Not that long ago, I wrote on this forum that the incidents of GOP leaders and their associates saying or doing something racially inflammatory happen so often that I can pretty much set my watch to it. So, friends, it's that time again. Tick!

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/marilyn-davenport-chimp-email-ignites-controversy-republicans/story?id=13400480

No matter how many times Republican voters blame the attention brought to these types of incidents on the liberal media, KEEP HAPPENING - AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN. Between this type of stupid nonsense, the past 50 years of party racial gaffes and apathy, and the continuing birther discussions, it almost seems as if there are few people who have the goal of turning every last black voter against the GOP. And of course, if that should happen and as a result of that, a number of important states stay blue, these same people will find a way to blame the media.

It's really not that hard to not be an idiot. I don't understand why his keeps happening.

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The Values Voter
http://thevaluesvoter.spaces.live.com

I didn't like it when they did it to President Bush either. Check out these "images"

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Psalms 144:1 "Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:"

I hated the way people treated President Bush and I thought the attempts to paint him as a monkey or chimp were not only severely distasteful but also offensive. It was absolutely wrong, along with many other insulting things they said about him.

Although it may seem to some that this type of thing is just a copy of what people said about President Bush, the effect of the Obama chimp comparisons is compounded by the fact that both historically and even today, one of the favorite insults that anti-black racists use has been to compare people of color to monkeys. The Bush taunts, while equally cruel, didn't carry that extra bit of explosive fuel and baggage. Also, while the people who painted Bush as a chimp were mean-spirited Democrats (just like those who do this to Obama are mean-spirited Republicans), it didn't hurt the Democratic Party as much because there weren't that many people in the country who thought that many in the Democratic Party despise white people ... or Texans. But there are a lot of people who think of the GOP this way. And this just reinforces that line of thinking, making it harder to build multiracial conservative coalitions.

Also, this is very far from an isolated incident. This type of thing happens regularly ... every three months or so, to be almost exact.




http://www.americanconservativedaily.com/2009/06/tennessee-gop-senate-aide-reprimanded-for-offensive-obama-e-mail/



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32601868/ns/politics/


No need to rehash the many, many times things like this have happened. The bottom line is that this not only offends many people, including myself, but that it does not help build the coalitions needed to protect pro-life and common sense policies in America in 2011. It actually prevents those coalitions from being formed. Not enough people, percentage-wise, want to be associated with a group that regularly has this type of thing happen.

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The Values Voter
http://thevaluesvoter.spaces.live.com

I live in Orange County and she will be severely forced out if she refuses to quit immediately.

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Completely unacceptable behaviour. Period. I will personally visit the offices.

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Please click^ on the tank and join up today

Thank you, Craig.

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Psalms 144:1 "Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:"

Exactly, for all the wishing people may do we don't live in a color blind society. The life experiences of an African American aren't like those of a white American. There is much insensitivity towards Hispanics in the same circles. If we drive what are essentially culturally conservative ethnic groups into the arms of the Democrats (who are only too happy to tickle their ears with lies about how much they care) we will end up with society that is bad for all of us and probably more so for those same minorities then it would be for whites. Let's attack policy, not person hood.

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Judith Martinez
"It is true poverty for a child to die so that we may live as we wish."

Until Davenport is gone, I will not rest here in Orange County.. My good friend of many, MANY years, Scott Baugh agrees with me.

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2 ... ublica.php

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My mom, sisters and bils all live in S. CA. I'm wondering if I should email them and encourage them to get involved. If you have contact info. I can share with them I will do it. They aren't particularly involved in politics although they are faithful voters.

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Judith Martinez
"It is true poverty for a child to die so that we may live as we wish."

Judi,

Thanks. I think our OC Republican Party leaders headed by Scott will have her out within the week.

I'll let you and (everyone) know.

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ValuesVoter, I just want to say again how much your contributions here bless me. Everything you post is thoughtful, well-worded, backed up with facts & documented sources, and spoken in reasonable tones that strike me as very mature. I wish everyone could conduct debates, discussions, and analysis the way you do. I still can't wait for your book!!! And increasingly, I think AMERICA needs your book. When it is ready to be published, please alert me first.

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Recovering Huck-a-holic

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"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism." ~ Ronald Reagan


You say "Conspiracy Theorist"?? Call me Agenda Analyst.

Thanks for the compliment. I'm not always well-worded (nothing that a few edits can't fix) and sometimes get emotional in discussing issues, but, I do think I have a few insights to offer in terms of why there is a (needless) disparity in voting patterns along racial lines, hence the book idea.

