Ken Mehlman Admits Republican Exploitation Of Racial Division!!!

[DistressedAmerican]

Could only find this an article from before he made the speech. He has now delivered it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/13/AR2005071302342.html

-SNIP-
RNC Chief to Say It Was 'Wrong' to Exploit Racial Conflict for Votes

By Mike Allen

Thursday, July 14, 2005; Page A04

It was called "the southern strategy," started under Richard M. Nixon in 1968, and described Republican efforts to use race as a wedge issue -- on matters such as desegregation and busing -- to appeal to white southern voters.

Ken Mehlman, the Republican National Committee chairman, this morning will tell the NAACP national convention in Milwaukee that it was "wrong."

"By the '70s and into the '80s and '90s, the Democratic Party solidified its gains in the African American community, and we Republicans did not effectively reach out," Mehlman says in his prepared text. "Some Republicans gave up on winning the African American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization. I am here today as the Republican chairman to tell you we were wrong."

-MORE AT LINK-

[bluestateguy]

1. Will he give the votes back?

The damage is done and white male conservatives in the South are now Republicans for good, so Mehlman's "apology" is fairly meaningless because it comes at no cost to him or his party.

If he will offer to give those votes back to the Democrats then we can talk...

[Botany]

2. Sure "they" can try to vote but ....

..... opps not enough machines
..... GOP challengers
...... show some ID
...... much higher rate of "spoiled" ballots


Ken, I live in Ohio ..... cut the crap!

[MrBenchley]

3. And Rush Limbaugh had an on-air shit fit....

http://mediamatters.org/items/200507140004

My friend Bob Boudelang also weighed in...

"Let's face it, we would not have all these problems if Strom Thurmond was elected President back then, and there is nothing wrong with saying so. It is about time black people got over the fact that Republicans hate them, and instead of suffering tolerance and opportunity on the Democrap plantation, joined us in the GOP in hating gayo-Americans and keeping them from having rights.
I know I am not alone when I look forward to the day when black and white Americans can go out and string up homosexuals together. Not the good kind of homosexuals, of course, but the bad ones who want to get married. I am sure Our Great President feels the same way, because he is a uniter and not a dividerer. "

http://www.democraticunderground.com/bob/05/132.html

[DistressedAmerican]

4. Both Rush And Bob Are Gross Human Beings. Folks Like Them

should be the first up against the wall when the time comes.

I try to read Bob's stuff with a grain of salt. But, there is not enough salt in the fucking ocean to make that quote taste anything but rotten!

[MrBenchley]

5. Uh, you DO realize Bob is a parody, don't you?

[DistressedAmerican]

6. Sure Didn't. Well That Makes Me Feel Better! I Can Be A Bit Thick

sometimes! Haven't read that much of "his" stuff. Thinking it was real deal, I just found it a bit too gross. FUNNY!

[MrBenchley]

7. That's okay...

Somebody once posted one of his columns on Free Republic and the Freepers climbed all over each other talking about how "intelligent" it was....

"Bob" really arose out of the many internal contradictions of the Bush energy policy....It's an attempt to answer the question "How stupid, dishonest, or both would you have to be to pretend Fox News makes sense?"

[BrotherBuzz]

8. Uh, Bob may be a parady in our world...

But in another universe, there are people that embrace Bob's twisted ideology and take it to heart. Scary, I tell you, scary! FWIW, I've introduced a string of friends to your work and they just love it (for the right reasons, of course). Satire is one of our strongest weapons, keep up your sterling work.

[MrBenchley]

9. Many of Bob's greatest "hits" were said seriously by right wing loonies

Just last week on a delphi forum, one seriously accused me of "hiding behind the truth"....

[DistressedAmerican]

10. Kick!