The Capital City Hues-November 1, 2006

     Now that we are in the waning days leading up to the mid-term election of 2006, the politics and political ads appear to be stooping to an all-time low. In a recent article in the Washington Post, "The Year of Playing Dirtier," Post writer Michael Grunwald noted that "on the brink of what could be a power shifting election, it is kitchen-sink time: Desperate candidates are throwing everything. While negative campaigning is a tradition in American politics, this year's version in many races has an eccentric shade, filled with allegations of moral bankruptcy and sexual perversion." While I couldn't agree more with Gunwald, he has left out one additional despicable, but not unexpected aspect of the current campaign and that is the issue of race and racism.
      Let's start with the '"moral bankruptcy" aspects of this campaign. Michael J. Fox, the famous actor who has retired from Hollywood, made the laudable commitment to pursue a new career in fighting his dreaded Parkinson's disease. Mr. Fox has established a private Foundation as part of his effort to find a cure for this disease. He has also travelled all over the country lobbying for ANY candidate who incorporated the issue of embryonic stem cell research as part of their campaign platform. For the upcoming election, Mr. Fox has lent his persona for use in political ads for several candidates with the first of such ads playing in the state of Missouri. In responding bitterly to Fox's participation in an ad against Republican Jim Talent, Rush Limbaugh accused Mr. Fox of "exaggerating the effects of the disease" (Parkinsons). Limbaugh said Fox "is moving and shaking. And it is purely an act ... his head and shoulders are moving all over the place, and he is acting like his disease      is deteriorating because Jim Talent opposes research that would help him ... get cured."
      The national media picked up on this story and it became a major issue that had a very strong and negative effects for      Republicans. In the wake of the firestorm that ensued, Limbaugh back-pedalled and apologized for stating that Fox was intentionally faking the impact of this disease. Limbaugh, however, continued to maintain that Fox had deliberately stopped taking his medication in an effort to provide more drama for the ad (i.e., the kinds of erratic movements that are typical of this disease). You have to give Limbaugh a lot of credit for the nerve this man has. Here you have the proverbial "pot calling the kettle black" (I've always had issues with that old saying!) Of all people, Limbaugh, who has his own history of abusing      prescriptions and medications, has no business being critical of Mr. Fox particularly given the fact that he has no idea whatsoever what it means to have such a dreaded disease.
      Fox's ad in support of embryonic stem cell research will undoubtedly play soon in Wisconsin given that there is a hotly contested gubernatorial race and even more so because Wisconsin is the mecca for this important research. Governor Doyle, whose mother Ruth had a 30-year struggle with Parkinson's disease, responded sharply to Limbaugh's tirade stating: "It is unbelievable to me that Rush Limbaugh and others would attack Michael J. Fox, and to anyone like me who has had a parent (or other relative) with Parkinson's disease, to listen to someone like Rush Limbaugh say someone is      exaggerating their symptoms is unbelievable. I think the state of Wisconsin and the people of the state are going to side with Michael J. Fox. I get so angry when I think about how narrow-minded these misguided "right to life" extremists are in their opposition to research that is conducted on embryonic stem cells that would otherwise be discarded! I often wonder how these individuals would feel if they or any of their family and friends were denied access to the eventual cures based on their opposition to this research. But as I digress, I must make sure that I, like Michael J. Fox, take the high road and not allow myself to be pulled down to Limbaugh's level. In an interview with George Stephanopolaus, Fox, responded to Limbaugh's attack stating that it was "useless to get into a fight with this bully it won't change his mind and it will only give me a bloody nose!" As to Limbaugh's assertion that Fox was making untrue statements about the promise and potential of stem cell research to give false hope to those who are suffering, Fox acknowledged that while there was "no straight path to victory" in terms of immediate cures, this research offered hope for those who had little or none. Fox lamented the fact that President Bush used the only veto that he had issued during the entirety of his administration against stem cell research thereby undermining "hope" for him and future generations of individuals inflicted by these terrible diseases. Where does the "sexual perversion" and "racism" fit into the current campaign? The use of "sexual perversion" and "racism" are both embodied in the recent ad run by the Republican National Committee (RNC) Consultant Terry Nichol and his Cross Link Strategy Group in the senatorial race in Tennessee between African American and Democratic candidate Harold Ford,      Jr. and his White Republican opponent Bob Corker. Nichol is the RNC's hit man when it comes to negative and notorious ads. The ad focuses on the fact that Representative Ford attended a Super Bowl party that had over 3,000 invited guests that was sponsored by the Play Boy Club. The ad creates the image of Ford being a "pretty boy" and a "play boy." Ford is accused of receiving financial support from the pornography industry and a scantily clad White female ends the ad by winking her eye asking Ford to "call me." The ad, and the huge reaction to it has been major news in the national media this past week.      Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace interviewed Rep. Ford on his show and had the nerve to ask Ford if he (Ford) was playing the race card in terms of his reaction as an African American to this ad. How incredible! Interestingly enough, George Stephanoplous, in his review of this matter actually dismissed the notion that there was a racial tinge to this ad noting that while it was "stupid" it "was not racist." He noted that because all of the candidates were guilty of these types of ads it must be relegated to the level of what he called "white noise."
      This "white noise," when it comes to images of Black men and White women in the South (and some places in the      "Up-South" have gotten a lot of Black men lynched, tortured, put in jail, and blacklisted! The ad by the RNC was nothing more than a desperate "down-South" version of the "Willie Horton ad" created to play to White racism because campaigning on the real issues no longer worked effectively for Mr. Corker. In his interview with Chris Wallace, Harold Ford called the ad "a piece of smut." When asked if it was racist, Ford denied that he thought it was racist and told Wallace to ask Mr. Corker and the RNC if they thought it was racist. Despite my disagreement with Ford on his interpretation of this ad, I understand why it was politically expedient for him to not allow himself to stoop down to Mr. Corker and the RNC's level by calling it (other than) it truly was.
      Understanding the psyche of the southern redneck voter, Chris Wallace commented that "the red southern states were for guns, god and against gays. Wallace, recognizing the statistical dead heat of the race, gave Rep. Ford credit for being "conservative" on these three social issues, but also noted that there was evidence of a "15% Factor" in the tradition of southern voting. This "15% Factor" suggests that even when there is a dead-heat in the "public" polling, once White folks get behind the curtain in the voting booth, as tradition goes, one can count on an additional 15% voting against a Black candidate. It is interesting that Chris Wallace would bring up this issue, though not surprising. This method of      interviewing, just like the ad, has no relevance to any of the cutting issues of the election. Both of these efforts pander to the use of the race card and that is what is so despicable about this campaign. Rep. Ford should be lauded for continuing to take the moral high ground and not allowing himself to be pulled down by such tactics. Hopefully, the people of Tennessee will also not allow themselves to be fooled and hoodwinked by such tactics as well and they will end up voting on the real issues that matter. We shall see.

The Literay Divide/Dr. Paul Barrows
Desperation, Demagoguery, and Duplicity down the homestretch for Campaign 2006