell does this mean? Is this Fear of a Black Planet?

    Well, if Erick is any example, I don’t think their plan is gonna work.

  11. 12.

    jake

    Gosh. You don’t suppose this might force them actually to run a campaign based on the issues?

    BwahahahaHAHAhaa!

  12. 13.

    myiq2xu

    Exactly what the hell does this mean? Is this Fear of a Black Planet?

    Damn Hillary for sending Drudge that picture of Obama! Now the voters will know he’s black!

  13. 14.

    calling all toasters

    Given McCain’s money problems, this may be the only campaign that relies on crazy, racist, bulk emails to get its message out.

  14. 18.

    jake

    I wonder if the brainiacs at the RNC regret the ZOMG! John McCane Has a Black Love Child!Onehundredeleven incident.

    No wait, regret requires introspection the ability to admit errors or even remember what happened more than two minutes ago.

    Never mind.

  15. 19.

    mark

    Florida state Rep. Donald Brown (Republican) introduced a bill last week to create a “Confederate Heritage” license plate for the state.

    Does CPAC have some sort of timeliness award for this guy?

  16. 20.

    SF Bear

    Hey, at least Rep. Brown dropped the part of the bill where, if you pay $10 extra, you get the mini-antenna-noose. . . .

    THAT would have crossed the Republican line.

    Maybe.

  17. 21.

    Zifnab

    Come on in, the water is fine here in Georgia where we already have an SCV ‘Heritage’ plate.

    That would be less difficult if Georgia had any water.

  18. 22.

    John S.

    Looks like Florida is still too red.

    At least in whatever district this yokel represents.

    Where I live (in Broward) is bluer than cyan.

  19. 23.

    Foxhunter

    That would be less difficult if Georgia had any water.

    True, true. So let me re-phrase:

    Come on in, the swamp is fine here in Georgia.

    If the bill in Florida passes, perhaps they should add, along with the aforementioned ‘mini-antenna noose’, a pair of these:

    http://www.bumpernuts.com/best%20balls.htm

  20. 25.

    Ted

    are going to come running to John McCain begging him to save the nation from the liberal anti-gun former cokehead whose feminist wife hates America.

    This from a guy who no doubt voted for Bush twice. At least Obama had the balls to admit he used to occasionally use blow.

  21. 26.

    Mike P.

    week from tomorrow, Texas will either prolong the bloody battle for the Democratic nomination or give the nomination to a self-admitted former cokehead.

    Yeah, it ain’t like Texas never did that before. Oh, that’s right, Bush was a non self-admitted cokehead, but at least he was honest about the booze thing. Mostly.

  22. 27.

    Zifnab

    This is bad news for Democrats.

    If things get any worse, we’re going to be looking at a one-party government. Bill Kristol says, “Why won’t anyone take me cereal!?! I’m a totally cereal guy here. Come on!”

  23. 28.

    Bubblegum Tate

    the liberal anti-gun former cokehead whose feminist wife hates America.

    Goddammit, Erick. How the fuck are we supposed to parody that?

  24. 29.

    Ted

    Aw god, I would love to be a fly on the wall during one of those focus groups.

    “If we likened Obama’s campaign and supporters to the Black Panthers, would this increase, decrease, or keep the same your opinion of the Republican party?”

  25. 30.

    DougJ

    I found John’s anti-Confederatism just as offense as slavery itself. It’s frustrating for those of us in the middle on this issue to have such rabid partisans on either end of it.

  26. 31.

    Darkness

    Come on in, the water is fine here in Georgia where we already have an SCV ‘Heritage’ plate.

    Just out of curiosity, have we outlawed Taliban heritage license plates in Afganistan yet? Just wondering…

  27. 32.

    Gold Star for Robot Boy

    It’s frustrating for those of us in the middle on this issue to have such rabid partisans on either end of it.

    Oooh, excellent Broder-esque spoofage.

  28. 33.

    jake

    The Republican National Committee has commissioned polling and focus groups to determine the boundaries of attacking a minority or female candidate, according to people involved.

    Again I must ask, who the fuck are they talking to?

    Das Base? No. They will want nothing less than the still twitching red flesh of the uppity woman or brown person who forgot his/her place.

    Non-loony Republicans (all 16 of them)? Nope. If they haven’t been turned off by the rest of the party’s antics they’re going to vote for McCane regardless of bigotry exhibited in ads.

