At a pro-war rally in our nation's capitol yesterday, hosted by the right-wing group Vets for Freedom, congressional candidate David Bellavia made a major faux pas in his introductory statements before John McCain took the podium. “Rest assured that people like Senator McCain will be the goal and the men that my two young boys will emulate an admire. You can have your Tiger Woods. We have Senator McCain!” Bellavia bellowed, implicitly referring to Barack Obama, eliciting a chorus of “ooooh”'s from the mostly white crowd. He later referred to John McCain as “the real audacity of hope.” All hail the mighty Republicans– the party of racial insensitivity!
If this were just some average citizen venting venom and casting condescension, it would not be worthy of notice. But this guy is running for Congress in the 26th District of New York State. The fact that the GOP firmly stands behind him as he rattles off this incendiary rhetoric– McCain made no reference to Bellavia's statements in his own speech, which directly followed– shows what a disgusting operation the GOP truly is.
Unfortunately, the mainstream media has largely ignored the incident– Keith Olbermann commented on it on “Countdown,” and the issue was visited by Chris Matthews on “Hardball,” but it hasn't made headlines in a big way. Hopefully, it will at least catch the eyes of voters in the Buffalo area, and in neighboring upstate districts. NY-26 looks to be an easy win for us this year, as Jon Powers is a strong candidate; I just hope this incident at least has a ripple effect in the region, if not the nation.