[eDebate] On Pelosi - and the Democrats - and Race

[Patrick J. McKenzie]

[Accidentally sent this via backchannel the first time, sorry for the
person who got a duplicate.]

>>You neglected to discuss death penalty, racial profiling, and worker
protections. >>

Don't have the time to look it up at the second, but while the Democratic
policy elite is strongly opposed to #2 blacks agreed more often than
whites to a question about profiling terrorists.  And, incidentally, if
the Democrats are supposedly better than the Republicans on the DP, then
why do they AGREE on it?

>>You also neglect to point out policies associated with
republicans that are targeted at attracting minority voters >>

This betrays a spoils system mentality in that a policy can only be
beneficial for black/minority voters if it is a Designated Black/Minority
Policy.  Items in the Republican agenda, such as school choice, are  a)
race neutral b) enjoy a high degree of support among minorities and c)
would benefit them if passed.  By the by, do you recall the hue and cry
about how we were instituting a second slavery system with welfare
reform, and how it turned out to actually reduce poverty?  Do you think
this self- marginalization is helpful in the long run?  The logic
indicates that minority voters have no opinion and need no voice on, say,
abortion, federal judges, the Kyoto Protocol, etc.

>>I appreciate that the
GOP did something that targeted a racial problem to the benefit of one
class of people over another. >>

OK, forget about the above attempt to read your mind.  This makes it
pretty explicit.  Again, why is it helpful for minorities to have their
ONLY political priority be winning more concessions out of whitey?

>>And Bush has chosen a diverse cabinet, but the only one that has
expressed progressive views on race policy is Colin Powell. The rest have
been more like Clarence Thomas. I believe the Bush strategy has been to
appoint minorities instead of making minority friendly policy. It is an
acknowledgement of their deficiency. >>

Talk to a liberal about race for an extended time and this usually comes
out.  "You aren't REALLY black unless you agree with me, otherwise, shove
off"  I could tick off the names of prominent black conservatives who get
called "race traitor" on a regular basis, but why bother?  Note the self-
fulfilling prophecy.  If Republicans don't appoint blacks -- they're
racist.  If they do -- their policies are racist.  If their policies
aren't racist -- they're Democrats.

>>I actually thought his analysis was quite good. He talked about how no
party can ever be a majority when it losses touch with marginal
communities. >>

So, to paraphrase, "No party can ever hold a majority if it disagrees
with the self-selected leaders of a group not in the majority".  First of
all, its statistically wrong (you can have 51% of the vote until you lose
49% worth of minorities, by definition), and its also historically
empirically denied.

>>I agree that will be very interesting. I will point out, however, that
if Colin Powell does run, he is pro-affirmative action, pro-
immigration, pro-choice. >>

Reasons 1 and 3 are my reservations for putting him on the Republican
ticket (no reason to tick off the base just to "increase diversity" in
the party, especially as that diversity wouldn't necessarily result in a
W). Also, his participation as SecState has been singularly unexceptional
to everyone but the New York Times Op-Ed page, and that is possibly the
one constituency LESS likely than African-Americans to vote Republican
;).  I much prefer Ms. Rice out of the two, but then we run into that
abortion problem...  There was a good discussion of her chances on the
Weekly Standard this week, it should still be available for the public if
any of you want to read it.  My one addition to that pretty comprehensive
discussion is that, if this election is any indication, there will
probably be some gay-baiting if she runs (she is single), and since the
parties responsible will have the "correct" viewS on homosexuality and
women's issues it will be excused or ignored.

Patrick McKenzie