Do You Think Racial Animus Is Behind Willard Romney And His Supporters Contempt For Pres. Obama?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

42 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes
	39 (93%)
	No
	3 (7%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[unc70]

1. Certainly for many supporters

Just read the comments somewhere mainstream like wral.com

[GreenStormCloud]

2. The showed the same animosity for Kerry, Gore, Clinton, & Kennedy.

Why should Obama be any different?

[Lucinda]

3. Yup.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. I Disagree

When is the last time a member of Congress told a sitting president during a State Of The Union address "you lie" and a candidate for president told the sitting president during a debate "sit down, you will get your turn" ?

Their racism is shameful.

[get the red out]

26. Absolutely!!!!!

It is so sickening and obvious. When was Bill Clinton ever lynched in effigy in the US? I can't recall it happening, but it has happened plenty with President Obama.

[GreenStormCloud]

30. Has Obama been impeached?

Clinton was, and on the flimsiest of charges.

Has Obama been accused of murder? Both Clinton and Ted Kennedy were, in various RW media.

The vitriol towards Obama is standard, par for the course, from the RW.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

31. I Don't Remember Republicans Saying Clinton Or Kennedy Were Literally Bastards Or Illegal Aliens

.

[GreenStormCloud]

35. Targets of opportunity.

The attacks won't be over the exact same things, but the level of the hatred is about the same.

Obama hasn't been impeached. Clinton was. That's really serious hatred.

[GreenStormCloud]

46. They called Clinton a murderer and a rapist.

They called Ted Kennedy a murderer. I think that is a lot worse than questioning his birth.

[Ter]

42. You must have never heard of former rep. Bob Dornan

n/t

[DemocratSinceBirth]

43. I Heard Of That Clown. He Challenged Some Congressperson To A Boxing Match

I wish he would have challenged me. I would have dropped him like a bad habit.

[1StrongBlackMan]

29. The same???

I don't recall seeing images of Kerry, Gore or Kennedy in a witch-doctor outfit with mis-spelled wording referring to going back to African; nor did I see images of Clinton dressed as a pimp.

Animosity yes ... the same, not by a long shot.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

33. Exactly

The animus toward other Democrats was there sans the ugly racial stereotypes.

[1StrongBlackMan]

37. Which IS the point of this thread ...

despite any false equivalency attempts by liberals.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

38. "Which IS the point of this thread ...

.despite any false equivalency attempts by some liberals."



FIXED

[1StrongBlackMan]

39. noted and accepted. n/t

[TeamPooka]

36. Their level of disrespect is off the charts for this man. nt

[GreenStormCloud]

40. Impeaching a President is a higher level of disrespect. N/T

[DemocratSinceBirth]

47. I Rather Be Impeached Than Have My Citizenship And Paternity Questioned

The latter is definitely "fighting words".

[Firebirds01]

48. Have to disagree

There are plenty of websites devoted to Obama being the biblical antichrist. There are plenty who see him as a foreigner, diferent in many ways. Race certainly plays into that. Go on facebook and go to the "search" option. Search for "Obama" and "n-word." Search for the open post option and see the hundred of people daily who call him the n word. If it was the same hatred as toward Kerry and Clinton, why add the racial element to their insults?

[hedgehog]

50. I think Kennedy, Clinton and Obama received special animosity because

they were outsiders. I don't think younger people can understand that when Kennedy was elected, we mackerel snappers were as much outsiders as Black Americans were in 2008. In both cases, one outsider breaking the barrier spoke to all outsiders. Reading this post has opened my eyes about Clinton. I think he was also very much an outsider - because I think many whites saw him as "white trash". i didn't realize that before - as an Irish American from the North, I don't always pick up the nuances of class.

[JiminyJominy]

5. For Pete' Sake.....

Obama's approval rating after killing Osama Bin Laden was just 67%!!!!!!

Do you think a white President woulda gotten just 67%???!! He did what everyone at the time considered the most important thing possible and yet 33% of Americans STILL didn't think it was good enough!

