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October 16, 2008

The Republican Party Doesn't Want To Talk With Me.

It is now considered de rigeur for American political candidates to engage in heavy handed negative campaign tactics aimed at the outraged emotional heart of the lowest common human denominator. George Bush I had the infamous and tasteless Willie Horton ad. George Bush II had the carpet bombing "McCain has an illegitimate black baby" calls in South Carolina. Now we have the McCain campaign's unrelenting drive for the American people to see Barack Obama as a black, Muslim terrorist who doesn't "see America as you and I see America." Wink. Wink.

We have already endured ten days of She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, the presumed GOP VP, race baiting and hate mongering at rallies all over the country. Apparently inciting fear based violence against one's political opponent is now considered acceptable behavior from a major party candidate, regardless of the damage it inflicts on the health of the nation.

On October 12th, Time magazine ran an article by Karen Tumulty on the a new campaign tactic adopted by Virginia state GOP Chairman Jeffrey M. Frederick:

With so much at stake, and time running short, Frederick did not feel he had the luxury of subtlety. He climbed atop a folding chair to give 30 campaign volunteers who were about to go canvassing door to door their talking points — for instance, the connection between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden: "Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon," he said. "That is scary." It is also not exactly true — though that distorted reference to Obama's controversial association with William Ayers, a former 60s radical, was enough to get the volunteers stoked. "And he won't salute the flag," one woman added, repeating another myth about Obama. She was quickly topped by a man who called out, "We don't even know where Senator Obama was really born."

According to the McCain campaign itself, in order to shore up his flagging Virginia polling numbers, Senator John McCain is scheduled attend a GOP rally this Saturday in Woodbridge, VA. With Jeffrey Fredrick. Such an appearance does not give the impression of a tacit endorsement of Fredrick's campaign strategy. It actually is a flat out endorsement. Considering McCain was practically foaming at last night's debate over what he perceives as Obama's negative campaigning, one would think McCain would want his own campaign to stick to the facts. Well, McCain's very actions prove otherwise.

Today, while perusing the news, I came a cross a startling article in the San Francisco Chronicle which further illuminates the lows to which the GOP has sunk in order to get its man into the White House.

Violent anti-Barack Obama rhetoric - such as "Waterboard Barack Obama" - and images linking the Democratic presidential candidate to terrorist leader Osama bin Laden appeared this week on the official Web site of the Sacramento County Republican Party, the latest in a series of increasingly graphic attacks nationwide on the Illinois senator that seek to cast him as a terrorist sympathizer.

As if Fredrick's campaign approach wasn't horrifying enough, now we have a GOP office with "Waterbaord Obama" on it's official page. I decided to call the office directly to find out what the hell they were thinking. I found their telephone number on their website, and gave them a ring. The brief conversation went as follows:

"Good afternoon, Sacramento County Republican Headquarters."
"Hi! I am a registered independent voter and the wife of a Navy veteran in a swing state and I am wondering if the news reports are true that you posted on your official website 'Waterbaord Obama!'"
"You're going to have to call our Communications Director Hector Barajas."
"You can't just tell me what was on your website?"
"You have to call our Communications Director Hector Barajas."
"What is your name, please?"
"I am not going to tell you that."

With that, I was given Mr. Barajas's telephone number and hung up on. I called Mr. Barajas. According to his out going message, he is actually the California State Republican Party's Communications Director. So I was shuttled up the chain of command because, apparently, the Sacramento County Republican Headquarters was no longer permitted to speak on its own behalf. They were permitted to put hate speech on their website to rally their base, but because they were caught by the media, they have had their reins pulled up.

I left a message with Mr. Barajas asking for an explanation, but as just another voting citizen, I don't truly expect to receive one. I decide to again call the Sacramento office to give Ms. Anonymous GOP staffer another shot at explaining their campaign approach.

"Good afternoon, Sacramento County Republican Headquarters."
"Hi, I called earlier about your website. I called Mr. Barajas and left him a message, but I thought I would call you back one more time just to ask if you could confirm that you had posted 'Waterboard Obama' on your website."
"You really have to speak with Hector Barajas."
"Yes, you told me that once already, but I am an independent voter in a swing state and I am trying to get a clear picture of how John McCain is running his campaign for President, so I am hoping you can just tell me a little bit about the way in which the Sacramento County Republicans are campaigning for John McCain."
"Listen, you are going to have to call Hector Barajas. He is much more knowledgeable about this subject than me (sic). I can not comment on this matter. He is the man you should speak with."
"So you are not going to tell me anything about your official website."
"I told you no."
"OK, then. That's all I need to know."

And, really, that is all I need to know. The individual GOP campaign headquarters are now approaching this campaign in the most undignified manner possible in the hope that there are enough uninformed Americans who will vote from a place of ignorant terror. This has nothing to do with the economy, or the failing wars on two fronts, or the fact that the bill for said wars has never actually been included in the national budget. This has nothing to do with the personal debt crisis looming on the horizon like a darkened iceberg, or how you and I will pay for health insurance as we age, or tax cuts or tax increases. This has nothing to do with eight years of unprecedented deficit spending, or the failing national infrastructure, or the fact that buying canned beer gives you a better return on your investment than most financial stocks. The McCain campaign is now about portraying Barack Obama in the most negative light possible, regardless of truth or reality, in the hope that the American public is as easily manipulated as they believe. Well, I choose hope over fear because I think we can do better and that we deserve better, regardless of how little John McCain actually thinks of the American people.

I leave you with a little food for thought, straight from the horse's mouth in 2000:

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*UPDATE*
The California State Republican Party's Communications Director Hector Barajas did, indeed, call me back. He left a message and we are now playing phone tag. I will keep you posted.

Posted by bethamsel at October 16, 2008 3:22 PM

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