‘Dear Chip …’
An Open Letter to Mr. Chip Saltsman:
Hello, my name is Dennis Sanders. I’m not anyone special, just some guy in Minnesota who blogs from time to time. I wanted to write to you about your little storm that has been brewing since you sent a holiday CD with a little ditty called “Barack the Magic Negro.”
I think the whole idea of sending out this CD was a major bad idea and isn’t a good omen to what you might do as Chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Yeah, I know: the idea came from an article by a liberal. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. I’m not calling you a racist, I don’t know you. But what you did was insensitive to African Americans and isn’t going to help you if you want the party to grow and reach minorities…if that’s something you really want to do.
You see, I’m African American. A lot of African Americans voted for Barack Obama and they really look up to him. For them, the impossible has happened: someone that looks like them, has been elected to the highest office in the land. After being basically second-class citizens for about three centuries, this is a big achievement even if you don’t agree with Obama’s politics.
So, calling Obama the “Magic Negro” isn’t a good idea. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but the GOP has a bit of a PR problem with blacks. Maybe that is not deserved, but when you have people like the late Jesse Helms, former Senator Trent Lott praising outgoing Senator Strom Thurmond in a way that seemed to support his anti-segregationist policies, and the whole Willie Horton thing, these have not helped your standing with African Americans.
There is nothing wrong with making fun of a president including the President Elect. That’s a noble American tradition. But when the Commander in Chief is an African American, one must be sensitive in how to make fun of someone. You weren’t sensitive at all.
There used to be a time when African Americans largely cast their votes for Republicans. They did this because Republicans like Abe Lincoln freed my ancestors. Over time, the Democrats have become the party of civil rights while the GOP has been considered- fairly or unfairly – the party of unreconstructed bigots.
If the GOP is to stay a national party, then it has to be more willing to reach out to people who aren’t white. And that means being more sensitive to minorities, which means, stop sending silly CDs using race to make fun of the president.
So, if you really want to make the GOP strong, you should offer an apology. If you want the party to be a joke, then don’t. Your choice, but I would hope you have the sense to know better.
Sincerely,
Dennis Sanders
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10 Responses to “‘Dear Chip …’”
Blacks started voting for the Democrats around the time of the New Deal. The basic argument of the post is that there was no way that McCain was going to compete for the black vote because blacks wanted to vote for a candidate that looked like them.
thus, why should Republicans care at all about blacks when the only way to win their votes is to outpander the Democrats while running black candidates.
The real question is whether the more conservative party can ever appeal to blacks and judging from this post, the answer is no.
Right now, Chip Saltsman is focused on the short-term goal of how to get votes from the RNC members in ordered to be elected RNC chairman.
Ol' Chippy put a lot of thought into this, and had custom CD presentation cases made (with his smilin' face right next to four of the most offensive song titles) and sent to all 168 RNC members as Christmas gifts.
Chip knows his target audience — Dr. Bill Frist praises Chippy as a “thoughtful tactician for Republicans nationwide.” Chippy calculated that this tactic of sending this ugly, offensive CD (which Chippy defends as “light-hearted”) would help him win the chairmanship of the RNC.
In his mind, Chippy sees this crude and vulgar CD as a no-lose tactic. Sendin' out this harsh and insultin' CD gets him press — and it appeals to the basest parts of his base — and he gets to deflect criticism by pointin' fingers at the media and playin' the victim — AND, Chippy is a business partner with the man who records and sells these crass CDs.
Best of all, the CD is an easy shortcut for any RNC members who don't have the time or patience to evaluate Chip Saltsman by reviewin' his long, detailed, multi-page, 3,644-word “Plan for Republican Victory” on his RNC campaign website at http://www.chipsaltsman.com
Chippy says this is his “plan to execute a campaign for Republicans to recapture leadership on the American political scene.”
Interestin'ly, Chip's Plan includes eleven long paragraphs about how the RNC should reach out to Latino and young voters —
but NOT ONE SINGLE WORD about black voters or their concerns…
and also, NOT ONE SINGLE WORD about female voters and women's concerns.
