Senator: Obama Viewed As ‘Exotic’ In The South

[ProSense]

Senator: Obama Viewed As ‘Exotic’ In The South

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) met with the editorial board of the Des Moines Register Wednesday, praising the Senate's progress on legislation like a farm bill and the the Employment Non-Discrimination Act while acknowledging that the chamber is experiencing a "rough period" of partisanship that undermines other issues.

Harkin recounted one stinging example to the newspaper's editorial board, dating back to a July 15 closed-door meeting about filibuster rules, in which one unnamed senator said his constituents simply couldn't relate to the president.

“I’m not naming any names, but one senator got up from a southern state and said, ‘Well, you’ve got to understand that to my people down here, Obama seems like he’s exotic,’” Harkin told the newspaper. “That he’s just exotic, he doesn’t share our values.”

Asked if he could name another American era as polarizing as today, Harkin said "Sure -- the Civil War."

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/harkin-one-lawmaker-said-obamas-too-exotic-to

WTF?

[JustAnotherGen]

1. Hmmm

That is a polite way for white folks who are not comfy with us black folks to say - I really find 'you' people distasteful and your presence in 'my' country makes me uncomfortable. Go back to Africa or the back of the bus but I don't want to see 'you people' anymore.

Sorry Prosense - I've just got to call this one like I see it.

[Dawson Leery]

2. +1

[coldmountain]

3. Yeah, the wonderful South, it's just misunderstood

[Go Vols]

4. I tend to agree

We need more Rednecks like these.

[Dwayne Hicks]

5. But I thought

The south is no longer racist?

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

6. He is right, and that attitude applies north of the Mason Dixon line as well!

I know white people in the Hudson Valley region of NY, only 60-90 minutes from NYC, that think he is a Muslim terrorist. Using the word "exotic" is putting it mildly!

On the other side of the spectrum, my 75 year old white, evangelical Christian grandfather is a diehard Democrat and enthusiastically voted for President Obama twice. When I recently saw him for the first time in a while, I asked him what he thought of the current state of affairs in Washington. He said, "Well, looking at the way these right-wingers are treating President Obama and his family, it shows that racism is alive and well in this country!" Isn't that the truth!

[n2doc]

7. Not in Savannah, GA

And not in many places in the south. But in the Faux-addled, propaganda fueled dittohead areas, sure. And that's the reason for it.