New York Governor Claims “Community Organizer” is Republican for “Black”
I have been a registered Republican since I was 18 years old and I guess that I still haven’t learned all of the Republican code words yet. I am going to have to dig around in my closet for the code book and do a little studying.
Evidently if a Republican uses the term “community organizer” it is a code word for “black.” Somebody forgot to send me the memo. Here is what the governor of New York had to say:
“I think the Republican Party is too smart to call Barack Obama ‘black’ in a sense that it would be a negative. But you can take something about his life, which I noticed they did at the Republican Convention – a ‘community organizer.’ They kept saying it, they kept laughing,” he said.
Paterson referred to McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin who compared her work experience to Obama’s.
“So I suppose a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except with real responsibilities,” she said at the convention.
Paterson sees the repeated use of the words “community organizer” as Republican code for “black”.
What a crock of shit that is. Sarah Palin was trying to draw a comparison between her experience and that of Barack Obama. There was no suggestion of race in her statements. The Barack Obama campaign keeps telling the American people how Republicans are going to use racist strategies to win the election and now Democrats seem to be trying to prove their ridiculous, unfounded, and irresponsible claims.
Barack Obama has tried to compare his running of a campaign and his experience as a community organizer to Sarah Palin’s running a state as proof that he has executive experience and he wonders why Republicans are laughing at him. They were laughing at his naivety not the fact that they were making racist comments. Somebody needs to remind the Obama campaign that Sarah Palin’s husband is native American, the race card won’t work here.
America's Watchtower 
I’m sure when Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland called Barack Obama “uppity” last week he wasn’t using a code word either.
Of the 2,380 delegates at the RNC… 36 were black. The smallest percentage of Blacks at the RNC in 40 years! Now that’s an inclusive party!
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What do either of those points have to do with whether the trem community organizer is a code word for black? Nothing.
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What Gov. Paterson was doing is called “race-baiting”, a practice at which the Obama fans are very adept. This practice was evidenced by an overwhelming percentage of the Obamaniac posts at the NY Times – The Caucus Blog, among numerous other sites. During the primaries, especially, *anyone who wasn’t totally infatuated with Obama was accused of being a race-baiter and a bigot.
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“During the primaries, especially, *anyone who wasn’t totally infatuated with Obama was accused of being a race-baiter and a bigot.”
I must have missed the memo that said that I had to do this. Then again, I hung out with the sexist misogynists :).
Both sides of the coin are guilty on the race/sex baiting. Take how the McCain campaign is using Palin. The Obama campaign can’t seem to be critical of any of the statements or positions of the republicans without being accused of sexism or being demeaning and unfair to her.
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Gov. Paterson’s statement is a perfect example of race-baiting; “implying that there is an underlying race based motive in the actions of others towards the group baited, where none in fact exists.”— ( lifted directly from Wikipedia) How can pondering whether or not Palin can be a “good parent and a good vice president” because she is a woman not be considered an overt discrimination against her and therefore be labeled sexism? Do the same ponderings exist with Biden or Obama or any *male candidate for *any office?
Let’s take your statement “how the McCain campaign is using Palin”. I could do a little baiting myself by bringing attention to the word “using” and stating this is a code word for your opinion of how women should be interacted with. But I won’t. Because I cannot possibly know what your opinion might be regarding such a matter.
Actually, the general feeling of the Democrats is that McCain’s choosing of Palin as his runnung mate was “a cynical and demeaning appeal to Hillary’s supporters” which is indeed unfair to Palin.
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You can’t deny that the selection of Palin is one of the reasons that she was selected was to woo disgruntled Hillary supporters especially considering that McCain ran a number of commercials reaching out to them during the democrat’s convention. Just like one of the reasons was to mollify the right wingers. One cannot also deny some of the pluses she brings to McCain’s campaign: she is smart, she is a good speaker, and she is a good politician.
As I said, both sides are guilty in respects to the baiting. How else do can you go from using an analogy that McCain himself has used in the past to being an attack against Palin?
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Cynical and demeaning it may or may not be, apparently it is working ( getting Hillary voters with Palin). and give me a break with the bigot, race-baiting talk. Republicans (anyone with common sense,really) DO NOT CARE. Obama could be an alien with antennae, or purple w/ green polka-dots. He is not qualified to be president of the United States. Well ,except maybe for Sharpton & Jackson. they seem to be concerned.
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the palin/pig “controversy” is an old-fashioned lynching, pure and simple: accusing a black man of an attack on a white woman that he didn’t commit, then stringing him up for it. it’s an image that is blazed on racist, white amerikkka’s soul.
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Terrant,
I am sure you would agree; there is nothing wrong with wooing any certain group of voters, especially voters “disgruntled” with actions or lack of action of their party. That is what makes for a good choice in a candidate; the ability to reach out and appeal to the opposition in order to garner their support. That ability, whether innate or instilled in an individual, is *also what makes for a good choice in the selection of the person who will seat the highest office in our nation.
