One of the most peculiar tropes of the media division of the Gore campaign are the hard-news stories promoting the media's own pet theories about the Republicans' real objectives and beliefs. It is repeatedly stated as fact, for example, that Republicans have forsaken the black vote, and gave many blacks prominent roles at their convention solely in order to appeal to soccer moms.
This is a classic example of people who generalize wildly and illogically from their own experiences. The New York Times is composed primarily of addled liberals who presume all whites share their own bizarre attitude toward blacks. Liberals think blacks confer cache on them and therefore believe that anyone surrounded by blacks must be operating from the same psychological compulsion.
In fact, only liberals are obsessed with the world's perception of their attitude toward blacks. And only liberals think Republicans should be chasing the votes of liberal suburban "soccer moms" or New York Times' reporters. George Bush surely harbors no crazy illusions that he will get the votes of white liberals, anyway.
Still, The New York Times repeatedly asserts that Republicans are using blacks as props to win the almighty soccer mom vote (or in the Times' parlance -- "suburban," "white," "independent" or "moderate" voters). Here's a brief sampling from just two days of The New York Times during the Republican National Convention:
In that last article, the author accused Republicans of engaging in "a symbolic form of minstrelsy" for their "strategic deployment of blacks as props and symbols." Let's examine that proposition -- the claim that blacks were moved around like props at the Republican National Convention. In my recollection, the only prime-time black speakers at that convention were Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice -- who do have some merit apart from being black. Continued...