The Republicans' Big Tent

The Tennessee Senate race made big news this week because of controversial -- some say racist -- attack ads supporting candidate Robert "Bob" Corker (R) over Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (D). In the interest of full disclosure, I'll tell you that I think the ads are outrageous, inflammatory, inaccurate, and yes, play the race card. But more appalling are two things: first, the hear-no-evil, see-no-evil game played by the Republican National Committee and its chairman Ken Mehlman. Second, the failure of ANY black Republican to take his or her party to task for using this despicable tactic.

Okay, briefly for any of you not quite up to speed on the goings-on down in Volunteer state. Harold Ford, Jr. is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Bill Frist. Mr. Ford is black, single, from a prominent black family in Tennessee (his father is a former congressman) and if elected would be the first black senator from a southern state since Reconstruction. His opponent is a former mayor of Chattanooga, white, wealthy. Now here is where it starts to get good: The Republican National Committee paid "an independent entity" to produce some ads in support of Mr. Corker. According to campaign finance laws, there can be no coordination between the candidate (Corker), the RNC (represented here by Chairman Ken Mehlman) and the mystery mischief-maker (a shadowy 527 political action committee). The ads in question purportedly link Mr. Ford to a variety of -- at best "un-Republican" -- values and at worst to porn money, the gun control lobby, peddling "abortion pills" to children, and a blonde bimbo who "met Harold at the Playboy mansion" and wants him to call her. While the other items in the list are inaccurate, misleading, distorted and more, it is the bimbo that is the bombshell.

I'll grant that if you are not already sensitive to it, you may not get what all the fuss is about. Simply put, the GOP is playing to its east Tennessee base. Not just the NASCAR dads, but a particularly race-sensitive white male voter who is in the hills of Bristol, who allows the N-word to fall trippingly off his tongue just as casually as he'd call his dog in for dinner. This is the guy who'd tolerate standing in line at Burger King or KFC with "one," but "for dang sure I ain't allowin' my daughter to date one." The image of that blonde cooing "Harold, call me," at the end of the ad seals the deal.

Now if you're not sensitive to the hidden, coded messages, you just won't get it. It looks like any other attack ad. Back in the late 80's, early 90's there were these posters that you had to look at a certain way to see the image. Head-on, it was just a hodge-podge of colorful tiny dots. You had to stand a certain distance away, focus or unfocus your eyes on a certain point in front of or behind the image, go cross-eyed, stand on one foot and hop around. You'd see people straining and straining trying to make the dots converge into the image of whatever it was supposed to be. When they finally got it, you'd hear them whoop and exclaim "I can see it!" Those that got it, could do it again and again. Hence, the popularity. And there were some of us (I was one) who never saw what the others were raving about. No matter how hard I tried, I could never pull that image into focus to see the rockets or plants or flowers or clowns that the other ones saw.
Much like the folks who are having a hard time seeing the coded racist message of the ads supporting Mr. Corker. Which brings us to Mr. Corker, who at first feigned ignorance of the ad for days before requesting that the RNC yank it from circulation -- apparently so nicely that the RNC just laughed in his face. And that brings us to Mr. Mehlman.

Ken Mehlman, too, feigned ignorance of the ad. Then denied that the content could be considered racist. Then claimed to be "extraordinarily sensitive" to racism and in his eyes, this wasn't it. Then claimed that he did not know who put up the ad, although he authorized the payment to this person or persons. Then claimed that even if he did know who was responsible, he was powerless -- the chairman of the Republican Party, Mr. Head Honcho -- to have the ad removed because of campaign finance laws. After this explosion into the national spotlight, what was meant to be a local -- regional -- issue was disrupting everything, knocking everyone off message. Finally Mehlman told somebody to tell the mystery adman to pull the ad. It's still running and story is still big news, simmering away if not at a rolling boil.

And that brings us (at last) to the second issue: where are the black Republicans speaking out against this lowball crap? No where to be seen. Not Colin or Condi, not Alan Keyes or J. C. Watts, or um, who else is there? All notably silent. (Okay, I'll give poor Condi a pass on this one; she's got her hands full with Iraq, Iran, North Korea and shopping.) But here is my point (finally): For years the Republicans have been belittling black voters for continuing to vote for Democrats in election after election. They say black voters get the short end of the Democratic stick. They poke fun at the Democrats' rainbow colored tent that has room for everyone.

The GOP would like to court blacks and other minorities to show their so-called "diversity." However, every time there is an opportunity to expand their tent, to be inclusive rather than exclusive, the Republicans return to their old tactics and tricks. Just how does an intelligent, politically savvy black voter overlook the application of "Tactic No. 14: Using Coded Racial Messages in Campaign Ads"? How do you convince that voter that he or she is welcome in your tent? ("But you need to use the back door." And that door is zipped up tight.) And frankly, racial minorities are not the only ones who get invited to the back door. Ask the Log Cabin Republicans how they feel.

The outrage at the pro-Corker ads -- the coded symbolism in the ads specifically -- should have no color line. And indeed, both white and black people decried it. And should have no gender gap. Both men and women were angry. The cynical will say it was liberal Democrats who made the most noise. But I am still disappointed by those we didn't hear from: black Republicans. I guess you can't change what's going on inside the tent if you can't get inside.

I hear the Democrats have a big tent and everyone's welcome.