GOP Rep. Joe Walsh Says The Country Only Elected President Obama Because He’s Black

[babylonsister]

So then explain why Herman Cain didn't do better. Oye. And white Americans more discriminated against than blacks?

http://thinkprogress.org/special/2012/04/30/473743/joe-walsh-obama-black/

GOP Rep. Joe Walsh Says The Country Only Elected President Obama Because He’s Black

By Scott Keyes on Apr 30, 2012 at 4:00 pm


Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) minced no words at a town hall over the weekend, telling constituents that the only reason President Obama was elected in 2008 was because “he’s our first African-American president.”

Speaking at a town hall in Wheeling, Illinois on Sunday, Walsh gave his view on how to win the upcoming presidential election before launching into his take on the previous one. The House Republican said the country only voted for Obama because “he was a historic figure… our first African-American president.” Walsh noted that other factors helped, including McCain’s age, but argued that Obama “never would have gotten there without his historic nature.”

WALSH: He was a historic figure. He’s our first African-American president. The country voted for him because of that. It made us feel good about {our}self. I’ve said it before, it helped that John McCain was about 142 years old. It helped that the economy was tanking. A lot of these things helped. But he never would have gotten there without his historic nature.

Watch it @ link~

To say that a black man named Barack Hussein Obama benefited from latent prejudices is absurd.

Yet Walsh is using this view to undermine the president’s legitimacy and argue that he was elected not on his merits, but because of his race. Earlier in the town hall, Walsh criticized Obama for not being able to “understand this stuff” (speaking about government spending) because “he was an accidental president.”

Still, Walsh isn’t the only one to espouse this worldview. A recent survey found that “white Americans feel they are more discriminated against than blacks.”

[tanyev]

1. Yeah, that gave Obama an unfair advantage!

The nerve!

[BiggJawn]

2. Hey, Walsh, pay your child support yet?

Not only a Deadbeat, but a Racist, too.... Is his district mostly Klan territory?

[treestar]

23. Thanks for the reminder on that

This idiot needs to be defeated - I'd be embarrassed to live in his district.

[Politicalboi]

3. Unbelievable

Just when you think they can't go any lower. Yes it was a cake walk for Obama. LOL! Does Joe know who Hillary is? Does he know we also had her as a choice for that historical moment but still chose Obama instead. Next, I guess Affirmative Action helped Obama become president too.

[FLAprogressive]

4. regrettably he's saying what a lot of "everyday" GOPers are privately.

[rurallib]

5. Next: Walsh explains how blacks have huge unfair advantages in America.

[freshwest]

6. The GOP is now bankrupt of money and ideas, so they're recycling their memes.

Been listening to this one since 2008. I watched all the Democratic candidates, as well as Ron Paul. A lot of people were pretty desperate considering how many of last score of years the GOP held the White House.

Obama was my fourth choice among the Democratic contenders, but after watching every single thing I could find on youtube, he was the one. He had the intelligence and acuity of a Kennedy, the disposition of a philosopher and leader. No amount of conspiracy talk that was circulated then, and is still going around, made me forget the sixties and the way that politics were then with the Fairness Doctrine in place.

He was not the first black candidate I ever voted for, as I voted for Jesse Jackson because he was about peace and human rights, speaking more to that than other candidates did. I did not vote for Obama because of his color above all the rest.

In fact I feared my vote would be wasted after seeing the way Palin ran those rallies in the South. It was like the sixties all over again, and naturally the media played her up for all it was worth. It was like going back in time to a nightmare, worse than Bush, and that's saying quite a bit.

I couldn't even watch it as the last days came around, and didn't want to watch the election night coverage. Because I was sure he would lose. And now some people still get over his color. Hopeless.

[1StrongBlackMan]

9. But are you African-American?

If so, the teaparty/gop will ignore everything you have written and conclude that you just voted your tribe. That's what they did with me.

[freshwest]

17. You have a point, they don't.

Last edited Mon Apr 30, 2012, 11:28 PM - Edit history (1)

[1StrongBlackMan]

20. I think you misunderstood ...

My point was, if you are African-American, your thought process, however arrived at, is disregarded and attributed to pure tribalism. Point, end of discussion.

[freshwest]

24. Only idiots would think such a thing. Unfortunately, they vote.

[LASlibinSC]

7. Well, the cats out of the bag!

Get Sister Sarah back on the bus. Those crafty Dems. have been found out. Idiots! I know they don't think, but don't they hear what they're saying?

[1StrongBlackMan]

8. Actually ...

Walsh is correct, in an insanely circular sort of way.

Let me explain ... President Obama is historic because he is an African-American AND was elected as president. There have been other African-Americans that have run for president; but none have been elected, therefore, none of them were historic figures. Likewise, there have been plenty of white folks that have been elected to the presidency, and therefore cannot be consider historic, i.e., 1st time ever, wins.