    Undecideds who might vote for a Republican or a Democrat? Again, no. There aren’t enough to make a difference in the election.

    Right-leaning democrats? See Non-loony Republicans and Das Base.

    Honestly, I can’t figure out what the RNC is trying to do here. Maybe they think the fuckus groups will provide a defense when they run an ad that shows Obama smoking crack and slapping hos. “Hey no fair! We tested that ad and no one had a problem with it!”

    Or maybe someone’s brother owns an ad agency and wanted some business. Yeah. That makes sense.

  29. 34.

    Jen

    Why don’t they just try, I don’t know, not being racist or sexist?

    Well, then they’d have to win on the merits of their arguments. I think even they know that’s not going to happen.

  30. 35.

    GSD

    Let’s drive ’em nuts.

    I’m gonna tell ’em that the Obama general election slogan is going to be:

    Fight the Power, Vote Obama.

    -GSD

    Watching these moral wretches melting and buckling under the stress is getting to be so damn enjoyable.

  31. 36.

    numbskull

    Kee-riste. “Confederate Heritage”, “Southern Heritage”. Whatever. Been there, lived with ’em for decades, near as I can tell, they both mean “Getting your ass kicked 140 years ago and whining ever since.”

  32. 38.

    Chris

    So essentially they’re making focus groups so that they may plot the slopes, and asymptotes to find just the right amount of racism so that they can race bait but not receive good retaliation.

    Themes determined unusable for attack ads against Obama via Repulican focus groups:

    * Watermelon
    * Fried chicken
    * Photoshopping pictures of Obama standing next to Bloodz and Crips
    * That youtube video where Obama’s face is morphed into bin Laden’s face
    * Any sentence that contains both the words “porch” and “monkey”

  33. 39.

    Dennis - SGMM

    Why don’t they just try, I don’t know, not being racist or sexist?

    Or not being homophobic, or not being fear mongers, or not being ignorant of economics past smash-and-grab?
    Because then their base would have to form a whole new party is why.

  34. 40.

    DougJ

    Photoshopping pictures of Obama standing next to Bloodz and Crips

    I heard he was throwing gang signals at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. And that he has a Tupac tattoo on his right bicep, a Che tattoo on his right.

    Later tonight, we should see a CNN poll about how voters feel about all of this. It should be interesting to see the results.

  35. 42.

    Brachiator

    The Republican National Committee has commissioned polling and focus groups to determine the boundaries of attacking a minority or female candidate, according to people involved. The secretive effort underscores the enormous risk senior GOP operatives see for a party often criticized for its insensitivity to minorities in campaigns dating back to the 1960s.

    This is going to be fun. As an earlier John Cole citation of an NRO posting shows, these goons can’t help from going off the deep end on race.

    On the other hand, John McCain had been smeared during a past SC primary with outrageous and irrelevant charges that he had fathered a black baby. I can’t quite see that he would want to be associated with even indirect racist attacks on Obama.

    Similarly, although hard-core Clinton haters may think that they have an easy target with respect to Hillary Clinton, there are many conservative women who are likely sympathetic to the idea of a woman president.

    Right now, unless something in the national consciousness shifts enormously, the GOP strategy here seems the equivalent of political suicide.

  36. 44.

    Justin

    From the RS thread, one redstater’s sig:

    McCain/Rudy 08-kill the terrorists and punch the hippies.

    Oh God, yes. They’re going to bukkake themselves, and send us the pictures.

  37. 45.

    Ted

    Themes determined unusable for attack ads against Obama via Repulican focus groups:

    Too bad Obama’s happily married, or they could use the “They’re gonna take your white women!!1” move they pulled on Harold Ford.

  38. 46.

    myiq2xu

    Top Republican strategists are working on plans to protect the GOP from charges of racism or sexism in the general election, as they prepare for a presidential campaign against the first ever African-American or female Democratic nominee.

    Or as Nixon called it: “plausible deniability.”

    Cuz they’re still gonna do it, they just don’t wanna get caught doing it.

  39. 47.

    myiq2xu

    Too bad Obama’s happily married, or they could use the “They’re gonna take your white women!!1” move they pulled on Harold Ford.

    What, no clips of Cleavon Little going “Where the white women at?”

  40. 48.

    mike montague

    Umm, yeah

    Does a more condescending, cliched formulation than this even exist? What a fucking bore you are.

  41. 49.

    John Cole

    Does a more condescending, cliched formulation than this even exist? What a fucking bore you are.

