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April 22, 2004
GOP backlash in Louisiana
I can not stand by and not comment on this Fred Barnes article in the Weekly Standard blaming racist voters for electing Democrat Kathleen Blanco Governor of Louisiana late last year.
According to Barnes, Blanco did well in areas that Republicans usually do well in and, not surprisingly, David Duke did well in when he used to run for office. Barnes offers NO proof that Blanco used racist appeals or worked under the table to attract these voters, but thinks there should be some sort of scandal since she got many of these voters because "Republicans are blamed by Democrats and the media for attracting racist votes. The conservative appeal is said to send a favorable signal to bigots."
Fred Barnes, who made a habit of arguing on Fox News that the flag change had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of the Georgia governor's race in 2002, should learn a little more about politics in the South before he writes about it again.
Both parties use conservative appeals, and sending coded signals to bigots and racists has been practiced by both parties as well. The thing is, only one party has really been employing it since 1965 or so.
The point of my rebuttal is this: if you want to blame a party for Jindal's loss, blame the Republican party. Black voters in the South vote overwhelmingly Democratic because they recognize the coded appeals of Republicans. Sometimes it is a desire to "let the people vote" on a Confederate-themed flag that blacks and whites both know would win in a statewide referendum. And sometimes it is more subtle..."you know what to do better than the people in Atlanta." And sometimes it is spending just .02% of $15 billion in transportation fund on MARTA.
Black voters understand these appeals, but the flipside of that is so do whites with racist streaks -- the same voters who live in the David Duke parishes of Louisiana who contributed to Blanco's victory. If the message you send them is "we're the white party" for so many decades and then you run a candidate who isn't white -- don't be surprised if they don't vote for you.
When Thurbert Baker, who is very conservative, ran for Attorney General in Georgia in 1998, his opponent, David Ralston's negative ad opened "When liberal Atlanta politicians tried to change our flag, Thurbert Baker wrote their bill." He got elected nonetheless, but he proves the exception to the rule.
Republicans in the rural South have run campaigns for the past 40 years that try to align voters racially (it should be noted that their metro business friendly counterparts in the GOP haven't been interested in this course of action) and they've succeeded. Because of this "Southern strategy" Democrats have known for years how hard it is to get an African American candidate elected statewide. What Fred Barnes doesn't realize is that Republicans, thanks to their own efforts, are finding out just how hard it is to elect a non-white candidate also.
Posted by Chris at April 22, 2004 10:05 AM
Comments
I take your point, overall. But I think it is strange for you to emphacize "that Barnes offers NO proof that Blanco used racist appeals," given that Barnes expressly said: "Blanco, who'd served as lieutenant governor before being elector governor did not make any racial appeals in the campaign."
Posted by: Mike at April 22, 2004 02:14 PM
Well I guess both Barnes and I are right, then. The whole point is that you really can't blame Democrats for the lack of success of a black Republican in the South, and this is what Barnes is trying to do.
It's guilt by association but the reason these voters won't associate with a black candidate (even if he's a Republican) is mostly the fault of David Duke and more subtle Republicans in the past 30 years.
Posted by: Chris at April 22, 2004 05:41 PM
Do you think that the apparent racism displayed is largely the effect of two generations of Republican race-baiting? Or do you think that the "ain't gonna vote for a black" voters are racist for other, extra-electoral-politics reasons? It seems to me that you're right, as far as it goes. But I think that at the very least there's a mutually reinforcing cycle of racism on the part of the electorate and appeals-to-racism by politicians. And that almost seems to assume that politicians are somehow not also part of their communities. I know that your recent experience tends to lead to the conclusion that politicians are untainted by ideas--that they are cynical being is search of power, but I think a lot of the southern politicians who make racist appeals are at least somewhat sympathetic to that position.
I think that there are ultimately economic issues braided with the racial issues; the urban/rural (black/white, for the most part) divide that you bring up is a perfect example.
Posted by: neil at April 22, 2004 09:07 PM
When speaking of Louisiana politics, all conventional wisdom fails. I think both you and Barnes have missed it. Blanco didn’t beat Jindal because of his race (forget for a moment that he’s Indian-American, not African-American, and that’s a huge difference in a place where very fine racial distinctions are drawn), she beat him because of his class. Jindal comes across as a well educated, well-heeled, well-spoken East Coast type—the wunderkind who’s wound a little too tight. He just doesn’t seem like one of us, and that’s nothing to do with skin color. In fact, many Southern Louisiana folk are Creole, a mix of French, American-Indian and African-American ethnicity. It’s no big deal to be dark down here. Trust me on this. For Blanco’s part, she walks, talks and quacks like a coon-ass from Mamou. Her maiden name is Babineaux for crap sake. In my home state, an X on the end of your name is good for, at least, another 10% of the vote.
Posted by: Melanie at April 23, 2004 03:19 AM
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