Let me tell you something. One of the MAJOR driving factors for certain people on the right is that they don't want the first elected black President to be a 2 Termer. That is an absolute FACT. There is such a negative stigma with being a one term President that they want our first Black President to fall into that category and are fighting like crazy to make sure it happens.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. I Understand The Argument That Right Wingers Would Dislike Any Democratic President

But their dislike for this president is visceral and tribal.

[Alekei_Firebird]

9. Exactly. They NEED Obama to be a failure.

About a century ago, Blacks had to overcome stereotypes that they weren't tough or disciplined enough to be physical matches against Whites. Well, a decades of athletic dominance have eroded that myth and now, racist Whites have to begrudgingly acknowledge that Blacks are at least their physical equals.

But these racist Whites have rested comfortably with the notion that at least Blacks weren't as smart or leader-like as Whites. But someone like Barack Obama shatters that self-serving myth.

They're scared that if Blacks can be physically AND mentally capable, then there will be nothing left to sustain their racist ideology of White supremacy.

Therefore, they sorely needed to make Obama an ineffectual 1-termer to show everybody that their racist beliefs were sound.

[lib87]

51. Thank You!

It's more than just hate for the POTUS positions on issues.

His brown skin ignited the racist birtherism movement.

Local politicians threatening real violence against the president.

People hanging nooses.

Gov Jan Brewer shoving her wrinkled up finger in her face on the tarmac.

'Send him back to Kenya!' 'Keep the WH white' 'lazy and monkeying around with numbers' 'He's a Muslim (aka he's not like white people)'...I could go on.

So no, it's not just regular political hate. It's good ol fashioned American racism rearing its face with no shame.

[ailsagirl]

7. Combination of racism and hatred of Dems

IMO

[Alekei_Firebird]

8. Hatred of Dems is usually racism too

Because it's rooted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Many GOPers see the Dems as the pro-minority and anti-white party, which only makes sense from a racist standpoint.

[ailsagirl]

20. Good point!

[Mutiny In Heaven]

10. Do people fuck?

Racism is a huge part of it. You only have to look at the nature of many of the slurs aimed at Obama.

Sure, Kerry and Gore were lampooned and mocked, but none with this degree of savage, hateful fizz.

[atufal]

11. I think only some if it is. Remember President Clinton.

Whenever I want to say it is ALL racism (and it feels that way sometimes), I remember when a sitting president was accused of having been a drug-smuggling mass murdering rapist while governor of Arkansas, using state property and state police to commit the crimes. There were letters written. Articles. Books written. Videos made. Remember they had a list of everyone in the state of Arkansas that died and tied them to a Clinton cover up?

Conservatives are monstrous assholes. It is absolutely worst because of this president's race. But to say that it is all race is not accurate.

Those fuckers hate us for our freedoms.

[Alekei_Firebird]

25. White Dems are race traitors

At the core of GOP hatred of the Democrats is a fear of a Non-White America. The Democrats, including (and perhaps especially) white Democrats, are the primary political force in the deWhitening of America.

[Vidar]

12. Yes

[theKed]

13. Nooooo

Seriously?
There's hardly any racism in America.



Just ask Ann Coulter.

[hamsterjill]

14. Oh yes I do!

Where I live, every bubba redneck that's got a Romney sticker on his 10-foot-off-the-ground-because-of-giant- wheels truck really hates that there is a Black American in the white house. Absolutely, positively cannot stand it.

They won't admit it, of course, unless they are amongst their friends who all feel the same way and then they actually comment on it. Then they'll all be in church on Sunday professing brotherly love.

[GeorgeGist]

16. The polite ones will use the term ...

"colored boy in the White house".

[GeorgeGist]

15. I think it sticks in their craw ...

that there's a black Man in the White house. Uncle Tom included.

[ailsagirl]

22. The toppling outrage is that Obama has done a fantastic job.

They conveniently forget who's responsible for the utter disaster of the previous so-called administration!!

