July 3, 2008
Black Conservative Group Rips Obama
Washington Post: Radio Ads Call Democratic Candidate A Racist And An Elitist
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Barack Obama (AP)
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Photo Essay Barack Obama A look at the life and meteoric rise of the president-elect.
From the black conservatives who brought you radio ads two years ago claiming that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican come the new summer blockbusters: ads calling Sen. Barack Obama a racist and an elitist.
King, of course, was an independent, not a Republican -- but that didn't stop the National Black Republican Association (NBRA) from airing their claim on urban radio. Now spots entitled "Arrogant Obama" and "Bitter Obama" are coming to radio stations serving black America, where more than 90 percent of voters supported Obama in Democratic primaries. The NBRA ads will begin airing July 7 in battleground states, according to the group's chair.
The mudslinging injects the issue of race into the presidential campaign with a ferocity unseen thus far. In voiceovers, a narrator claims that much of the Democratic Party is comprised of white racists who will never vote for Obama. The ads ignore the party's 40-year transformation from being a haven for southern Dixiecrats who blocked black progress to a haven for black voters who've helped put the vast majority of black elected officials into office, including, potentially, the first black president.
Here's a sample of what you might hear on your radio: "Bitter is what Obama called blacks and whites who love God. Racist is what Obama called his white grandmother who raised him and made sacrifices so Obama could get a good education and become a millionaire," says the narrator one of the spots.
"Obama's mentor for 20-years was Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who said innocent Americans deserved to die on September 11th," says the voiceover in another.
What Obama actually said about some Pennsylvanian voters: " ... It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them ..." And, during his race speech in Philadelphia, of his grandmother: "I can no more disown him [the Rev. Wright] than I can disown my white grandmother -- a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me . . . but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe."
The NBRA is led by Frances Rice of Sarasota, Fla., a former Army officer and avowed conservative. Her tactics have led other black Republicans to quit the organization. Christopher Arps, a former spokesman, left the group after disagreeing with Rice about strategy.
"Anyone with any sense knows that most black people were Republican at one time," Arps said when the ad ran two years ago. "But it's a far stretch to think that in the '60s Martin Luther King was a Republican."
Arps said Rice's actions were counterproductive to the NBRA's goal of drawing more African Americans to the Republican Party.
Judging by some reactions, the Obama ads might also be a hindrance. "I'm confused as to why any African American would be a Republican in this day and age," says Missouri state Rep. Robin Wright-Jones, a Democrat. "I don't remember Obama saying any of that in a speech."
By Darryl Fears
© 2008 The Washington Post Company


Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."





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See all 116 CommentsHe is asking us to step up to the plate and take some responsibility for moving this country forward in a way that benefits us all (not just the top 1%, like McCain%u2019s plans would do).
Continuing his week-long focus on patriotism and national service, Sen. Barack Obama will lay out a plan Wednesday to create new volunteer and service opportunities to address some of the nation''s most pressing challenges.
"We will ask Americans to serve. We will create new opportunities for Americans to serve. And we will direct that service to our most pressing national challenges.
"When you choose to serve %u2014 whether it''s your nation, your community, or simply your neighbor, You are connected to that fundamental American ideal that we want Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness not just for ourselves, but for all Americans. That is why this is a great nation,"
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON is the BETTER of the two Democratic Presidential Candidates!
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON is the candidate that can GET AMERICA BACK ON TRACK...WITH OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL PEOPLE!
IT IS TOO BAD THAT THE DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE AND THE SUPERDELEGATES ''CHESTED'' HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON OUT OF THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION AS OF TODAY....HOPEFULLY THE DNC AND SUPERDELEGATES WILL DO SOME SERIOUS SOUL SEARCHING AND REALIZE THAT HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON IS THE CANDIDATE THAT AMERICA NEEDS TO GET AMERICA BACK ON TRACK!
MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS ONE OF THE HARDEST WORKS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS. IS THERE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MARTIN LUTHER KING THAT CAN BE PRESENTED THAT AMERICA DID NOT KNOW ABOUT?
MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS A MAN THAT STAYED THE COURSE FOR MANY YEARS OF HIS LIFE.
MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS NOT ''WISHY - WASHY'' AND I CAN''T VOTE A PERSON THAT IS ''WISHY - WASHY'' SUCH AS BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA....SORRY!
THIS ELECTION IS NOT ABOUT ''RACE, GENDER, OR COLOR'' AND JOHN MCCAIN IS THE CANDIDATE THAT WILL STAY THE COURSE...JOHN MCCAIN IS NOT ''WISHY - WASHY''.
But, Hillary Rodham Clinton is the right president for America.....she will stay the course.
You have here a small group of conservative religious extremists who are willing to say anything to bring Obama down. SO???? What does the color of their skin have to do with anything???
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Posted by lottobee at 10:13 PM : Jul 03, 2008
Exactly!
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Posted by noprejudice
His principles are not intact. ie, Rezko Deal, Larry Sinclair, Rev.Wright, 2nd Amendment Speech and Wifes American Pride and his Patriotism. He and she SUK!
Both candidates (Obama & McCain) are UTTERLY unfit to run a country in good times, much less bad times. We''ve been given a choice between two stooges who sound more alike every day.
The 3rd party candidates are looking better all the time....
[has not been in worse shape since the Great Depression] = Pure BS
Not BS. The Dow lost more in June than at any time since the 1930''s.
[trillions spent on a misguided war] = Flat out lie....Far less than a trillion has actually been spent. You are attempting to offer projected numbers as actually spent numbers.
Trillions is not a lie when you consider costs that are not direct military costs. For instance, the direct military costs are $650 billion, but that is not counting many things, such as the cost for rehabilitation for the injured or the cost of running a war on credit that encourages a very weak dollar (and an increase in gas prices).
[higher unemployment rates than seen in years] = Pure BS....10.7 million jobs have been created under G.W. Bush''''s administration. The actual unemployment rate is still higher than in the early years of Bill Clinton and almost half the numbers we had under Jimah Carter.
This is the highest unemployment since 2004. That''s years in my book. I don''t see that it said decades.
If you truly believe that worthless excuse for a president is blameless then you are truthfully blinded by partisanship. The Democrats have only been in power in the house for two years and they hold the slimmest of majorities in the senate only because of the Senator from Israel.
Posted by raflin1 at 06:55 PM : Jul 03, 2008
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How many lies did you pinch off from between your butt cheeks in the above??
[has not been in worse shape since the Great Depression] = Pure BS
[trillions spent on a misguided war] = Flat out lie....Far less than a trillion has actually been spent. You are attempting to offer projected numbers as actually spent numbers.
[higher unemployment rates than seen in years] = Pure BS....10.7 million jobs have been created under G.W. Bush''s administration. The actual unemployment rate is still higher than in the early years of Bill Clinton and almost half the numbers we had under Jimah Carter.
And, almost everything else you offer only startted happening after the "Do Nothing" Democrats regained control of Congress and has done everything in their power to destroy America since getting back, so they could blame it on G.W. Bush just as you try.
We''ve got put the brakes on this African interloper claiming to be just like us before he destroys America.
This 50%-American has no black American history in his family tree as we do.
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