Blog Archive: August, 2012

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Where can we find one of those "new ideas" we keep hearing about, the ones that the supposedly "serious" Paul Ryan brings to the Presidential ticket? Not in their plan to turn us into a nation without Medicare. That idea isn't any newer than the song stylings of Patti Page, who was popular in pre-Medicare America with records like "How Much Is That Doggie In the Window?" more »

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The presence of scandal-ridden accounting firms on Mitt Romney's fundraising list got me to thinking: What do they expect to get for their money? And why does the accounting profession seem to be so riddled with corruption? And it reminded me of something that happened years ago. more »

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Ok, this is just getting ridiculous now:

Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign toasted its top donors Wednesday aboard a 150-foot yacht flying the flag of the Cayman Islands. more »

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How's this for a radical, anti-American statement? The Republican Party's draft platform mocks American workers' pensions as useless artifacts which were "born in an old industrial era beyond the memory of most Americans." more »

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China's official media expressed concerns this week that Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is using incendiary, militaristic, "Cold War" language that could serious harm relations between China and the United States. more »

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Come the revolution, rich, white, male conservatives will be the only people left who can "play the race card" and get away with it. Actually, that revolution is already here. And, with apologies to Gil Scott-Heron, it is being televised — in the form of Mitt Romney's attack ads, focused on Obama's imaginary "gutting" of welfare reform.

There's a dark, bitter irony in this latest chapter in the ongoing saga of race in America. Our first African-American president can't talk about race. As Ta-Nehisi Coates explains in his excellent article in The Atlantic, "Fear of a Black President," Barack Obama has become "the most successful black politician in American history," by steering clear of "the radioactive racial issues of yesteryear." Yet the success of the GOP's Romney/Ryan ticket, dubbed "white and whiter" by Salon columnist Joan Walsh, actually depends on exploiting the "radioactive racial issues of yesteryear."

At this stage in the game, there's only one reason a campaign doubles down on a particular strategy — especially one with so much potential to backfire: it's working. The question is: Why does it work?

There are at least a few reasons why it works. See Dave Johnson's post and Digby's post for more about why we on the left are part of the reason it works, and how we can begin to do something about it. For my purposes, I'm going to focus on to big reasons why playing the race card works so well for conservatives: the media, and the base.

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• MORNING MESSAGE: The Hard Truth About Romney's Republican Party
• Christie Misfires
• Republican Platform Craziest Ever
• Racism Behind Voter Suppression Campaign Exposed
• Breakfast Sides

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What defines Mitt Romney's Republican Party? In his keynote address to the Republican convention, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie argued that this is the party of "hard truths," ready to tackle our debt and deficits. more »

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Now that the presidential tickets are set, it’s time for the candidates to get specific about problems and solutions critical to our economic recovery and future prosperity. Along with job creation, they should start with Home Opportunity—the cluster of housing, homeownership, and fair lending issues that are so central to the American promise of opportunity for all. more »

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