Black GOP candidates come up short

[oberliner]

WASHINGTON - Memo to Republican chief Ken Mehlman regarding recruiting black candidates: Try again.

Republicans had hoped to hail 2006 as the year of the black Republican. But with high-profile failures in Maryland's Senate race and in governor contests in Ohio and Pennsylvania, prospects for GOP gains among black voters turned up short this year and gave scant hope for 2008.

Michael Steele, Maryland's lieutenant governor, lost by almost 10 percentage points to Rep. Ben Cardin. Ken Blackwell, a conservative darling who would have been Ohio's first black governor, lost by almost 24 percentage points; Lynn Swann lost his bid for the Pennsylvania governor's office by 21 percentage points.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061108/ap_on_el_ge/black_republicans

[jenmito]

1. That's because the RNC thinks they can fool Black people...

The RNC thinks if Black people see a Black candidate they'll automatically vote for them, saying, "Ooh, look-someone with my same skin color! I'm gonna vote for him!" They underestimate the intelligence of a whole race of people. Black people know Condoleezza Rice doesn't hold the same positions as the majority of Black people. Same with the candidates they put up.

[marmar]

2. As Al Sharpton once said: "It's not a matter of whether you're our color....

it's a matter of whether you're our kind."

[jenmito]

3. I heard him say that!

It's so true.

[RDANGELO]

4. My suspicion is that there are just too many Republicans who won't vote

for blacks, period. The leadership putting up the candidates isn't going to change that.

[beaconess]

5. It's hard to tell whether race had anything to do with losses

Steele was running in a heavily Democratic state - it would have been unusual for ANY Republican, White or Black, to win in Maryland.

It would also have been really shocking for any Republican to win the governor's race in Ohio, given the mood in the state.

And Lynn Swann is a dolt.

I hope some studies are done to analyze this and help us determine to what degree race may have played in these losses. But, on the surface, it's nearly impossible to tell what role it had.

[Imagevision]

6. But! Obama didn't have any probs....no problems at all...!

[beaconess]

8. Neither did Deval Patrick - won by 21 points!!!

[Ignacio Upton]

7. They lost because they are batshit crazy right wingers

And because part of their Republican base is racist, so they lose part of their base because of bigotry.

[DinahMoeHum]

9. Steve Gilliard has a rip-roaring write-up about this. . .

and how he's not sorry for them:

You Have Shamed Us
http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2006/11/you-have-shamed-us.html

(snip)
Dear Losers (Michael Steele, Lynn Swann, Ken Blackwell)

Did you think it would end any other way? Did you think it would end with the white folks hosting you on their shoulders and smiling at you? Did you think you were the special negro who would prove you weren't like us?
(snip)
You shame our forefathers, those who died in the Crater, on San Juan Hill, in the Argonne, in the Battle of the Bulge, in the streets of Alabama. They did not make their sacrifices so you could sell out your people for personal gain. They didn't survive bullets, poison gas and the deadliest winter in a century so you could preen and strut about for the people who have dedicated their lives to making our lives harder.

People did not flee from dogs so you could append your lips to the asses of your white patrons.

When people made those sacrifices, it was so a black man could walk the street without fear or shame. That he could walk into an office and get a job without losing his dignity. That he could live in a home and be left in peace. Not so you could shuck and jive your way into office.
(snip)

much more...

:kick:

[FredScuttle]

11. I love the name he gave that trio of losers

"The Uncle Ruckus team"

[LynneSin]

10. We run Harold Ford for senator and he loses - by like 2 pts

Clearly when we run minorities, they are people who respect their heritage not sell it out for the almighty dollar bill!