[Marxism] using the elections to measure racism

[Anthony Boynton]

*Here is an interesting AP article detailing the racist electoral chain GOP
racism connects to Clinton Racism – but it might not work. Here we have a
pretty good way to measure how strong, or how weak, racism is in 21st
century Amerika. Anthony *

* *

*GOP uses Obama to boost Republican candidates*

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer 43 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - Turns out Louisiana and Mississippi weren't quite finished with
the Democratic presidential campaign. Sen. Barack Obama won each state's
primary earlier this year. But these days his face still appears in
television ads in both states, this time from Republicans trying to turn him
into a liability for Democrats in two looming special elections for
long-held Republican seats.



Democratic victories would be a serious setback for Republicans. But it also
would go a long way to reassure nervous Democrats, particularly undecided
superdelegates, that Obama would not present a hardship to House or Senate
candidates running in tough races.



Democratic losses would give Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton new ammunition to
build her case for her presidential candidacy by questioning the sturdiness
of Obama's coattails.



"I think people want to know what chances we're going to be having in
November if Obama is the nominee," said U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a
Missouri Democrat who has endorsed Clinton.



"There are a host of judgments that superdelegates make," said Sen. Ron
Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has not endorsed either presidential
candidate. "Certainly a special election held close to a contested primary
like this one could be very relevant."



Both races present Democrats with an unusual chance for an early capture of
Republican seats.



Voters in Louisiana's 6th Congressional District, held by Republicans for 32
years, will choose Saturday between Democrat Don Cazayoux, who leads in the
polls, and Republican Woody Jenkins. The seat had belonged to former
Republican Rep. Richard Baker, who resigned earlier this year to work with
hedge funds.



In Mississippi's 1st District, in Republican hands since 1995, Democrat
Travis Childers is competing with Republican Greg Davis to fill the seat
held by Roger Wicker, who is now serving in the Senate as a replacement for
former Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss. That election is May 13.



Republicans clearly hope Obama is a Democratic albatross. The Republican
Party and one of its conservative allies have spent hundreds of thousands of
dollars on ads portraying Obama as a liberal and tying Cazayoux and Childers
to the Illinois senator.



"When it comes to taxes both Travis Childers and Barack Obama think alike —
they both want to raise them," says an ad by Freedom's Watch, an outside
group financed by wealthy Republican contributors.



The National Republican Congressional Committee, the branch of the national
party that assists GOP candidates, has linked Childers and Cazayoux to Obama
and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. In Louisiana, the party's ad says
Obama and Pelosi represent "a radical agenda, very different from
Louisiana's values."



"Is Obama right for Louisiana? Is Pelosi?" the spot asks.



NRCC Chairman Tom Cole, a GOP congressman from Oklahoma, this week said
Republicans would rather run with Obama at the top of the Democratic
presidential ticket than Clinton. That represents a change in attitude for
Republicans, many of whom had argued earlier that Clinton would likely
energize Republicans against her and thus help down ticket Republicans.



But now, some Republican strategists say, any connection between Democratic
candidates, even conservative Democrats such as Cazayoux and Childers, and
Obama will erode their support among blue-collar voters. And they say that
since the ads began running, the Democrats' leads have shrunk.



Obama "is by any definition very liberal, to the left of Hillary Clinton, in
a center-right country," Cole said. "That is very, very helpful to us."



According to Federal Election Commission figures and data provided by the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the NRCC has spent more than
$600,000 and Freedom's Watch is spending $120,000 in Mississippi's 1st
District. The GOP is spending nearly $440,000 and Freedom's Watch is
spending $126,000 in Louisiana's 6th District.



The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has outspent their
Republican counterparts in each district — nearly $1.2 million in Louisiana
and more than $1.1 million in Mississippi.



Democratic Party officials and strategists, however, say the Obama links in
the Mississippi and Louisiana races are having no effect.



"The fact that these two seats are competitive is news in itself," said Rep.
Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee. "You've got the NRCC and Freedom's Watch spending a boat
load to try and defend seats that were just held by Republicans. It shows
the mood change throughout the electorate."



If the ads aren't having any effect, Childers nevertheless isn't taking any
chances and has put some distance with Obama. "He hasn't contacted me. I
haven't contacted Senator Obama," he said in an interview. "I'm not running
for president. I'm running for Congress. I'm staying focused and I'm on a
mission."



Some Republicans are surprised that the party and Freedom's Watch chose to
make Obama an issue in two congressional districts with sizable
African-American populations. One-third of the population in the Louisiana
district and one-quarter of the population in the Mississippi district is
black.



"In surveys I have seen, African-Americans are more likely to be undecided
than white voters," said Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, who has been
following the Louisiana contest. "Consequently, linking Cazayoux to Obama
could help him significantly with undecideds and make them break Cazayoux's
way."



Democratic wins in both contests would not only boost Obama's credentials,
they could undermine Republican strategy. But Fabrizio said that, too, could
be a mistake. He said he still believes Obama is greater liability for
Democrats than Clinton, but that the two current special elections were not
the contests to test whether Obama would drag down Democratic congressional
candidates.



"A lot of these (Democrats) who are out there running don't even know what
this guy stands for," Fabrizio said. "Whereas Clinton, if the race is
against her, the race will be more about issues, rather than stature or an
ideological gap. We already know she's a liberal. So we're going to push
this guy further than her."



No doubt, Republicans would use either Clinton or Obama as a Republican foil
in close congressional races. And even Democrats concede that who is
perceived as a burden and who is an asset is a matter of geography.



"I have had members say that if Barack is not on our ballot in our state, we
lose," said Rep. Sam Farr, a California Democrat and undeclared
superdelegate. "I've heard people in Pennsylvania say that if Hillary is not
on the ballot, they'd lose. I guess it depends where you are in this
country."



Obama has shown an ability to drive up African-American turnout in a way
that would be of special benefit in some congressional districts and
statewide races. Rep. Gene Taylor, a Mississippi Democrat who has not
aligned himself with either candidate, said Obama at the top of the ticket
could cause an outpouring of African-American votes for Democratic
Mississippi Senate candidate Ronnie Musgrove.



"What the big question mark is, and I guess we won't know until November, is
what's the turnout for the guy who just can't vote for the black man, just
won't do it, for whatever reason," he said. "That's the big unknown."



The special elections might offer a clue.