Des Moines Register Editorial Cartoon, November 4, 2003...

[flpoljunkie]

[ryharrin]

1. The day that happens, I'll join with you in attacking Dean.

Until then, these attacks are absurd. The first time I heard him say that quote months ago I thought it was great, and I still do. Why are those people voting against their own self-interest? We should change that.

[AP]

9. It wasn't the same quote.

Months ago he simply commented on the absurdity of poor southern white people voting for Republicans who never delivered anything to them except more wedge poltics.

His recent quote was that he wanted to be the candidate for those people.

He cleared it up (I think) by saying that he want's people to put down the confederate flag first).

The key is that any democrat appealing to those people can't do it by ignoring race.

It was reasonable to construe from Dean's quote (and from other ways he has been presenting the issue of race) that his idea of appealing to southern white conservatives (on issue of race particularly) was to NOT talk about race, and not try to change people's minds about racism.

Clinton constantly tried to argue that racism held us all back.

Dean has said things like he thinks that civil rights legislation has gone as far as it can, and that we only need to address subconscious feelings about racism. He has used anti-white male gender discrimination as his 'blunt' allegor about race. He called caring about high black incarceration rates "liberal and weepy" and thought that drug treatment programs would be an adequate patch for the problem. He said in '95 that it was time to turn AA programs into class-base programs, rather than gender/race-based programs.

The cartoon is very appropriate, in that context.

[LuminousX]

2. Dean is a racist.

So many are so eager to imply it, I figure we might as well get it out in the open. If you think Dean is a racist, step up and say it.

[Sequoia]

5. I won't vote for him now

because of that remark. As a former southerner I take it that way too. Not all southerners drive pick-ups, have gun racks, and certainly above all fly the confederte flag. He has no clue about the south and they will not vote for him. Ken and Kerry look better all the time but I'm not throwing my hat into anyone's ring just yet.

[AP]

10. I haven't seen anyone accuse Dean of being a racist.

However, I do believe that Dean's race chat is awful.

I suspect that he has written off his ability to appeal to black voters, so he's trying to make sure they don't vote for his competition by turning them off from the Democratic party altogether.

I also think that he knows his base includes a lot of white liberals who think they understand issues relating to race, but don’t really.

When I started at DU, I couldn’t believe some of the things I saw (presumably) white liberals writing about race. After lots of discussions, with people like sangha, noireetblue, and salin (whose races I do not know ) contributing brilliant argument, the tide has turned.

However, I see some backsliding with the enthusiasm for Dean. I see some of the things to which he is appealing in all those old posts from white liberals with funny ideas about race.

[helleborient]

11. His base includes congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr....

Many of us in Illinois love that endorsement...Jesse is a great liberal congressman!

[AP]

12. In Jesse's endorsement/response to Sharpton

he said that it's impossible to find a candidate with whom you agree 100% on every issue.

I just wonder one of the issues on which Jackson isn't 100% with Dean is race.

And the one other significant black endorser of Dean (NY congressman Owen?) issued a statement that he supported Dean because he saw in him the same sort of thing that led the CBC to vote unanimously against the 87Bil Iraq request. That was a funny way to endorse Dean, since he said he was for the 87 Bil for Iraq.

[redqueen]

13. Well...

"he supported Dean because he saw in him the same sort of thing that led the CBC to vote unanimously against the 87Bil Iraq request."

To be fair, Dean said he'd only OK it if it were to be provided from revenue gained from rolling back the tax cuts. So... it's very possible that might be one way the CBC would have gone.

[helleborient]

3. Here we go...we've got the gasoline...

Somebody else is bound to grab the matches.

[newsjunkie]

7. It's ridiculous.

It's just his way of reaching out and letting these folks know he can help them more than Bush in their bread&butter family economy issues, and be a president for ALL Americans. There is no reason for them to fear him becoming president. Just like everyone jumped ugly on him for saying the Irael-Palestine issue needs to be even-handed. He was exactly right. They also jumped him for saying he will discuss black issues with black people. I think he would help them a lot and listen to them.He seems very open-minded to me and thats one thing I really like about him. Besides he isnt afraid to say what a waste of space Bush is in no uncertain terms. Everyone attacks him because he is going to be elected and they are running scared.

[Metrix]

4. I don't think he's a racist.

I think he's a snob. And I know which one Iowa voters would think is worse.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

6. I guess the cartoonist is just too unsophisticated to parse

Dean's sophistry.

[Thomas Jefferson]

8. This is priceless.

I love it.