It sounds like Republicans are blowing the racial dog whistle to explain President Obama’s re-election.
Failed GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan blamed Democratic turnout in “urban areas”–that is, inner-city minorities.
Then there’s Mitt Romney, who told a group of donors on Wednesday he lost because of Obama’s “gifts” to Latinos, blacks and young voters. He cited health insurance, help with college loans, free contraception and “amnesty” for children of undocumented immigrants.
And finally, there’s Wisconsin State Sen. Alberta Darling, who suggested Romney would have won her state if voter ID laws had been enacted. Of course, critics of voter ID laws charge they would suppress turnout among poor and minority voters likely to support Obama.
Hardball host Chris Matthews said on Wednesday that Democrats clearly “won fair and square” but lawmakers like Ryan are simply saying “oh, it was the black vote.” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Cynthia Tucker said the three examples “encapsulate the Republicans’ problems.” “While pundits have been speculating that Republicans have finally learned their lessons, they have to stop being so disrespectful to large blocs of voters, they have not learned. They cannot stop being disrespectful and dismissive,” Tucker added. She said the comments by GOPers alienate minorities as well as many white voters. When asked why Romney made the remarks, msnbc political analyst Joan Walsh surmised it was because he “really believes it. They really believe this is what it’s all about and we’ve all been paid off.”Recommended
