But what do John McCain and the national GOP plan to do about it? Are they going to cut the TN GOP off? Or are racists tolerated at the upper levels of the Republican party?
I know Joe wrote about this last week, but you have to love the picture of the Republican congressional candidate in Indiana attending Hitler's birthday party. Why? Because he was invited. That's his excuse. I'm particularly fond of the kid-style "Happy Birthday" bunting. (H/T Ben-o.)
And, what has John McCain had to say about his fellow Republican cavorting with the Nazis?
Just read this editorial in my NY Times. It says what a lot of people are thinking. The responsibility to repudiate racism falls on all the candidates, including John McCain:
It is an injustice, a legacy of the racist threads of this nation’s history, but prominent African-Americans are regularly called upon to explain or repudiate what other black Americans have to say, while white public figures are rarely, if ever, handed that burden.
Senator John McCain has continued to embrace a prominent white supporter, Pastor John Hagee, whose bigotry matches that of Mr. Wright. Mr. McCain has not tried hard enough to stop a race-baiting commercial — complete with video of Mr. Wright — that is being run against Mr. Obama in North Carolina.
If Mr. Obama is the Democratic presidential nominee, we fear that there will be many more such commercials. And Mr. Obama will have to repudiate Mr. Wright’s outbursts many more times.
This country needs a healthy and open discussion of race. Mr. Obama’s repudiation of Mr. Wright is part of that. His opponents also have a responsibility — to repudiate the race-baiting and make sure it stops.
And, while we're at it, Hillary Clinton needs to repudiate the anti-gay slur of her top surrogate in North Carolina, which she not only witnessed, she laughed at. Or is winning the homophobe vote more important?
I found this passage very curious and a real demonstration of weakness on the part of the GOP's leader, John McCain:
On whether he has the ability to stop the NC GOP from running an ad with clips of Wright, McCain once again said that he had done all he can do, although he did admit that he has not personally tried to contact the state party and he does not plan on punishing the party if they go through with plans to place the ad on TV.
So, he's doing all that he can do, but Linda Davies is still overpowering and out-maneuvering McCain. If McCain can't muscle Linda Davies, how can he show any strength? Seems like McCain is actually either a pushover -- or maybe he's intimidated by this woman:
Yes, this is the face of Linda Davies. She's the powerful racist force from North Carolina who defied John McCain. This episode demonstrated that the leader of the GOP is hapless and incapable of standing up to bigots in his own party. If this woman can stand up to and defy McCain, who won't stand up to and defy McCain?
McCain has been rolled by the North Carolina Republican Party. All of McCain's alleged outrage about the NC GOP's racist ad have been for nothing:
“I’ll do everything in my power to make sure not only they stop it but that kind of leadership is rejected,” McCain said in an interview with CBS’s Early Show, adding that he has communicated his wishes “in every possible way.”
If McCain says he'll do everything in his power to stop it, and it isn't stopped, clearly, McCain has no power. That's very telling.
The NC GOP has no fears about pissing off John McCain (unlike the press corps, which lives in fear of his outbursts).
While this episode demonstrates the GOP gutter politics, it also really says something about McCain's leadership abilities -- or lack thereof. He is the head of the Republican party and can't get some two-bit political hack in the Republican party to heed his words. How is McCain ever going to handle Congress? Even worse, how is McCain ever going to handle our enemies? If people in McCain's own party don't listen to him, why would anyone else?
Yes, this episode demonstrates the weakness of John McCain's leadership. The NY Times notes:
Unless Mr. McCain quickly gets control of his party, we fear there will be worse to come.
Oh, there will be worse to come, because John McCain can't control his party. McCain is not a leader.