[progressivebydesign]

17. Yes. The ONLY people I've seen personally, who support Romney, hate the President.

Every single one of them. Every bumper sticker for romney also includes something nasty about the President. People I know personally, same thing.. they hate the President long before Romney the grifter came along.

[Iceberg Louie]

18. Maybe the puppetmasters in the GOP see it more as an available tool to further their agenda

But it certainly doesn't ruffle their conscience to do so. Ever since adopting Nixon's Southern Strategy, corralling the CON-servative base has always required stirring up resentments for the loss of the Civil War and the ensuing Civil Rights movement. Believe me, racism and sentiments of white supremacy are alive and well in this country, and not just in the south. I'm in the heart of CON-servative Midwest, and it's not uncommon to hear locals, who for most of their lives were accustomed to circumstantial gentrification, decrying the influx of ethnic diversity over the last decade with language long since though to be unacceptable by those presumed to be civilized. Our current POTUS is by no means exempt from this contempt and derision either; my own boss makes birtherist jokes quite regularly. I don't know how many times they are going to have to lose on appealing to extreme conservatism before realizing that this kind of mindset is not a majority in this country, and while it may win select regional elections, it will no longer win out on the national stage.

[whttevrr]

19. 4 more years and it will no longer matter.

In 2016, 100% of the white vote will not elect a president. There will be pockets, but never a majority again.

[get the red out]

28. Thank God

And I say that as a white person. I tend to just not think a lot of white people in general, living in a somewhat southern state.

[morrissey fan]

21. It's not even hidden

The people that hate him are severe! They use code words like "bully" "Muslim" "know it all"... Then when you ask them what exactly they hate about him, they either have a crackpot theory or racism comes out. A friend of my mom said, "Obama thinks he's the HNIC!" My mom screamed at him for an hour!

[Ztolkins]

23. HNIC?

Hockey Night in Canada?

Heh

[athena]

24. I sense a lot of racism while phone banking and canvassing.

(To be clear: I'm white; the racism I sense is directed at the President.)

People hang up on me, saying things like, "I'm voting for Romney to take our country back." Back from whom? I remember a lot of distress on part of progressives during the W years, but I don't recall anyone talking about "taking our country back."

There is also a level of hatred that seems inexplicable unless one interprets it as racist anger.

ETA: One elderly lady even admitted to me explicitly that she was reluctant to vote for Obama because he's black.

[BlueCaliDem]

27. It's clearly not about whose policies are better since no one knows

Romney's policies.

It's strange, but it is Romney who is exposing the real reason why people are planning on voting for him. By not revealing his policies, by not releasing more than one fully filed tax return, by not giving any specifics why he would be better than President Obama, Romney himself revealed the true reason why people are going to vote for him: RACISM. Pure and simple.

[1StrongBlackMan]

32. For a segment of romney supporters ...

absolutely; but for romney, not that he could tell ... romney has contempt for everyone, outside of his family and maybe his church.

[flamingdem]

34. I think its a mix of factors, racism maybe 40-75%

I think a way to know is to see Hillary run against a white male. I think we'd be dealing with utterly vile attitudes against women, including Republican women but more indirectly in that case, if she was running.

That might help separate what percent is hate for Democrats vs. racism/sexism

[Ter]

41. No

If people think tea-baggers would embrace a white Democrat, then they are delusional. If anything, there was more of a witch hunt against President Clinton than Obama.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

44. Move Along...No Racism To See Here...

http://bossip.com/653903/thats-racist-offensive-obama-pics-posted-up-on-virginia-gop-county-committee-facebook-page/


http://www.mikecornelison.com/cmon-baby-give-me-one-more-chance


Nothing racist in caricaturing the president as a caveman , speaking in some kind of street lingo, or with a Flava Flav watch.

[vincenzoesq]

45. Romney did everything

but call the President "boy."

[NCLefty]

49. Would like a third option.

[X] Some of it clearly is, but not all of it.

I'm pretty quick to attribute a lot of the stuff they say to racial animus, but I realize it's not all of them. The poll makes you either declare them all racists or none of them. Neither is correct.