    I aim to please!

    Go watch Office Space, btw.

  42. 51.

    Incertus

    By the way, thanks for the Florida thing, John. I hadn’t heard, but I put the picture up over at my place and will work with some other Florida bloggers to see if we can’t get some public outrage going on it.

  43. 52.

    tBone

    Too bad Obama’s happily married, or they could use the “They’re gonna take your white women!!1” move they pulled on Harold Ford.

    What are you talking about? Michelle Obama is obviously a radical lesbian in a marriage of convenience. In my book, that makes Barack Mandingo Obama even more of a threat to the virtue of white women everywhere.

  44. 53.

    ThymeZone

    that makes Barack Mandingo Obama even more of a threat to the virtue of white women everywhere.

    That explains why Hillary is focass testing the phrase “That Big Black Buck” as we speak.

  45. 54.

    myiq2xu

    I’m gonna have to go ahead and ask you to go watch Office Space

    When you say that with the deep voice it’s really kinda threatening.

  46. 55.

    Conservatively Liberal

    In other news, from the front page of Hillaryis44.org:

    Please donate a minimum contribution to Hillary of $10.44. Those who want to send a message of appreciation to Bill Clinton could donate $42.44.

    I know the $42.44 is to note that Bill is #42 (or just #2 if you are a Republican ;) ), but on first read it almost looks like they are saying that Bill is worth more than Hillary. It just looks weird to be asking 4x as much for Bill than Hillary. But hey, what do I know. :) Also, it is funny that they are calling the Hillary money drive they are holding today the “MoneyBomb Rezko Day”. What a way to raise bucks, eh? ;)

    Glad to see that the Hillary supporters are catching up with the wingnuts:

    more obama lies… this guy is pathological… there is nothing to low for his to stoop too… he flat out lied in the debate the other night….

    amerpundit.com/2008/02/22/abc-news-ap-fact-check-obamas-ammo-story/

    amerpundit.com/2008/02/22/more-on-obamas-ammocommand-remarks/

    And a response to the above shows that Hillary supporters know what is important to debate about:

    please send those links to the campaign office .. or better yet get them to Admin here. That is stuff that she can USE in the debate.

    Obama supporters should be happy that he is able to read Hillary’s thoughts:

    I think that is exactly why she is giving that speech today…lol… Tomorrow comes very quickly and if he does indeed plagerize her thoughts, people will know.

    They also love fair and balanced ‘news’:

    This is on Fox News now:
    Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan said that presidential candidate Barack Obama is the “hope of the entire world”

    So I am like Dick Cheney now – my new channel is the one and only Fox News :-)).

    youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/02/25/farrakhan-praises-obama-as-hope-of-entire-world

    Stupidity is a painful thing to see in action, but it sure can be funny!

  47. 56.

    ThymeZone

    So, what’s next for Florida … a license plate that celebrates all the lynchings that happened there?

    Great idea, the rebel flag thing. Really.

    In 1902, the Florida Democratic Party adopted a “white primary” policy, which excluded blacks from voting to nominate Democratic candidates for general elections. Given the Democrats’ ascendancy in the “one-party” South, this meant blacks were excluded from participating in the only elections that mattered.

    Alongside racist legal measures, the disenfranchisement of African Americans was enforced through violence and terror. From 1900 to the 1930s Florida had the highest per capita rate of lynching in the South: 4.5 lynchings for every 10,000 blacks. This was twice the rate of lynchings in Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana, and three times that of Alabama. From 1921 to 1946 there were 61 reported lynchings in Florida—twice as many as in Alabama, and topped only by Mississippi (88) and Georgia (68).

    During the 1920s white mobs carried out pogroms in Ocoee, near Orlando, and Perry and Rosewood near the Gulf Coast, burning homes and killing scores of African Americans. The rampage in Ocoee began after a black resident, shotgun in hand, demanded the right to vote.

  48. 57.

    myiq2xu

    Stupidity is a painful thing to see in action, but it sure can be funny!

    Why don’t you try “Obama is your new bicycle?”

  49. 58.

    Foxhunter

    That Big Black Buck

    and

    Barack Mandingo Obama

    Gives new meaning to the album Big Willie Style.

    tBone and ThymeZone gettin’ jiggy wit the pr0n references….

  50. 59.

    Jen

    When you say that with the deep voice it’s really kinda threatening.

