There is still racism in the Democratic Party. You’ll notice it most in urban areas where the Republican Party doesn’t have any chance and the real elections take place in the Democratic primaries. If you analyze the voting patterns, you’ll find a strong correlation between the race of the voter and the race of the politician. If you get down in the trenches and go door-to-door for a black candidate in white neighborhoods, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to reflect on the persistence of racism even in our most multicultural cities. Frankly, some people (even Democrats) aren’t too shy or embarrassed to openly express racist sentiments to strangers. Yet, the prevalence of this phenomenon is dwindling and it remains mostly subterranean. It is actually kind of rare these days for a white Democrat to send out the kind of dog whistle attacks that appeal directly to the racist white voter. On the other hand, racism in the Republican Party does not seem to be dwindling, and there is no short shortage of dog whistling going on. We’ve seen this most nakedly at the Tea Rallies and on the Internet. So, I have to agree with Michael Steele that a lot of the criticism he takes is racial in nature.
The problem is, he’s such a buffoon and he’s so incompetent that it’s impossible to distinguish between legitimate criticism of his ridiculous performance and unfair attacks based on his race. If he were raising a lot of money and making a decent showing in the media, you’d be able to tell who was making unfair attacks. In reality, Steele’s ‘streetwise’ act isn’t fooling anybody.
