Quote:
Originally posted by Colin@Apr 28 2003, 04:14 PM
As far as Estrada, I think there are people that view such an event through many lenses. As far as Latinos, some will hold their political party status as an important self-image. To others, their self-image will be dominated by the concept of "Latino". Some will be mixed.
I think if you work out the possibilities, it is more likely that neutral Latinos will vote Republican than any other change as a result of the Estrada nomination.
Bush picks up votes in my opinion.
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I don't doubt that it will be effective for some people; I think the gain may be neglible, and still think the backlash against it (which will be a lot harder to measure) may more than counteract it. I really wonder how many people are actually gullible enough to fall for it; the folks that are actually saying it as if they believe it don't have a lot of credibility. You call it a gain for the Republicans; I call it a wash at best, and a pretty crude, dispicable play of race politics REGARDLESS of the results.
Still, playing the race card is a time honored tradition in American politcs. Until about 30 years ago it was mostly a Democratic technique; that baton was passed (thank you Massa Mitchell!) during the Nixon Administration.
It will be interesting to see if they can continue to play the race card both ways - attempting to paint the Democrats as anti-Hispanic because they oppose one specific conservative judicial nominee, yet continuing to chip away at things like Affirmative Action and other attempts to level the playing field while professing their desire to be more inclusive.
[quote]Why? Sharpton is every bit the lunatic fringe racist that Pat Robertson is. [quote]
I don't know that I've ever characterized either person as racist. I know that some of Robertson's contemporaries have some peculiar ideas of race (i.e., Bob Jones); and I think that characterizing Sharpton's advocacy for African Americans as "racist" is false, misleading, and downright incorrect (since wrong is a loaded word in this thread).
I don't know how I'd feel about Sharpton if I thought he was a serious political force. I find him contemptable, personally. Frankly, if he motivates a segment of the African American community to work harder against Bush and gracefully bows out at a later date in favor of another politician, he will be acting as nothing more than a somewhat non-traditional "favorite son." The paranoid side of me wonders where he's getting his money - Buchannan once suggested that Nixon fund Dick Gregory's third party campaign to deprive the Democrats of some black votes, so who knows?
But comparing the power and influence of Sharpton to Robertson takes some damn fucking good drugs.