If President Obama had not been elected president, he would not been a historic figure; but since he was elected president, as a Black man, it had to be because he was a historic figure before he became a historic figure ... but he was Black, long before he was a historic figure, therefore he was elected to become a historic figure BECAUSE he is a Black man ... making him a historic figure.

There you have it. Those teapartygoppers are so smart.

{Do I really have to use the "sarcasm" thingy?} Thought thought that just throwing aout a palin word salad would've made it obvious.

[babylonsister]

11. Ha! That was pretty funny. I was an early supporter because I thought he was the

smartest candidate running w/o baggage (that came later, i.e. Rev. Wright, which turned out to be non-baggage imo). And, I liked him a lot.

[jenmito]

10. He should tell that to President Jesse Jackson and President Al Sharpton. n/t

[JNelson6563]

12. Congressman Walsh needs a key cleaner.

[saras]

14. That's not a key cleaner, that's a urinal

[LonePirate]

13. Walsh is getting his ass kicked in November, right?

This slimeball better not be in office during the next Congress.

[notadmblnd]

15. That damn affirmative action that white men are always the victims of

[Major Hogwash]

16. Gawd damn! He has really changed since Woodstock!

I mean to tell ya.

I’ve said it before, it helped that John McCain was about 142 years old.

Nice going Joe!
Now you won't even get invited to McCain's 25th Annual PoliGrip Denture Adhesive Golf tournament held in Phoenix every August!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

18. Not the first time the hypocritical "Dead Beat Dad" scumbag used race. He claims that the media

is "in the tank" for Obama because he is black.

Who's the Democrat that is running against this joke?

[CBHagman]

19. Tammy Duckworth.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/politics&id=8589006

If she doesn't hand him his ass on a platter, I'll be very disappointed.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

26. Of course! How could I ever forget? Off to donate to Tammy's campaign.

I do think she will win. People are fed up with this Walsh guy.

[coalition_unwilling]

21. What a despicable piece of slime Walsh is. Hope

Duckworth cleans his clock in November.

[treestar]

22. That is too moronic for words

Does this idiot realize he's insulting the intelligence of the voters?

[quaker bill]

25. Actually Joe, we elected him because

he was precisely not Bush*. Being black was only one shallow dimension in which he was precisely not Bush*. He is literate and speaks in complete sentences, another dimension in which he is precisely not Bush*. He shows actual compassion, another dimension in which he is precisely not Bush*. He thinks of consequences before he acts, another dimension in which he is precisely not Bush*. His speeches inspire instead of irritate, another dimension in which he is precisely not Bush*.

One could attempt to list all the dimensions in which BHO is precisely not Bush*, but I really don't have the time.

[Tippy]

27. The Republican party if full of racists.....

[otohara]

28. And When Hillary is The First Woman President

this douchebag will say it's because she's a woman.

So predictable with their insults and slurs.

[RZM]

29. I think race mattered some, but more in the primaries than the general

Walsh is correct about McCain's flaws and the economy. McCain was way past his prime and not particularly popular with the GOP base. And he certainly didn't do himself any favors selecting Palin as his running mate. Throw in the financial crisis and Bush's unpopularity and it would have been pretty difficult for him to defeat any Democrat not named John Edwards. Had she gotten the nomination, I'm pretty sure Hillary Clinton would have defeated him too (though maybe by a smaller margin). Hell, I think even Biden or Richardson would have beaten him.

Race did matter, however, in the initial construction of the Obama identity and subsequent 'Obamania,' though it's not the whole story there either. But it's not a coincidence that Obama mentioned 'goat herding' in his 2004 convention speech. He and everybody else knew that his race, name, and Kenyan heritage represented departures from your traditional Democratic candidate and that these departures could work to his benefit. All of this (plus his age and short but trouble-free political record) presented a valuable contrast to the rest of the Democratic field, particularly Hillary, who was essentially Bill's heir. Clinton was thus 'politics as usual' while Obama was fresh, new, and exciting. Again, that's not entirely about race, but race was in the mix there. I'm skeptical that a white man of Irish heritage named O'Bama with the same record and bio as the president could have overcome Hillary Clinton, especially since such a candidate almost certainly could not have commanded 90-plus percent of the black vote in the primaries.

There were a whole lot of factors that led to Obama's presidency. Race should be mentioned as one, but it shouldn't be emphasized above all of the rest of them either.

[Bake]

30. Joe, Joe, Joe ... just walk away. Ya dig?

Or why don't YOU run for Prez? You're way younger than Gramps McLame. See how far you get.

Bake

[themaguffin]

31. He's probably saying that because he got elected because he is not black