Obama smeared by Indiana GOP
Murray Clark, the head of the Indiana Republican Party, spoke two years ago before the Gary chapter of the NAACP. He asked the members for their trust and ended with a few words about Lincoln:
A final thought if I may. When Abraham Lincoln finished his Second Inaugural Address—one many consider even more brilliant than the Gettysburg Address—he held a reception at the White House. It was at this reception that Frederick Douglass was denied entry because he was black. When President Lincoln received word that Douglass was refused admission, he immediately sent for him. After greeting Douglass and apologizing, Lincoln said to him, “I saw you in the crowd today listening to my speech. There is no man’s opinion I value more than yours, what did you think of it?” After initially trying to evade answering, Douglass replied “Mr. Lincoln, it was a sacred effort.”
Now, I am not asking for such high praise for the talk I have given here. Remember I started noting that you all have the far worse of the bargain this evening. What I am asking is that the leaders in here tonight know that the Indiana Republican Party has your best interests at heart and we are a resource for you and your great organization. We are changing the way business is done in this state, and African-Americans are an indispensable part of our program.
But that was then and this is now.
From the Indianapolis Star:
And on Thursday, a mailer smearing Obama for his association with William Ayers, a founder of the violent 1960s anti-war group the Weather Underground, was sent by the Indiana Republican Party to Hoosier voters.
“Obama has close ties to domestic terrorist,” the flier said, showing a 1960s police mug shot of Ayers next to a picture of Obama.
Obama, 47, a child when Ayers and the Weather Underground committed its bombings, has denounced the group’s activities. Ayers is now a professor and served with Obama on the board of a Chicago education foundation. Investigations by several news organizations have concluded the two have not been close.
Yvonne Margedant, a 57-year-old Indianapolis woman, said she was shocked by the GOP’s mailing—and now won’t vote for Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.
“I had intended on splitting my vote so I could vote for Governor Daniels and any others I saw fit, but I will not support leadership with such poor morals as to send out scare ads,” she said.
Indiana GOP Chairman Murray Clark acknowledged there could be some backlash but said it was time for Republicans to fire back at what he said had been months of unanswered negative attacks by Obama on McCain on such issues as Medicare.
Indiana Republicans had a chance to take the high road in a state where race relations have historically been strained. Instead, they’ve fallen into the same swamp that others have by fomenting bigotry in a smear-driven, ‘he’s-not-one-of-us’ propaganda campaign. Here’s the mailer headlines (intentionally leaving out the narrative paragraphs included in the piece):
In that speech two years ago Murray said to the NAACP: “What I am asking is that the leaders in here tonight know that the Indiana Republican Party has your best interests at heart.”
I wonder what percentage of that audience would believe him now?
Posted by poputonian on 10/27/08 at 06:26 AM • Permalink
Categories: Politics • Election '08 • Barack Obama • Nutters •
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