More George Allen follies

In addition to catching flak from Democrats for his ugly racial history, Virginia Senator George Allen's recent pre-presidential trip to New Hampshire reportedly also managed to annoy Republicans, as Robert Novak reports:

Sen. George Allen of Virginia, the hottest early prospect for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, blundered on his visit to New Hampshire May 3 by conducting two fund-raisers there.

GOP insiders in the nation's earliest primary state did not want to criticize him publicly, but called Allen's New Hampshire performance "odd." That's because presidential candidates are supposed to spend funds in the state, not take money out. Allen was raising money for his 2006 Senate re-election campaign.

Comments

[Jon Henke]

I find it thoroughly amusing that you can (justifiably) deride the Right for their silly, tendentious fevered swampery regarding the "gay smear" with Judge Roberts, but turn right around and turn a noose and a confederate flag into an "ugly racial history".

A noose has no implicit connection with race, and you really ought to understand that your view of the Confederate flag differs 180 degrees from the Southern view of the confederate flag. It may be insensitive to own a confederate flag, but there's nothing necessarily racist about it.

Yet, from those flimsy inferences (not implications), you feel free to imply racism? That's pretty slimy.

Would you stand for it if a Democrat was similarly maligned for having a Washington Redskins logo? I'd hope not.

It's such cultural blindness that's forced your party to all but give up on the South.

[Brendan Nyhan]

Who do you think was being hung from trees with nooses? What do you think the implications of that symbolism are in Virginia? Are you familiar with the culture of lynching that existed in the South?

At a more general level, I'm talking about a whole series of issues and incidents on which Allen has been racially insensitive at best and exploitative at worst -- see my post for the full rundown. If there's no problem with his history, why is he denying it was a noose? Why is he trying to clean up his image?

And finally, I have no idea if Allen is a racist, as I've stated explicitly. We can only judge him on his public acts, and all I've said is that they do not indicate a man who is deserving to be president of the United States.

[Jon Henke]

Who do you think was being hung from trees with nooses?

I'm aware that many black people were hung with nooses. I'm also aware that black people were killed in many other ways. And that many other people were hung with nooses.

More relevantly, I'm aware that a noose has symbolism far beyond any racial inferences that might be drawn. Why in the world would you assume that a noose necessarily had racial overtones?

Can you understand why it's grossly unfair to draw a tenuous inference, and then demand that a politician make an excuse for your inference?

[Aaron Storms]

Jon, the noose is just part of the racial overtones. When one person displays both the noose and the confederate flag, what type of images come to mind. You can try to clean up, or justify any act of offense, but remember the swastika is just a Buddhist symbol of peace right?

[Jon Henke]

He displayed the noose at his office -- a law office, btw, in case the legal implication of a noose ever occurs to you -- while the Confederate flag (iirc) was at his home.