Perhaps Hillary Clinton is who motivated McCain to seek a woman as his running mate. But the first most and therefore very strong probability is that McCain’s respect and admiration for Clinton, in spite of the party difference and because Clinton had won the support of 18 million *men and women, led him in his choice for a well qualified and experienced person who happens to be a woman. Putting Palin’s gender first on the list of whys *is* demeaning, to Palin and the entire 18 million Hillary supporters. Palin has her own strong merits and brings them all with her leadership experience to the candidacy. To say merely that “she is smart, she is a good speaker, and she is a good politician” is not by any means enough and leaving all of her qualifications out is really what is most cynical.
You will have to further elucidate your “to mollify the right wingers”; I do not know where you are going with that.
Deb,
As one with common sense, I really do not care about race as an issue for or against anything man might endeavor. The old phrase “the pot calling the kettle black” when in these cases the kettle has no color does intrigue me, though. In this election campaign I have found myself constantly intrigued.
“He is not qualified to be president of the United States.” Do you think that maybe “they” know that and that is why they are calling out so loudly? Trying desperately to keep attention focused on the other side in order to keep the attention off their candidate? The old “smoke and mirrors” so their star may continue his illusion?
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“I am sure you would agree; there is nothing wrong with wooing any certain group of voters, especially voters “disgruntled” with actions or lack of action of their party.”
I haven’t disagreed with you on that point. It would be stupid to not take advantage of it.
“Putting Palin’s gender first on the list of whys *is* demeaning, to Palin and the entire 18 million Hillary supporters.”
I did? Let me see…
“You can’t deny that the selection of Palin is one of the reasons that she was selected was to woo disgruntled Hillary supporters especially considering that McCain ran a number of commercials reaching out to them during the democrat’s convention.”
Where is the mention of gender in that statement? I went with the phrase “disgruntled Hillary supporters” because not all of them are women. I have been inconsistent but this is not one of those cases.
“To say merely that “she is smart, she is a good speaker, and she is a good politician” is not by any means enough and leaving all of her qualifications out is really what is most cynical”
I did not realize that I am required to write a thesis when giving some of her positives. Please note, I said “some of the pluses” which implies that there are more. My point was that she brings those positives to McCain’s campaign and will be great asset.
Although, I can’t say that I agree with her policies since there is some information that I am missing. Hopefully, this information will come out through channels that is less biased.
“You will have to further elucidate your “to mollify the right wingers”; I do not know where you are going with that.”
Before her nomination, there were complaints that McCain is not conservative enough and how he was alienating the base. Basically, I think that she helps bolster him in an area that was considered to be a weakness.
As for me being cynical, nawww… really?. 🙂
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Terrant, I have not denied that one of the reasons that McCain chose Palin was to try to woo the Hillary supporters. I wrote about this angle when she was announced.
I do think there is a difference between McCain using the phrase when talking about healthcare and Obama’s use. While he was using the phrase to talk about McCain, this phrase was used with Sarah Palin and her pitbull comment in mind. You can tell if you see the video that all of his supporters took this as a shot at Palin and not on policies, such as with Hillary and healthcare.
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Terrant,
My apologies. I was addressing your statement: “Take how the McCain campaign is using Palin.” in reference to “race/sex baiting” and continued on with statements in your last post.
Please understand; nothing was intended to be directed to you personally. I use your words only as a point of reference. The “cynical and demeaning” reference comes directly from this excerpt:
“in choosing the Alaska governor as his running mate, McCain makes a cynical and demeaning appeal to *women upset that Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid fell short and that she was snubbed by Barack Obama as his number two”,
from a news column which hit every major media outlet.
Your choice of the words: “the selection of Palin [is] one of the reasons that she was selected was to *woo disgruntled Hillary supporters*”
just hit to close to the printed words: ” The McCain campaign…can hardly hide its glee at the thought Palin will *woo disgruntled women* away from the Democrats.”
And it goes on:
“The irony is that the GOP has spent years inveighing against so-called “identity politics.” I guess it’s only bad when other people do it.”
Pot-speak for: “I can do it but you will be stoned for it when you get kettled by me.”
and:
“I’d [still] be insulted at this notion that any woman will do…”
Implicit in this statement is that Palin has no qualifications whatsoever for the VP candidacy; she’s just a woman.
The arrogance of this *male democratic political columnist is exemplified in the Democratic campaign as a whole.
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T Jay, it could be, but I think, or it seems to me that everyone has just been thrown for a loop over Palin. Full disclosure, yes, I am a conservative and I like her. So it’s a little difficult for me to cut Obama a lot of slack. (can I say that? just being silly, there.) I think they all (both tickets) will have gaffes, but to me Biden’s are the funniest (or most sad) .
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