Apparently Sen. John McCain was wrong. Those zealous hate-mongers that made McCain-Palin rallies look more like Barack Obama witch hunts aren’t just “fringe people,” on the contrary, they’re official staffers of the Grand Old Party.
Racist anti-Obama sentiment and ads have been all the rage for some Republicans. From Obama Waffles to Obama Bucks – food stamps with images of the senator surrounded by Kool-Aid, watermelon and of course, fried chicken, these McCain supporters have exercised the utmost in what ignorance and a knack for arts and crafts can do.
Diane Fedele, a member of the Chaffey Community Republican Women of California for the Obama Bucks and saw nothing racist about her artistry. “I didn’t see it the way that it’s being taken. I never connected,” she said. “It was just food to me. It didn’t mean anything else.”
She also said she wasn’t trying to make any kind of statement by linking Obama and food stamps, despite the its introduction. “Obama talks about all those presidents that got their names on bills. If elected, what bill would he be on????? Food Stamps, what else!” The ad was part of the Chaffey Community Republican Women of California’s newsletter.
A number of these vicious fliers have come from the Sacramento County Republican Party. The organization called for Obama to be waterboarded saying, “The only difference between Obama and Osama [bin Laden] is the BS.” State GOP officials forced the organization to remove the ads from its Web site. Sacramento County Republican Chairman Craig MacGlashan defended the images. “I’m aware of the content,” MacGlashan told the newspaper. “Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things.”
For a party that’s trying to appeal more to African Americans, it’s doing a pretty good job.
Renita Burns is the editorial assistant at BlackEnterprise.com