It speaks to a kind of simplistic political calculus that values the symbolic over the substantive and simply seems unable to grasp why the Democratic primary and Obama's candidacy captured so many imaginations. Conservatives dismiss these as nothing more than identity politics and in doing so reveal a profound misunderstanding of legitimate issues of gender and race. Which is how they find themselves essentially saying "hey we got a black guy too"
I don't know who the first out gay national politician will be. But I'll bet the second one is a Republican.
Gonna disagree with you a bit. There is a fight going on in the GOP. Guys like Tom DeLay (of Sugarland TX) are finally getting kicked out of the GOP. Tom DeLay is the reason that there are not more minorities and gays in the GOP. When he was in the House of Reps, it was between him and JC Watts (Oklahoma - Black and played safety for OU) to be elected Majority Whip. DeLay played some very dirty politics. JC Watts walked away from the GOP.
ReplyDeleteMr Steele represents the future that the GOP is going to have to go to and can get there smoothly if a couple facts are kept in mind:
- Minorities, especially Black-Americans are Conservative even though they have voted Democrat in the past
- Minorities hate being patted on the head and thrown crumbs. Both Dems and Repubs have been guilty of this
I'm optimistic. I'm in the minority
Steele may or may not be the future of the party but it took 6 ballots and a fairly close final vote of 91-77 to confirm him as party head none of which would have happened in my opinion if new President were white.
ReplyDeleteFor the record Watts was a quarterback not safety. Another one of those awesome wishbone college QBs in the Big 8 that had major college success but weren't taken seriously by the NFL at all.
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