Actually, I got the idea for the book three years ago and amazingly haven't gotten it done yet. I have some family situations that require a lot of time and a job that requires both occasional travel and occasional insane hours. But, I've got a new fire lit under me and decided to give myself two weeks to send my first query letter to a publisher. I don't have the book written but have enough material compiled to be able to make the case for getting it published (I hope). Please pray for me to be able to be led to the right publisher and that maybe I can get this kicked off officially.

Thanks again for the kind words and encouragement!

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The Values Voter
http://thevaluesvoter.spaces.live.com

Thanks very much for speaking up on this issue. I think that the GOP will be in a much better position in the future if more pressure to stop racial stupidity comes from within the party ranks instead of from outside. People will respect the GOP more if they perceive that the rank and file are just as outraged over things that look and seem to be racially offensive as everyone else is. Then, perhaps people who don't vote Republican normally will be more willing to consider it.

I have a relative who is pro-life, pro-military, for preserving traditional marriage, a typical "values voter," who, upon hearing about this latest incident said "I can never bring myself to vote for them." And by "them," they meant Republicans. This type of thing may seem petty to some people. But, beyond the issue of whether someone is being racially insensitive or even racist, is the fact that this type of thing does continued, sustained damage to the Republican brand. Sadly, when you say the word "Republican" in a word-association game with many people, especially nonwhites, the word that comes to mind first is "racist." This isn't a true reflection of the hearts of the majority of the millions of individuals who are part of the Republican Party, in my opinion. But it is indeed a true reflection of the perception of the Republican brand. In politics, like in a lot of other things, perception is reality.

Does it really matter that the Republican Party is not filled to the brim with people who are deeply racist if the average voter thinks that it is? The answer: nope. The average voter isn't going to have the opportunity to meet you, the other good people here or the many other Republican voters and party members who abhor racism in every form. They're going to see a few high-ranking examples here and there and make the conclusion by way of sampling that this ugliness is the real Republican Party. The average person forms their perception of a brand based on the totality of exposure that they have to information about things that involve that brand. If they see people in high positions appearing to confirm the things that they already thought, and if they see it happening again and again and again and ... they will often not vote for people who are associated with the brand. Even if they agree with them on the issues.

This ugliness also works directly against the goals of conservative values by undermining the credibility of the more conservative party and by giving reinforcement to the idea that much of the opposition to President Obama's policies is because of racism and not so much because of policy. It's easier to make the case that racism is not part of the deep-seated dislike that many Republicans have to almost everything the President does when you don't have a high ranking member of the party organization in the sixth most populated county in the United States mailing out a picture implying that the President comes from a family of chimps and cracking "Now you know why – No birth certificate!” (He doesn't have a birth certificate because he's actually a chimp - get it? Yuk yuk. I'm laughing my way away from whatever candidates the email senders support).

Which brings me to a question. Why is it that people who are in the GOP and in leadership positions continue to do damage to their own party brand? It makes no sense. The Republican Party has a serious brand problem with nonwhites. People tend to view the GOP as racist or at least apathetic and/or hostile to issues that uniquely affect minorities. Why do so many people in high places in the party do things ... so often ... that play right into that perception?

Imagine the following things occurring in the non-political world:

* Suppose an airline is perceived by the public to have an issue with safety. The Associated Press reports that an assistant to the Chief of Operations put a post on their Facebook site making jokes about plane crashes. Later it is reported that several mechanics have been heard joking that proper maintenance procedures aren't that important.

* Suppose a restaurant is perceived to have issues with cleanliness. The head chef is overheard joking that he washes his hands once a month. A waitress is overheard joking that the restaurant's signature dish should be called "salmonella salad."

* Suppose an influential Pastor is perceived to not be teaching the Bible accurately. He is heard making comments that seem to make light of the issue of abortion. Later, a couple of deacons are heard telling each other highly inappropriate jokes while preparing for communion.

Maybe not the best examples, but you can imagine what you'd think if you already had a preconception of the airline being unsafe, the restaurant being unclean and the Pastor perhaps not being right with God. And if you heard something that seemed to confirm the thing you already thought, you'd be even less likely to take a flight, have a meal or listen to a sermon at any of these facilities. The same thing is true with the GOP. Every time one of these things happens, there are more and more people, who, like my relative, decide that their perception of the GOP as being anti-black, anti-Hispanic, anti-whatever, are probably right and that they won't have anything to do with anyone who is Republican. That's why this type of thing can't be tolerated. It's a bigger issue than any one individual or any one comment.

