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The Sorry Party: Ken Mehlman updates the GOP's wedge issues. (obvious barf alert)
Slate ^ | July 14, 2005 | Bruce Reed

Posted on 07/14/2005 3:43:02 PM PDT by Crackingham

Love Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry: Today, RNC chair Ken Mehlman will apologize for the Republicans' divisive, racist Southern strategy: "Some Republicans gave up on winning the African American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization. I am here today as the Republican chairman to tell you we were wrong."

Even in what is fast becoming the sorriest year in American politics, Mehlman's apology may be the most galling. If not for its Southern strategy, Ken Mehlman would be stuck in Baltimore and the modern Republican party simply would not exist.

From 1880 to 1948, when Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond invented the Southern strategy he would take with him to the GOP, Democrats won every Southern electoral vote in every presidential election except 1928, when they nominated Al Smith, a Catholic. In 2000 and 2004, Al Gore and John Kerry didn't win a single electoral vote in the South.

In 1964, when LBJ courageously signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Democrats controlled both houses of Congress because of the solid South. Today, Republicans control both houses of Congress and all three branches of government because the South is in their column.

Who's Your Daddy?: Racial polarization is no longer the reason Republicans win in the South. But for two decades, the race card was the GOP's loss leader. If not for his father's divisive 1988 campaign and Willie Horton ad, we would never have heard of George W. Bush.

(Excerpt) Read more at politics.slate.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aol; brucereed; dlc; jackvalenti; kaiser; ndol; sarahbrady

1 posted on 07/14/2005 3:43:02 PM PDT by Crackingham
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To: Crackingham

The same Act that Republicans pushed through, including Strom Thrumond and the same act that Current Senatro Robert Byrd Filibustered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't forget Al Gore Sr., and J. William Fullbright (halfbright)


2 posted on 07/14/2005 3:45:33 PM PDT by jw777
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To: Crackingham
If not for his father's divisive 1988 campaign and Willie Horton ad, we would never have heard of George W. Bush.

Papa Bush won by 315 electoral votes. That was all because of one ad that ran one time on an Illinois cable station?

3 posted on 07/14/2005 3:52:02 PM PDT by VisualizeSmallerGovernment (Question Liberal Authority)
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To: jw777
The year 1865 finds proud, victorious Republicans properly dealing with the eternally traitorous, deceitful democrat party, like this flaming liar. Note the early version of Barbara Boxer swinging on the left of the gallows.


4 posted on 07/14/2005 3:53:45 PM PDT by FormerACLUmember (Honoring Saint Jude's assistance every day.)
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To: Crackingham

The GOPs support for equality - not racism - dates to the Civil War. The Rats have tried to maintain the plantation ever since.

Paging Robert Byrd, your Klan is calling.


5 posted on 07/14/2005 3:53:56 PM PDT by datura (Molon Labe)
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To: Crackingham

Its always good to remember history. Slavery was explicitly Democratic Party policy. Jim Crow was Democrat policy. A century of race repression was Democrat policy.

The Republicans never changed their position on race equality. The south began to shift to the GOP as race became less of an obsession for some.

The race-obsessed still vote Democrat, as they always have. People who believe that color-blind citizenship is impossible still vote Democrat.

Those of every background who believe in color-blind citizenship tend to vote Republican.


6 posted on 07/14/2005 4:18:18 PM PDT by marron
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To: Crackingham

bookmark


7 posted on 07/14/2005 5:07:20 PM PDT by Alia
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To: Crackingham
This article would have never been written had Mehlman just kept his mouth shut.

Stupid Party never learns. When you apologize for stuff you didn't do it or events you had no control over, it only emboldens your enemies.

8 posted on 07/14/2005 5:11:28 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: Crackingham
Bruce Reed (author of this article on "The Sorry Party"):

1. "Bush's War Against Wonks" by Bruce Reed Bruce Reed, formerly domestic policy adviser for Bill Clinton, is now president of the Democratic Leadership Council. ...
www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0403.reed....
[Found on Google, Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves]

NDOL: Bruce Reed
New Democrats Online (NDOL) is the Democratic Leadership Council's online community for political leaders at the forefront of the New Democrat movement and ...
www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=191... [Found on Google, Yahoo!]

9 posted on 07/14/2005 5:33:58 PM PDT by Alia
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To: Alia
Bruce Reed: A chat about gun and crime legislation

Wednesday, April 28, 1999

I'm assuming this gif at this url is Bruce Reed: Bruce Reed

Holy toledo...Special White House Briefing on White House Summit on Youth and Violence By Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President, Director of the Domestic Policy Council, The White House, Washington, D.C., May 10, 1999

Steve Case also announced that AOL is building on the efforts that were announced here last week of creating a parent's protection page, and they're also doing something they call (PACT ?), which is a pledge that parents and children can make together when they go online to commit to store guns in a safe place, if they own guns; to talk to one another, and so on. And we have copies of what they put out here.

As the president announced in his pool spray, the Kaiser Foundation, in partnership with the Ad Council, is going to be launching an ad campaign of public service announcements to encourage parents to talk with their kids about tough issues. The Kaiser Foundation is also stepping up parental education on the V- chip with a new national education campaign on that. As you may know, by July 1st half the television sets in this country -- half the television sets sold in this country will contain the V-chip. The FTC announced today that it will put in place a V-chip task force to make sure that by the beginning of next year, there are V-chips in every new set sold in America and to do more to educate parents on how they work and encourage them to use them. And there was, I think, considerable interest in the V-chip model.

10 posted on 07/14/2005 5:49:24 PM PDT by Alia
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To: VisualizeSmallerGovernment

The daisy ad only ran once in 1964...


11 posted on 07/14/2005 7:34:37 PM PDT by HostileTerritory
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