Mitt Romney Uses The Political Dog Whistle To Play To Angry White Males
Throughout this long and rancorous presidential campaign there has been one consistent theme from Mitt Romney and his fellow Republicans. They want to portray President Obama as something other than a fellow American.
The birthers (of which Romney uses to his advantage by making his own lame birther jokes) try to claim Obama is not a citizen of this country. Other conservatives try to paint the President, a talented and smart man, as somehow less than what he is by demanding to know more about how he got into college, and what his grades were.
They look silly asking those questions. After all, by the end of Obama’s second year at Harvard, his academic record and reputation had qualified him to run for one of the most prestigious roles at the law school — president of the Harvard Law Review.
One might think given the more advanced intellectual abilities of Mitt Romney that he would not resort to the political dog whistle in an attempt to garner the votes of angry white males.
For it is angry white males which are driving the Romney campaign. All over the nation the anger and discontent can be measured by dump truck loads when it comes to this demographic.
Which is why over and over there can be found in Mitt Romney’s campaign appearances certain words or phrases that are placed there to appeal to stupid voters–angry white males. Words and phrases meant to appeal to the bigoted, and low brow in the nation.
This weekend a story was printed in newspapers around the country that contained the following line.
Romney, at his fundraiser near San Diego, said Obama was “taking Americans on a course that is extremely foreign to us.”
Yes, President Obama is black, has a rich ethnic background, and is very intelligent. In combination this most likely makes many angry white males feel mentally impotent by comparison.
But there is nothing ‘foreign’ or sinister about the President. One may disagree with his policy ideas, but that does make him un-American.
Can anyone image the political opposition to President Eisenhower referring to him in the same fashion that conservatives now label President Obama?
There is no doubt that the words and phrases have been tested and retested for use among certain groups for political purposes. Since Romney has agreed to play to the lowest common denominator should make everyone wonder what limits this man has when it comes to gaining political power.
It is time for Mitt Romney to think, as he moves into the final weeks of a failed presidential campaign, what he can do to make his grandchildren proud of his efforts.
In other words Romney should run a campaign that his future generations can be proud of. Using the dog whistle of racism and bigotry is not the way to proceed. It should stop at once!
Patrick,
Do not kid yourself over what is happening among conservatives.
From CBS News…..Americans — but conservative Republicans in particular — are more likely to mistakenly think that President Obama is Muslim than they were in 2008, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.
Nearly half, 49 percent, of registered voters surveyed correctly identified Mr. Obama as Christian, while 17 percent thought he was Muslim. In October 2008, as Mr. Obama was in the final stretch of his first presidential campaign, 55 percent of registered voters identified him as Christian and 12 percent identified him as Muslim.
The increase in voters who think the president is Muslim is more pronounced among registered Republicans, especially conservative Republicans. In 2008, among both conservative Republicans and Republicans overall, 16 percent said Mr. Obama was Muslim. Now, 30 percent of Republicans and 34 percent of conservative Republicans think he is Muslim.
Now……
This did not just happen. These simple-minded folks have been spoon fed the nonesense over and over on hate-right-wing radio and FAUX News and by the likes of Rush and Trump.
Of course there are buzz words and political dog whisltes.
If you follow politics at all you can not miss them.
If you think I am being political in calling attention to it, I can assure you that you are being poltical by denying it.
You’re getting silly. Could you provide a list of words Romney–or any conservative might use–which are not “code?” No conservative could be as creative in hearing alleged slurs as yourself. Perhaps that is because the basis of liberal thinking is to first put each person into a category. As liberals are often deeply race-sensitive and ashamed of themselves, they can only define Obama as a black man themselves; this prompts them into denial and projection. Hence this post. Why not let obama be only an American? Can’t you put his skin color away for a little while?
“After all, by the end of Obama’s second year at Harvard, his academic record and reputation had qualified him to run for one of the most prestigious roles at the law school — president of the Harvard Law Review.”
In the mind view of the Birtherites, any achievement by any person on the darker two thirds of the skin spectrum can be easily dismissed by citing Racial Preferences. Those People cannot possibly deserve whatever they accomplish.