Romney's unpleasant visit with the NAACP

[ProSense]

Romney's unpleasant visit with the NAACP

By Steve Benen

<...>

So, when Mitt Romney agreed to speak this morning, it was hardly a foregone conclusion that his remarks would go over poorly. Sure, he antagonized the NAACP in Massachusetts during his one term as governor. And sure, Romney's right-wing policy agenda would disproportionately hurt African Americans. And sure, Romney's party is engaged in a systematic effort to prevent African-American voters from participating in the 2012 elections.

But Romney nevertheless could have stressed areas of agreement and made his case for why his far-right proposals would help the African-American community. Instead, the Republican chose a different path.

<...>

I've been following NAACP conventions for quite a while now, and I can't recall ever hearing such a lengthy, sustained booing. (The rest of the speech received polite applause, but the booing was obviously the most notable development of the morning.)

The wonk in me feels compelled to mention that Romney's argument wasn't even coherent on its face -- he said he wants to kill the Affordable Care Act to reduce the deficit, which is absurd since killing the Affordable Care Act would increase the deficit.

- more -

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/11/12683715-romneys-unpleasant-visit-with-the-naacp

Romney Supports Voter ID Laws That Could Disenfranchise 25% Of African Americans
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/07/11/514412/romney-supports-voter-id-laws-that-could-disenfranchise-25-of-african-americans/

Romney believes he's just misunderstood, see: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002930373

[FSogol]

1. K & R. n/t

[ProSense]

2. Kick! n/t

[tularetom]

3. IMO the whole performance was a calculated appeal to his "base"

The lunatic fringe is still very skeptical that he is one of them. They know about Romneycare and they automatically suspect him because he was governor of the Massachussetts SSR.

But if he goes to a convention of one of the largest African American organizations in the US and gets the audience to boo him he will automatically gain credibility with the racists he needs so desperately to get on his side.

"Boy howdy did you see all them n-words booing Romney? He really put 'em in their place. If we elect him president he won't take no shit of them. Yee haw"

[ProSense]

4. Maybe,

"IMO the whole performance was a calculated appeal to his 'base'"

...but the majority of voters are not his base, and they will see this for what it is: another clueless Romney moment.

He desperately needs the wingnuts, but he only turns off sane people in his attempts to appeal to them.

[aquart]

13. No, I think he went to mollify independents. Think it worked?

[Kahuna]

17. BINGO!!!!

[RZM]

7. But the campaign probably felt he couldn't afford not to go for the sake of appearances

That's assuming the NAACP invited him (I think they did, but I'm not sure).

Had he turned them down, that would have looked worse than being booed.

[coalition_unwilling]

9. I concur. Dogwhistle to the racist wing of the Repigs. If the

NAACP is booing Mitt, it must mean he's against the N***ers (in the minds of the racist wing).

[RZM]

11. See my post above

If he hadn't gone, it might have been worse for him. It's pretty much a lose-lose.

He's was going to get it whether he went or not. People are going to have more respect for somebody who faces the music than somebody who runs away. Refusing to appear would have looked worse, IMO.

[coalition_unwilling]

18. I'm not giving Romeny one ounce of credit for this. If he was

truly afraid of the reception he would receive, his campaign could have pled 'scheduling conflicts.' It's done all the time when a candidate does not wish, for example, to appear with another candidate of the same party at the same event.

I think Romney figured by going, he would get a negative reaction from those attending which, once publicized with a wink, wink, nod, nod, would energize his racist base.

No blacks or independents were going to vote for Romney because he appeared to 'face the music.' But a bunch of previously fence-sitting racists now have reason, if they still needed it, to pull the lever for the white guy in November.

Just my opinion of how a psychopathic slimebucket like Romney thinks and operates.

[monmouth]

5. I'm convinced the Obama campaign helped staff his campaign. I mean, really. That audience, includi

ng the two or three white guys there looked like they were waiting for a root canal.

[Jack Rabbit]

6. Comment

Last edited Wed Jul 11, 2012, 03:40 PM - Edit history (1)

For crying out loud, of course Romney got booed. At the risk of being overly cynical, I can't help but wonder if Romney did this on purpose precisely so he would be booed . . . .

Indeed, if I had to guess, I'd say Romney will now position himself as something of a victim -- he appeared in good faith, the argument goes, but that mean ol' NAACP audience booed him for standing by his beliefs.

That thought occurred to me, also. The Southern strategy has never gone away. It's still with us and the GOP does everything to reinforce white racism except hold their national convention in a farm field under a burning cross. Therefore, being booed by the NAACP is a badge of honor in the eyes of many Republican voters.

This is the crowd that believes those people (starts with n and rhymes with triggers) are lazy and stupid want to live on the government dole. The solution is to prevent them from voting, because, as right wing columnist Matthew Vadum said, registering the poor to vote is "like handing out burglary tools to criminals."

To call a horse a horse, the Republican party is racist and has been since the sixties. Today, the Koch brothers fund an attempt to elect segregationists to a North Carolina school board in a district that has been a model of working diversity; that kind of racism speaks for itself. Such people see the abolition of slavery as government infringement on the free market.

[uponit7771]

12. +1

[Ron Obvious]

8. Sounds like...

Sounds like he went down about as well as King Herod at an under-2 birthday party.

[Puglover]

10. The look on his face during the booing was priceless.

I honestly believe that Mittens probably needed to change his magic underwear after that speech.

[Hugabear]

14. Did he ever use the phrase "you people"?

Just curious. I can't bring myself to watch any of his speeches. Not only can I not stomach his message, but it would put me to sleep.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. Even Shrub got a polite reception in 2006 at the NAACP Convention

despite the disgrace of Katrina the year before, but he never got booed like that.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13949974/ns/politics/t/bush-invokes-civil-rights-naacp-speech/

For all the DUers who claim that the booing "helps" Rmoney. Think again. Ask Caribou Barbie and McLame how much their plentiful distribution of bloody red meat "helped".

[magnifisense]

16. An unpleasant time was had by all.

I've seen pictures of Romney's own supporters falling asleep.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

19. This in-your-face speech was intended to gain favor with the extreme right base

according to several commentators today on MSNBC. Failing to say anything positive about the first black President and failing to address important issues like Pell grants was a way of telling the extreme conservative nuts in his party "see, I'm not afraid of the coloreds and won't bend to their demands." He knows he won't get many black votes whatever he says, but this was about using the NAACP speech as a platform to stress his seriously conservative credentials with his cuckoo base.

And Martin Bashir just played a clip where Romney told Fox News he went there expecting to be booed. He suggested Romney went to the NAACP with a specific provocation in mind.

[DallasNE]

20. Did You Notice Romney's Expression

During the booing. He seemed genuinely pleased at the reaction and had his canned response in the ready when it happened so, of course, he had this specific provocation in mind.