RNC Chair 'Appalled' at Gift of Magic Negro Song, But Why?

Current RNC chair Mike Duncan issued a statement today, in reaction to former future RNC chairman Chip Saltsman's choice of stocking stuffers.

As I reported yesterday, Saltsman sent RNC members a CD containing the song "Barack, the Magic Negro," then defended the gift. I didn't mention that, among the 41 tracks on the CD, there are other racist, barf-inducing tracks such as "The Star Spanglish Banner."

I also said I couldn't wait for RNC members to start denouncing Saltsman. Here's Duncan's statement: (via Politico)

"The 2008 election was a wake-up call for Republicans to reach out and bring more people into our party. I am shocked and appalled that anyone would think this is appropriate as it clearly does not move us in the right direction."

Giving Duncan the benefit of the doubt, this is an ill-conceived denunciation, at best. He's appalled because it blows their new strategy? Are you kidding me with this?

Here's the statement Duncan should have issued:

Wow, what a racist pig! I can't believe he didn't even apologize. He is now shunned, along with any others like him.

Matt Lewis did a piece this morning on white southerners' "perception problem," and how being one could now be a political liability in the GOP. In the comments of that story, I gave my prescription for that problem. This statement doesn't come close to measuring up.

I'm not saying that Democrats always do this right, either. I thought everyone took it way too easy on Eliot Spitzer, and when Don Fowler was outed (by my pal, Caleb Howe, as luck would have it) as being a bilious scumbag, I heard very little from my side. However, the Democrats aren't suffering from the kind of deep-rooted problem that Matt identifies in the GOP.

When something like the Saltsman thing, or RNC chair candidate Katon Dawson's resignation from a whites-only country club days before the RNCC (after 12 years of membership), or George Allen's "Macaca" thing happen, the reaction from fellow Republicans needs to be uniform, and twice as harsh as the situation warrants. A little bit of that will go a lot further than losing the southern accent in clearing up the perception problem.

Or maybe they ought to start picking different white southerners. My aforementioned pal, Caleb Howe, happens to be one, and while he'd have a tough time getting me to vote for him, I'm absolutely positive that he would never shame his party like this. Food for thought, RNC.

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