I reckon we''ll see how Chip's self-servin' CD tactic plays out in the short term when the RNC members cast their votes in January —
and in the long term, when Americans cast their votes in future elections.
SD-Well with leaders like that is it any wonder that blacks DON'T vote for Republicans? How do you expect them to win national races when they go out of their way to offend so many minorities and interest groups? They don't like gays, Hispanics, Muslims, blacks, atheists,union workers, Northeastern elitists, etc etc. Who's left???
Even if they don't care about black voters, its pretty stupid to purposely offend an incoming president who is extremely popular among voters from both parties!Why go out of your way to prove that you're an insensitive clod??
Kritt,
That is why I do not expect them to become irrelevant as a political force. The costs of appealing to core Democratic groups is the lost of its current base. However, the current base is not big enough to maintain it as the second party. The only way to appeal to blacks, Hipsanics, Northeast elites is to stop being conservative or even pretending to be conseravtive. Yet, if the Republicans try to stop being conservative, the middle class white voter walks away. See what happened when the Repubicans attempted to pander to Hispanics. The middle class white voters revolted and the Republicans lost both white support and Hispanic support.
A better question is what will happen to blacks in the coming one party state.
SD– I think you are wrong and here's why. By voting against last year's immigration bill the GOP lost states with high numbers of hispanics like Colorado and New Mexico. By being too conservative, they lost more Senate and House seats in the NE. By taking a stand against bailing out the auto industry, they will lose even more seats in states like Michigan and Ohio next election.
They are rapidly becoming a regional party that is based largely in the South. Look at an electoral map of the states that went blue in 2004 vs 2008 if you don't believe me.
kritt,
The Republicans raised less than half the money that the Democrats did because many Republicans refused to donate to an open borders supporters. McCain campaigned for open borders and amnesty and it did him no good. He received the 30% of the Hispanic vote that Republicans always get. The Republican Party in Michigan actively campaigned against the initiative to eliminate afirmative action. The Republicans in MIchigan have a long history now of picking lousy candidates.
You can ask Christopher Shays how being a moderate Republican worked out for them. If the Republicans were going to have a 20% approval ratings, the least they could have done is balance the budget and eliminiate some government programs.
The Republicans have no crediblity on any issue of naitonal security, fiscal restraint, or smaller government. yet, your suggestion is to move to left and become bigger spenders, open borders, and less freedom?
SD
The open borders issue was inflamed by conservative talk radio hosts and tv commentators like Limpy, Bill'o, Michael Savich, and Sean Hannity. Two years ago- no one even cared about this issue.
Chris Shays was defeated because even moderates were blamed for Republican failures —not because he was a moderate.
My suggestion is that they stop focusing solely on ideology, (that they have been unable to put into action) and focus more on real solutions for real Americans. Worry more about American workers than the interests of multinational corporations.
Stand up for the shrinking standard of living of the average American. Stop yammering on about issues that many Americans do not care very much about– abortion, gay rights, flag-burning, etc and start caring about what is really happening in this country.
Kritt,
How do you think that real wages will go up if the Obama Admnistration maintains open borders and unlimited immigration. How does it help real people in Louisville to have their children bussed across town for social engineering purposes.
How are real Americans helped when the government consumes a larger portion of the GDP to pay for entitlements. Open borders serve the interest or corporation and public sector employees much more than middle class Americans.
The Bush Adminsitration thought they could be big spenders while throwing a bone to social conservatives. Yet, the Bush Adminsitraiotn has failed.
SD-
I admit neither party has all of the answers. But just letting the Big 3 go bankrupt- a stand espoused by conservatives and ruling the economy by tax cuts and deficit spending is certainly not the answer that will help the average person
.Allowing industry lobbyists to write the legislation that regulates them likewise has led to corruption and abuse and has hurt the environment and our workers' standard of living.
Conservative policies are ruining our prosperity- while enabling the few to enjoy massive prosperity. You are right conservative pols throw a bone to social cons to keep them from realizing that the average person is sliding downward into the lower class while the upper class is becoming the ruling class.
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