Two bogus racial issues this campaign

By Tom Quiner

President Obama’s job approval rating has taken a hit this month in new polling.

As Americans become more disenchanted with the practical application of his promised “hope and change,” the Left is ratcheting up their use of the “R” word.

They increasingly suggest that the reason for Republican opposition to Mr. Obama is rooted in racism.

This is nonsense, of course.

Conservatives honor non-caucasian pundits, thinkers, and politicians like Thomas Sowell, Bobby Jindal, and Walter Williams because they like their ideas.

They rightly criticize Mr. Obama’s big-government solutions because they philosophically disagree with them.

The latest polling by Rassmussen of likely voters now shows Mitt Romney leading President Obama 48 to 43 percent in the polls. The reasons have nothing to do with race and everything to do with performance. If you recall, 53% percent of these same voters voted for Mr. Obama in 2008. Now that they have seen his ideas in action (or inaction), they don’t like what they see and are demonstrating buyer’s remorse.

A lot can happen between now and November. For now, Mr. Obama’s assault on our freedoms, his unprecedented expansion of government, and his inability to jump start the economy have alienated likely voters. The color of his skin has nothing to do with it.

Claims of racism shows the vacuity of Liberal thought if that’s the best they can come up with.

By the same token, conservatives grouse about the fact that 95 percent of African-American voters will likely vote for Mr. Obama again. They are understandably sensitive to the fact that if whites tilted that heavily toward Mr. Romney, they would be accused of racism. And yet it is okay for blacks to tilt that heavily toward their guy?

The answer is: yes, it is okay for blacks to tilt that heavily toward their guy.

Let’s face it, the treatment blacks received from America, the land of the free, was nothing short of obscene for much of our history.

To America’s great credit, we fought a war to end slavery.

To America’s great credit, we passed civil rights legislation making race-based discrimination illegal.

As a testament to America’s commitment to redressing the sins of the past, affirmative action practices were put in place as a final effort to fully integrate African Americans into the economic and social fabric of this great country.

I have no problem with 95 percent of African-Americans voting for Barack Obama.

Heck, if I was black, I probably would have voted for him in 2008.

However, as Sarah Palin astutely asked: “How’s that hopey changey thing working out for ya?” Whether you’re black, white, or purple, the answer is: not good.