    Yeah, yeah, I’m a guy, right, and you’re a male Hillary supporter. Uh-huh.

  51. 60.

    myiq2xu

    Yeah, yeah, I’m a guy, right, and you’re a male Hillary supporter.

    Good. I’m glad we finally got that straight.

  52. 61.

    Conservatively Liberal

    myiq2xu Says:

    Stupidity is a painful thing to see in action, but it sure can be funny!

    Why don’t you try “Obama is your new bicycle?”

    Conservatively Liberal Says:


    Stupidity is a painful thing to see in action, but it sure can be funny!

    Say no more.

  53. 63.

    Asti

    LOL! In Florida we are proud to display the con flag. Jeebus. Looks like Florida is still too red.

    The problem in FL isn’t so much how many Republicans they have, but the money some of those Republicans have. The ones who live in the sky high condos on the beach are willing to pay 10,000 a plate to see Bush show up for about a half hour.

  54. 66.

    Phoenician in a time of Romans

    Florida state Rep. Donald Brown (Republican) introduced a bill last week to create a “Confederate Heritage” license plate for the state. Brown proposes a $25 charge for motorists to purchase a plate with “a shield displaying the rebel battle flag symbol surrounded by several flags from the Civil War era.”

    Why not go all the way with the shield instead of being coy?

    “A Blackamoor enchained, reguardant, on a field of dead Blackamoors”.

  55. 68.

    jake

    I can’t quite see that he would want to be associated with even indirect racist attacks on Obama.

    You must have missed McCane’s willingness to drop trou and grab ankles for the people who launched those attacks against him.

    You know the phrase “By any means necessary”? The GOP has owned the copyright on it since Nixon.

  56. 71.

    tBone

    tBone and ThymeZone gettin’ jiggy wit the pr0n references….

    Actually, I didn’t even know there was a porn star named Mandingo. I’m old-skool, baby.

  57. 73.

    PaulW

    I am a Southerner. I was born in Georgia, never lived north of the Mason-Dixon line, and have been a long-time resident of Florida. And I would like to tell the rest of my fellow Southerners THAT THE GODDAMN WAR IS OVER, THE SOUTH GOT ITS ASS KICKED, and to GET THE FUCK OVER IT.

    I have a wonderful law to suggest: all versions of the Confederate flag to have the words LOSERS stenciled on top of ’em just so these living-in-the-past fuckwads would get the clue that they LOST!!!

    WE’RE FUCKING AMERICANS NOW! ONE FLAG! SALUTE IT YOU IDIOTS!

  58. 74.

    DougJ

    Did you guys see what Halperin said about all of this?

    Things McCain can do when running against Obama that Clinton has been unable to do well or at all:

    4. Encourage interest groups, bloggers, and right-leaning media to explore Obama’s past.

    6. Allow some supporters to risk being accused of using the race card when criticizing Obama.

    8. Play dirty without alienating his party.

    10. Use his sterling war record to reinforce his image of patriotism and valor – and contrast it with his opponent’s.

    11. Emphasize Barack Hussein Obama’s unusual name and exotic background through a Manchurian Candidate prism.

    12. Employ third party groups like the NRA to hit Obama on issues that might turn off general election voters. Perhaps an ad such as this will run in Ohio: “So, what do you really know about Barack Obama? Did you know he supports meeting with the head of terrorist states?”

  59. 75.

    DougJ

    THAT THE GODDAMN WAR IS OVER, THE SOUTH GOT ITS ASS KICKED, and to GET THE FUCK OVER IT.

    Jesus, you’re shrill.

  60. 81.

    myiq2xu

    Okay, everybody but TZ check this out:

    If I voted against Clinton because “too many people hate her,” wouldn’t I just be validating the haters? They are, after all, largely responsible for making her “divisive.”

    TZ: Be cool, go chase Paul or something.

  61. 83.

    ThymeZone

    Okay, everybody but TZ check this out:

    Meh, about as dumb as everything else the Hillarites have posted here since STuesday.

    Chase Paul? All I have to do is sit here until he comes by on his skateboard and stick my foot out.

    Crash.

  62. 84.

    myiq2xu

    Chase Paul? All I have to do is sit here until he comes by on his skateboard and stick my foot out.

    Use your cane instead. We wouldn’t want you to get hurt.

  63. 87.

    TenguPhule

    Exactly what the hell does this mean? Is this Fear of a Black Planet?

    Testicle envy. The Republicans want em, but don’t got em.

