Republican Party and “Barack the Magic Negro” CD

Fresh off a major defeat in the national election the Republican Party is really showing it nasty hand. Under the cover of the holidays a Party leader has distributed a CD containing “Barack the Magic Negro” as part of his campaign to be elected chairman of the Republican National Committee next month. Chip (a grown man using the name chip) Saltsman who was Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee’s campaign manager during the Republican presidential primaries, sent Republican National Committee members, who will choose the next chairman, a CD titled “We HATE the USA.” (Yes that’s the title – I thought they were the party of real Americans).

The CD contains the controversial track, which was popular on conservative radio (i.e. Rush Limbaugh). Saltsman’s marketing campaign comes as Republicans struggle with ways to offer a counterpoint to President-elect Obama at a time when the country is largely supportive of his appointments and policies. And so you are telling us that the Republican Party is saying they need a change from divisive politics and this is what a guy running for the chairman of their national committee thinks change is. He probably thinks Sarah Palin is a ray of shinning light.

So far after more than 36 hours only Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan has spoken out against the CD. Mr. Duncan, who is running for reelection, issued a statement Saturday distancing the party’s leadership from Saltsman. Duncan, who has served the campaigns of Republican presidents dating back to Richard Nixon, is seeking reelection as the party’s 60th chairman in a hotly contested race that includes Saltsman and several other candidates.

Duncan's statement, in full: "The 2008 election was a wake-up call for Republicans to reach out and bring more people into our party. I am shocked and appalled that anyone would think this is appropriate as it clearly does not move us in the right direction." Looks like there are two factions in the party. Saltsman’s candidacy for national party chair is endorsed by Huckabee and fellow Tennessean Bill Frist, the former Senate majority leader. We know these two stand for more of the same politics of the past – the good old boy policies of the past. Saltsman is a former development director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and was elected chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party in 1998. The Tennessee Republican Party put out a few controversial campaign ads during the election season.

The national Republican ticket lost badly in November among many growing voter groups – including young people, Hispanics and suburbanites. Party officials say that a voter base consisting of the South plus social conservatives is not a dependable way to win elections, yet they continue to pander to that group. They only won in southern states and a few Midwestern states. Someone had better wake up and see what time it is.