MSNBC host Toure took the analysis of Mitt Romney's speech to the NAACP earlier this week to a whole new level yesterday. Not only did he continue the Pelosi, "Romney wanted to get booed" line, but he also said Romney went to the NAACP not to impress black voters, but to gin up "white conservatives," show white independents that he knew how to "talk down" to black people and to purposely offend them and make them boo. He also classified blacks as "ferocious animals."
Why would he bother going to the NAACP convention to get booed? Because the real audience wasn't in the room. He wanted to be booed by that black audience so that white conservatives — who still don't see him as one of them — and white undecideds would see that he's unafraid to talk down to black people, to offend them, to be their villain, to make them boo. The result is that he comes off looking tough or gains sympathy. Either way, he gets a soundbite that will bounce through the cable news echo chamber and elicit an emotional reaction from white voters. Romney's performance wasn’t intended to win more black votes, it was intended to help win more white votes.
Tim Alberta of the conservative-leaning National Journal read Romney's performance in heroic terms rarely applied to this candidate. "With the critical eyes of the political world resting squarely upon him, Romney marched defiantly into the lion's den and delivered a speech that was direct, assertive and dispassionate," Alberta wrote. So blacks, in this analogy, are ferocious wild animals who should be feared, only tameable by the most fearless of men, which, Romney supposedly proved he is by facing them down and talking tough.
First off, nobody made anyone sitting in the audience during Romney's address boo. Booing was a poor choice and a type of behavior many individuals in the audience decided to engage in. To say Romney made them boo is not only typical of progressive thought, evading personal responsibility for actions, but also ridiculous. Second, the fact is that 95 percent of black voters voted for President Obama in 2008. That's a fact. It's also a fact that the majority of black voters at registered as Democrats yet Toure saw Romney's speech not as an act of courage, but as a way to portray blacks as "ferocious wild animals who should be feared, only tameable by the most fearless of men, which, Romney supposedly proved he is by facing them down and talking tough." Toure also conveniently failed to mention Romney received much more applause than boos during his speech and received a standing ovation as he left the stage.
Recommended
My questions for Toure are: When will Barack Obama speak at a Tea Party meeting? When will Barack Obama show up to speak at an Americans for Prosperity event? When will Barack Obama find the courage to engage the other side rather than vilify them?
The bottom line is this: As Rep. Allen West said in the June issue of Townhall Magazine, the black community at its core is very conservative. Romney went into the NAACP convention armed with facts, not hope and change rhetoric. Romney pointed out how things in the black community have gotten worse, not better under Obama. He upheld individual freedom rather than reliance on the government. He laid out a plan for education reform and economic growth, something America as a whole needs and as a result, Democrats feel threatened that their base of black voters will someday realize they don't need "black leadership" perpetuating racism and telling their community how to vote and think, opening up the opportunity for blacks to leave the Democratic party. The horror.
You decide, watch Romney's entire NAACP speech here. Also, I posted this video yesterday but I'm posting it again as a response.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member