So we are in the thick of the political season once again. If you missed it Mr. Romney spoke at the NAACP in Houston the other day. It started off nice enough with polite if not enthusiastic applause. Never mind that he flew in around 200 black republican supporters to disperse through out the crowd like commentator Niger Innis. But the masterstroke was his mention of repealing Obamacare which drew loud boos from the crowd. Did Romney do this on purpose. Of course he did or his speechwriters and handlers did it for him. They knew who they were speaking to that day and they knew it was at best an antagonistic at worst a hostile crowd. It was a calculated attempt to bolster his conservative bonafides.
Racists and conservatives all over the country delighted in his giving the NAACP what for and let's face it with 96% of black voters casting their votes for Obama in the last election how many votes do you think Romney might have won over. But that is the sad cynicism of the right. This is the stereotyping of black voters at its worst. What if Romney really tried to reach out to black voters with a conservative message that was not his red meat rhetoric warmed up from his tea party audiences on the campaign trail. The sob story about how he cares about the plight of the poor and middle class was not tailored for his audience. The sad truth is that Mitt Romney was not talking to the NAACP that day. He was talking over his audience and into the mic with double barreled aim for white America who has been spoon-fed a diet of ideas that the the poor are shiftless and lazy. Romney or his speechwriters showed just how little they care about the black community by using them as a prop to stage a play for white conservative America. Come watch the great white hope stand up to the uppity NAACP and scare the hell out of them by talking about how he would effectively destroy any safety nets that are in place for the poor.
Romney touted his father's civil rights record but it will take a lot more than that to sway black voters today. His party needs to make inroads in all communities including the black community in the coming years if they are going to remain a viable party but they seem content to play to our worst selves and depend on the lowest common denominator in American politics to swing the balance in their favor. It was purposeful, intentional, and blatant snubbing of the civil rights organization and the black community as a whole when Romney spoke in Houston that day. But welcome to the dirty calculating numbers game that is politics. It is better to anger the 15-18% of black voters who will probably not vote for him and instead feed his staunch ravenous conservative/racist 20% of the vote the red meat they hunger for so they will come out and support the guy who stood up to the NAACP in their own house. Please know that I am not calling conservatives racist. They are to distinct & different groups who happen to vote similarly, that is all. With just 100 some days left till the election we'll see if Romney's math worked out or not very soon. It's just sad when politicians play to our worst selves instead of even attempting to reach out to the American people and convey a heartfelt message of hope and their true convictions.
