John McCain loves gimmicks. Sarah Palin, a gimmick. And yesterday's decision to return to Washington, D.C. (and put off the debate scheduled for Friday night) to help solve the nation's financial disaster (this man who has admitted economics is not his best subject), another gimmick. I suppose we can look forward to a gimmick presidency. (He and Obama were to meet with Bush in D.C. today. What could Bush say? "Sorry fellas. I really fucked things up again, didn't I?" Imagine Bush saying it with that little smirk of insincerety (insecurity, inability, whatever it is ). But Americans love gimmicks (the Republicans seem to have a better grasp of this than the Democrats), so they probably don't care. They love gimmicks (partly because they have lost the ability to discern between a gimmick and the real thing) and they don't like black people. In fact, I'll bet Americans don't like black people so much that they are willing to put Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the presidency on election day (and that is a terrifying thought).
Most Americans like to hide their racism behind words like "undecided" when the presidential pollsters come around. But perhaps they have found a voice in the person of Fernando C de Baca, Republican Party chairman of Bernalillo County in New Mexico. According to my friend Steve's article in todays Santa Fe New Mexican, C de Baca is in hot water because he said (in an interview with the BBC of all places):
"The truth is that Hispanics came as conquerors. African Americans came here as slaves. Hispanics consider themselves above blacks. They won't vote for a black president."
And he didn't stop there. He added that older Hispanics will not support Obama, "primarily because there is a strong feeling that African Americans during the civil rights movement took advantage, full advantage, of all the benefits and programs the government offered, that were supposed to be offered to all minorities. But we were left behind. We were left sucking air. And we resented that ever since the '60s, and I don't see how a black president is going to change that."
Of course, New Mexico Republicans are in a tizzy. But you have to wonder. Is it because of what he said? Or is it because (to be really politically incorrect about it) he was willing to call a spade a spade? I suspect that some version of what Fernando C de Baca said hides in lots of American hearts and that the "undecided" really have decided.
Racism is likely to be the American gimmick McCain will use to defeat Obama. I'll bet in his tired old Republican heart of hearts he counts on it
I like Barack Obama. Honest. I do. I never have been able to work up much enthusiasm for him, but I am not among the undecided. And the thought of Sarah Palin anywhere near the presidency has made me feel downright enthusiastic about Obama.
Setting aside the fact that Obama sometimes seems more like a gimmick than a black guy to me (maybe something Karl Rove thought up as another Republican gimmick to help McCain win), it will be interesting to see what happens now that the unspoken has been spoken.
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How much do Americans love gimmicks?
So many women have been buying glasses like Sarah Palin's that they are growing scarce on the market. And that is at about $375 a pair. She might not know anything about anything, but she wears really cool glasses. Doesn't it scare the hell out of you that so many of your fellow Americans think -- and vote -- that way? It scares me.