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Friday, October 28, 2005

MD-Sen: Michael Steele Blasted as Traitor

Posted by Bob Brigham

I'm glad to see this battle playing out back in Maryland, instead of Virginia. Here's today's Baltimore Sun:

In an e-mail interview with The Sun, Gilliard said he considers Steele a traitor to his race because he initially dismissed news that his political partner, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., held a golfing fund-raiser this year at the Elkridge Club of Baltimore, which at the time had never admitted a black member in its 127-year history.

"Generally, it is an accurate depiction of Steele's groveling, lackey behavior," Gilliard said of the image. "It is 2005, and such an institution [as the Elkridge Club] should not exist, nor should a governor with as many black people as the state of Maryland attend a function at such a place.

"My point is that politicians like Michael Steele insult us, use us as whipping boys and then run to their white supporters to show how loyal they are. The suffering and problems of black Americans are beyond their concern," said Gilliard, who lives in New York City. "I find it wildly humorous that Lt. Gov. Steele calls me, a black man, racist, but then refuses to condemn the governor attending an event at an all-white country club."

The Maryland Senate race dynamics have changed radically following Katrina, especially considering Bush is polling at 2% with African Americans. The dynamic between identity politics and interest politics will be on center stage in Maryland. Steele may have found himself on the wrong side of a very powerful trend of blacks near universal agreement that Republicans don't care for black people.

Steve says:

You know, I've gotten far more support than comdemnation, and you know where a lot of that support came from? Black people. It's a wonderful feeling to have the community appreciate your words.

If Steve's sample is representative, then Gilliard may be writing what far more African Americans are thinking. In a post-Katrina world, does Mike Steele stand a chance?

Posted at 12:54 PM in 2006 Elections - Senate, Maryland, Scandals | Technorati

Comments

First off I think its pretty funny how the democrat party calls themselves the party of tolerance, yet they can't stand it when a black man isn't following their lead. Whatever happened to the word "equality". Do democrats ever call white republican males "Uncle Toms or House Niggers or Sambos" Do democrats ever call white female republicans "Aunt Jemamas" It wierd how democrats won't use racist terminology to describe whites who are apart of diffrent political parties, but when a black person isn't a democrat WATCH OUT! I've always thought that a persons vote was suppose to be earned, it wasn't desiged to be a given. Thats the beauty of Freedom of Choice. As for Michael Steel being called a "Sambo" and a "traitor. Thats pretty pathetic. I live in Maryland, and I can't believe Steele was attack by an idiot who doesn't even have the facts right. The Elkridge Club is in Baltimore. Govenor Erclich and Lt Govenor Steele had a fund raiser at the club. First off the club didn't sponsor the fund raiser. Govenor Erclich RENTED the area for the fund raiser. Second, the Elkridge club has no black members for a reason. No black person ever tried to apply for membership at the Elkridge club. Maryland is only 22% black. They're are several Country clubs in Maryland with the same situation. Its a simple reality, you can't force black people to join something they don't want to join. If they do not like golf, they do not like golf. So bottom line Steve Gillard is an ignorant racist gutter trash cockroach that needs to research the facts before he spews and makes an ass of himself. Oh by the way. The democrat canadiate for Govenor Martin O' Malley also had an event at the Elkridge Club as well. It's major speculation that Mayor O'Malley will choose a black person to run on his ticket for Lt. Govenor. So my question is this, if O'Malley chooses a black to run on his ticket, will that person be a "traitor"or "Sambo" since the Democrat Mayor attended an event at Elkridge Club as well as five other democrat politicans?

Posted by: republican_brother at October 28, 2005 08:15 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Republican Brother:

Let's try an experiment. Let's run what Steele said in front of the black voters in MD. Let's see if the people you claim to speak for agree with you or not.

Peace,

Bruh Rabbit

Posted by: bruhrabbit at October 28, 2005 09:11 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Republican Brother, I generally think it's in poor taste when Democrats take particular (and often degrading) exception to a black Republican...or any other minority Republican for that matter whose vote they feel they are entitled to. Democrats who fall into the "Sambo" or "traitor" trap when referring to black Republicans are playing right into GOP hands. The Republicans' claim to political fame in the Bush era is avoiding having to talk about serious issues such as improving the quality-of-life for black Americans....and instead shifting the debate to talking about how Democrats talk about serious issues.

If certain Democrats keep stepping into the "Uncle Tom" snare when the subject of black Republicans comes up, they gift wrap for the GOP a backdoor way to appeal to politically disillusioned African-Americans while still governing with the interests of Elkridge Club members at the top of their agenda. That's why the Michael Steele candidacy could prove to be a masterstroke for the GOP. If certain Democrats in Maryland and elsewhere can't control their condescension towards blacks supporting Steele, a serious backlash vote could come to play in Steele's favor. It's a longshot in Democratic Maryland, but something Cardin, O'Malley, Mfume and other high-profile Democratic candidates should work feverishly to avoid.

Posted by: Mark at October 28, 2005 10:44 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Mark,

With all due respect, but why exactly are you engaging this person as though they made a reasonable argument? I am a black guy- and let me say that this person is so far off it's a joke. I got the stats to back up what I am saying. Black Republicans argument is no where approaching the truth. For the record, it's not Democrats who use the term Uncle Tom or Sambo, it's African Americans who use the term to describe sellout African Americans such as Blackwell of Ohio who let his fellow people of color stand in line for 8 hours, and I suspect if they knew that Steele endorced this racist club- they wouldn't care about Black Republicans explaination about Democrats. The Democrats have a lot of problems with African Americans, and one of which is knowing which arguments are real arguments and concerns of African Americans versus b/s stuff asserted by folks like Black Republicans who make up less than 10 percent of the black voters. If you want to talk about things that concern us talk about jobs, education , access to capital, civil rights, the purchase of homes and healthcare. Those are our core issues. Like I said above, let's do a little experiment to find out who will receive the harshest criticism from black voters in MD by actually putting this in front of them.

Bruh Rabbit

Posted by: bruhrabbit at October 29, 2005 01:34 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Bruh Rabbit, I have a bad habit of thinking out loud sometimes. You're probably right that I shouldn't have offered validation to Republican_brother's concern in this particular forum, but his post triggered a concern I've had for awhile regarding a certain condescension many Democrats show towards minority groups who don't agree with them ultimately harming our PR cause. I agree with your assessment of the Michael Steele situation and look forward to hearing more of your thoughts on the Senate and Governor's races in the months to come.

Posted by: Mark at October 29, 2005 02:01 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I don't have any real thoughts other then the ones I have articulated already. The truth is that Black Republican is engaged in misdirection. Saying the Democrats are not very good on race issues, doesn't make what the Steele did okay. In fact, considering he is claiming that Democrats are bad, it behooves him to show me how Steele is a better alternative. I would rather reform the Democrats where there is an incremental shot than waste my time in the fantasy world in which the same party that left black folk down in Katrina to die will all of a suddent develop a moral compass on race other the Southern Strategy.

Posted by: bruhrabbit at October 29, 2005 02:10 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment