The Politico posted an article entitled “GOP fears charges of racism, sexism,” which I found very interesting. This article basically states that top Republican strategists are working on plans to protect the GOP from charges of racism or sexism in the general election, as they prepare for a presidential campaign against the first ever African-American or female Democratic nominee. Republicans will be told to “be sensitive to tone, and to stick to the substance of the discussion” and that “the key is that you have to be sensitive to the fact that you are running against historic firsts,” a strategist explained.
It seems to me as if the Republican candidate for this election will have to “walk on eggshells” so to speak. They will have to be restricted in their thoughts and speech because their every word will be highly monitored and criticized. If something that they say comes out wrong or sounds remotely offensive, even if it wasn’t intended to sound that way, they will be highly scrutinized for their remarks. It almost seems as if the democratic candidate, either Obama or Clinton, will indefinitely have the upper hand because of this. They will have more leeway and freedom and to verbally attack their opponent. This is just my personal opinion, so what do you think? Do you agree or disagree?
2 comments:
I think this is really an extension of where society has gone as a whole. People "walk on eggshells" in every workplace I have ever been in, especially in government and other large offices. You never know what another individual is going to take offense to or be uncomfortable with.
I agree that this is going to be difficult for the candidates because opponents will be looking for ANYTHING that they can blow out of proportion and use to their advantage.
An example of this from the 2004 election is the way that Dick Cheney completely misrepresented the meaning of Senator Kerry's comments about his lesbian daughter.
hi Katherine, I think you're onto something here.
It's worth remembering how much time and energy we have spent in the past forty years trying to improve on our country's past with regard to race and gender. For many of us in the 18-35 bracket, we take generational pride in being on the right side--history's side--of such issues in politics (civil rights, women's reproductive rights). Yet here we are, a representative democracy, unable to elect women and other minorities in significant numbers.
And we don't seem to be able attack candidates without tapping into the fears many white people have about women and blacks (white male resentment is STRONG--dems do it to dems, too). In electoral politics our generation has not delivered, and this is in part because we are unwilling to challenge racism and sexism when we see it. We have not come as far as we like to think.
It's from this perspective that I will criticize any race-baiting or subtle sexism in the campaign.
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