Republican Plan to Win White House: LIes and Racism

The Republican Party has a problem in this presidential election cycle - their candidate, Mitt Romney, is a Mormon private equity guy with Swiss bank accounts.  His popularity poll numbers are lower than any other candidate in recent memory.  So Republicans have to rely on tried and true campaign tactics that have worked so well for them ever since Ronald Reagan. 

Basically, there are two primary initiatives:

    1) Suppress the vote of African-Americans and other minorities with onerous new voter identification requirements and other restrictions.  These are being implemented in the key "swing states" of Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. 

    2) Tap into the latent racism and resentment of white working class voters who have been losing ground economically since 2000.  This is happening through blatant lies about the Obama administration as well as through more subtle "whisper campaign" concerning Obama's race, religion, birth status, etc.

The respected journalist Ron Fournier has an excellent piece in the National Journal on the rassist tactics of the Romney campaign.

Blogger Thorston Beermann writes about the "whisper campaign" which has been so effectiive among white working class voters:

Das große Problem der Demokraten ist allerdings, dass die Ablehnung von Obama in weiten Teilen längst jedes rationale Maß hinter sich gelassen hat. Statt Argumenten wird blanker Hass verbreitet und mit Behauptungen unterfüttert, gegen das Anzweifeln seines Geburtsorts geradezu seriös wirkt.Es ist schwer vorher zu sagen, wie weit diese Strömungen in die Gesellschaft der USA vorgedrungen sind. Einerseits sagen Untersuchungen, dass die Radikalen zwar immer lauter aber auch immer weniger werden und besonders in den jüngeren Jahrgängen kaum noch verwurzelt sind. Ein Blick in Online-Netzwerke oder Kommentarspalten allerdings hinterlässt einen anderen Eindruck. Beiträge, in denen Obama vorgeworfen wird, etwa beim Abspielen der Nationalhymne nicht die richtige Haltung angenommen zu haben, sind noch das Harmloseste und bei Vergleichen mit Affen aufgrund seiner Hautfarbe ist noch lange nicht Schluss.

(The big problem for the Democrats is that the rejection of Obama among many has gone beyond any measure of rationality. Rather than arguments it is based on pure hatred and accusations that make the birther claims seem almost reasonable.  It is hard to say how deep these currents go in American society.  Some studies point out that as proponents of these extreme positions become more strident their numbers diminish and, in particular, find no resonance among younger people.  But looking at the comments in the online forums one comes away with a different impression. Posts where Obama is accused of not being sufficiently solemn during the playing of the national anthem are among the most harmless. And it doesn't end with comparisons of Obama with monkeys because of his skin color.)

The strategy is on full display at the Republican National Convention   Ines Pohl of the TAZ has been observing the proceedings and is appalled at what she sees: 

Schäumende Wut, die in blanken Hass umschlägt, bestimmt die Debatten. Argumente? Braucht man nicht. Den Frauen wird im Abtreibungsstreit jegliches Recht auf Selbstbestimmung abgesprochen, mit blanker Ideologie, die theologisch verbrämt daherkommt. Fakten? Fehlanzeige. In offenem Rassismus wird über Herkunft und Religion von Präsident Barack Obama spekuliert, Wahrheiten werden verdreht.

(The debates are determined by seething rage that turns into pure hatred.  You don't need arguments. In the abortion battle women are denied any right for self-determination based on an ideology dressed up as theology. Facts? Who cares?  With pure racism they speculate on the  background and religion of President Obama.  The truth is twisted.)

Actually, Romney's tactics might be TOO successful.  Republican Party officials were embarrassed when two convention attendees started throwing peanuts at a black CNN camera operator and shouted:"This is how we feed the animals!"

 

Comments

[koogleschreiber]

Dehumanizing the enemy is widely considered a Nazi rule of propaganda, but it is little known that Hitler himself was deeply inspired by the Anglo-American press. Even today every now and then we find ourselves amused when British papers describe the German soccer teams as 'tanks' and 'huns' on another 'blitzkrieg'. Of course we regard it as some kind of typical British humor, but one can easily imagine how this would end up if the country went to a real war. The population would not be prepared for a chivalrous fight, but for a total war.

In America today, do we have a conflict between the Republicans and the Democrats like between the Nazis and the Communists in the late 20-ies? Once Romney became president, would he stop his followers from the Tea Party and their mixture of racism and religious fundamentalism? Could he resist the opportunity to make the Tea Party a nucleus of an SA-style militia - with Paul 'Röhm' Ryan?

Still there is hope that the American people recognize the signs on the wall and give Obama a landslide victory. Still there is hope the majority of the American people is immune against a propaganda of hatred and defamation.

[Jake]

An good Collection of 'Fact Check' about the TeaReps: http://tammox2.blogspot.com/2012/09/impudenz-des-monats-august-2012.html