  64. 88.

    TenguPhule

    I found John’s anti-Confederatism just as offense as slavery itself. It’s frustrating for those of us in the middle on this issue to have such rabid partisans on either end of it

    I have simple solution.

    People can have Confederate Flags, but it automatically disqualifies them from holding any position in the government that kicked their traitorous asses to the dogs.

  65. 89.

    Darkness

    Ted Says:
    Too bad Obama’s happily married, or they could use the “They’re gonna take your white women!!1” move they pulled on Harold Ford.

    What do you mean? Muslims practice polygamy. He can collect up to four. He has to be wealthy enough to buy them each a house, but I think Obama’s got that covered.

  66. 90.

    dslak

    We had a debate over flying that flag over the Oklahoma Capitol Building, as we traditionally fly the previous flags that have flown over Oklahoma below the US flag.

    The Neo-Confederates failed in their attempt to get the Confederate Battle Flag flown, not least because that wasn’t the flag of the Confederacy, in the first place, so they had no business flying it as a sign of Confederate rule! It’s not just that they lost, but that the flag they want to fly, at least since the end of the Civil War, has only ever been intended as a sign of white supremacy.

  67. 91.

    Cyrus

    This from a guy who no doubt voted for Bush twice. At least Obama had the balls to admit he used to occasionally use blow.

    The way I heard it, none of his friends from those days ever remember seeing him use illegal drugs. So he lied about doing blow to …

    Um, I’ll have to get back to you on that.

  68. 93.

    Svensker

    Yeah, yeah, I’m a guy, right, and you’re a male Hillary supporter. Uh-huh.

    Isn’t using “male” and “supporter” in one sentence evidence of anti-male sexism? And wouldn’t it follow then, that using them in a sentence with “Hillary” would be evidence of reverse double sexism?

    Fortunately, the MUP transcends sexism since, as MoDo points out, he is such a girly guy.

  69. 94.

    Tom

    “People can have Confederate Flags, but it automatically disqualifies them from holding any position in the government that kicked their traitorous asses to the dogs.”

    Also, because their use of a Confederate flag indicates their allegiance to a foreign, hostile government, they can vote in all Confederate elections, but no U.S. ones.

  70. 95.

    jcricket

    Any sentence that contains both the words “porch” and “monkey”

    Hey, it’s ok, I’m taking it back.

  71. 96.

    BigTobacco

    Actually, the GOP will get some mileage out of this focus group. The purpose of doing this is to feel out people’s sensibilities, not to avoid appearing racist… but to be as racist as possible while maintaining a plurality of the vote.

    Fortunately, Obama’s has energized so many first time voters that who just aren’t like the GOP’s base. I think Obama will manage to pick up the majority of Democratic voters, all of the newly registered voters that he added to the mix, plus some Republicans.

    McCain will succeed in getting votes from people who he can convince to be scared of Obama and a good chunk of loyal Republicans. But he is not going to get enough.

    If we have to go negative on McCain, you can hit him on honest issues:

    Wavering positions (pro-torture/anti-torture, pro-war/anti-war, pro-bush/anti-bush, pro-evangelical/anti-evangelical, pro-tax cut/anti-tax cut etc). He talks out of both sides of his mouth.

    Domestic policy. (He claims to know nothing about it. He has no economic policy. No education policy. No health policy.) This is the #1 issue on people’s minds.

    He’s a Republican. (For all their flag-waving and their bellicose posturing, the Republicans have been a disaster. They keep taking bribes, breaking laws, spoiling our alliances, and polluting our political discourse).

    Ethics. (McCain has serious ethics problems. Heaps of them. And they keep growing.)

    Obama can and will beat McCain. But it will bittersweet, because the GOP are going to hurt a lot of people as they go down. They will try to hurt Obama. They will try to hurt the Democrats. But in the end, they are going to hurt the country.

    The things I dislike about Hillary are standard operating procedure for the GOP. And it will be horrible when they bring their political machine to full force. And it will be downright evil when they throw their kitchen sink at him. Hillary’s last-ditch kitchen sink approach is disgusting, but the GOP’s will be much, much worse. But maybe, finally, Republican voters will see who has been calling the shots in their party, and maybe they will clean their own house after they are defeated.

  72. 97.

    Gregory

    I’m gonna have to go ahead and ask you to go watch Office Space

    If you could just go ahead and watch Office Space, that’d be great…

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