Question: how would a business handle an employee that hurts the image of the company? And if this thing happened continuously and all over the country, how would the business take measures to make sure that all employees knew that it would just not be tolerated anymore? Whatever the answer to this question is, this is what the GOP needs to do internally to not only address this issue but to keep it from happening yet again and to keep its brand from being eroded even further.

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The Values Voter
http://thevaluesvoter.spaces.live.com

TVV, just copy this last post into one of your chapters! In fact, you could probably string together a vast array of excellent sections of your book just from posts here at HA.

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Recovering Huck-a-holic

TVV,

The link to your site seems not to be working for me this morning..

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Please click^ on the tank and join up today

I have not blogged in some time (work, travel, family) - I am not sure why that is the case. I will check. Thanks for telling me!

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The Values Voter
http://thevaluesvoter.spaces.live.com

Can the post title be revised? "California GOP Chairman's email depicts Obama as chimp"?

The ugly email was neither by a man or a chairperson.

Done

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The Values Voter
http://thevaluesvoter.spaces.live.com

Still wondering if anyone has a thought about how this should be handled in general. You who are registered Republicans (versus the few of us who are Independents) are all shareholders in GOP Inc. The image of GOP Inc. has been battered over the years by a public perception that it is either hostile to or apathetic to blacks and other minorities. We all have a lot on the line regarding the success of GOP, Inc., even those of us who are conservatives but not "shareholders." This is because the alternative to GOP Inc., DEMCo, is largely in the business of protecting legalized abortion, anti-family values, and unbounded spending. While neither company is all that great, GOP Inc. has a fundamentally better product than DEMCo.

But, here's the problem. While people don't think very highly of either company, and customers of each firm tend to dislike the other one, there is a widespread perception in the public that GOP, Inc., is anti-black and anti-Hispanic. This turns off not only blacks and hispanics (the latter of which constitutes a widely growing percentage of the political consumer base) but also many whites who don't want to be associated with anything or anyone that looks or sounds racist.

Although the GOP, Inc. shareholders feel strongly that this belief is based on a skewed perception of the company and that those darn tricksters over at DEMCo are playing mind tricks on the public, there is still one problem. Every once in a couple of months, some high-ranking employee of GOP, Inc., does something incredibly stupid that solidifies the public's thinking on the matter. Sometimes, it's a racist cartoon (just pick one - many to choose from) or joke (did you hear the one about the Obama family being "Another black family living in government housing"?). Sometimes it's a simple matter of the then-Republican Senate Majority Leader and a prominent Republican House member speaking on numerous occasions to a white separatist group. Things like that. And it's not just a matter of something happening once or twice. It's happening continuously. All over the country. For years. Not from most people in the party but from enough people in the party that it is making it very hard to convince people that GOP Inc loves everyone and wants everyone to be a customer.

This is pretty much the GOP's equivalent of the sleeping Air Traffic Controller mess or the Catholic Priest abuse scandal. It's not true that most people are doing the wrong thing; most Republicans are good people just like most ATCs are dilligent and most Priests are not predators. But it's happening more than just a few times and it's happening enough that there is an absolute, identifiable, quantifiable pattern. This pattern is lowering the stock price of GOP, Inc., because it's damaging the company brand.

So, what do you shareholders think is the right thing to do about this problem that is damaging the brand of the Party of Lincoln in the eyes of a significant portion of the political consumer base? Enough consumers have been affected by this that entire Presidential elections have been won or lost based on minority voter unification against the party they perceive as hostile to them (in research for my book, I counted seven U.S. Presidential elections that were turned on the basis of an already close contest that was swayed by black voters turning out against the party they thought was against them - in 1868 for the Republicans and against the Democrats and in 1948, 1960, 1976, 1992, 1996, and 2008 for the Democrats and against the Republicans. In all of these elections, the eventual winner won the Presidency despite losing the white vote - see http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/national-exit-polls.html and http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h130.html. All were close elections in which the margin of victory was likely provided by the winner winning a landslide percentage of black voter support when the margin of white voter support between the candidates was fairly close). When the elections are blowouts, the impact of having 95% of blacks and 67% of hispanics voting against GOP Inc can be withstood. When the elections are even remotely close, it usually can't be.

What would you do to make it clear to every employee of GOP Inc that doing and saying things that are not only mean-spirited and highly offensive but that are also damaging to the GOP Brand will not be tolerated? How would you shareholders suggest that the message gets sent loud and clear that this can't keep happening?

Would love to hear some replies!

Thx - TVV

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The Values Voter
http://thevaluesvoter.spaces.live.com