An Election Without Scapegoats?
On the night that Barack Obama won the
Wisconsin primary, he reminded a nationally televised rally in Houston
that the largely respectful intraparty contests so far this year will be
followed by what could be a much more divisive general election.
“I know how easy it is for politicians to
turn us on each other,” he said, “to use immigrants or gay people or
folks who aren’t like us as scapegoats for what they do.”
Who can disagree, after George Bush and
Karl Rove used the specter of gay marriage so effectively to turn out
evangelical voters in November 2004? But Bush isn’t on the ballot this
time, and Karl Rove has been reduced to writing opinion columns (yikes!),
so should we really expect more scapegoating this time around?
Thankfully, Republican primary voters did
what they could to reduce those odds, rejecting the xenophobic candidacies
of Tom Tancredo and Mitt Romney, and turned away the stridently anti-gay
rhetoric of Mike Huckabee (and Mitt Romney).
There’s plenty not to like about
presumptive GOP nominee John McCain—including his opposition to every
form of gay rights protection and any form of legal representation for
same-sex couples—but his candidacy doesn’t offer the opportunities to
wedge the public like the man now occupying the Oval Office did.
We remember all too well how Bush used the
federal marriage amendment to suggest John Kerry was weak on gay marriage.
But McCain is actually opposed to that amendment and in fact has said it
is antithetical to the core philosophy of Republicans (federalism, not
tolerance or equality).
As Obama reminded his audience last week,
undocumented immigrants have emerged in recent years as another favorite
political scapegoat, blamed by the likes of CNN’s Lou Dobbs for all
sorts of social and economic ills. But on this score as well, McCain is
the wrong candidate to take advantage, since he led the failed effort at
comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for
those already here.
Other scapegoats could emerge, of course.
George H.W. Bush used furloughed murderer Willie Horton to play on racial
divisions back in 1988. But the Republicans know better than to try that
if Obama is the nominee, and are already spreading the word internally
that “undisciplined messaging”—insensitive racial rhetoric—carries
a much greater risk of backfiring than helping.
If Hillary Clinton wins the nomination,
conservatives won’t need to create a scapegoat—it will be her. But as
the odds against her winning seem less likely, it appears even the Clinton
haters and misogynists won’t have Hillary to kick around anymore.
There are still other ways for wedge
politics to rear its ugly head. Conservatives in Florida have already put
a marriage ban amendment on the November ballot there, the same tactic
Rove and the Republicans used successfully in Ohio and a number of other
states back in 2004.
And even if the McCain campaign steers
clear of gays and Hispanics, that doesn’t mean other candidates and
independent groups won’t go there. Conservatives running for Congress
and state-level offices can waive the bloody shirt, and the result would
be the same when the voters who respond pull the lever in the presidential
race.
It will be up to groups like the Log Cabin
Republicans to pressure McCain to speak out against wedge politics where
it is practiced, even if it may cynically benefit him. The Vietnam war
hero is unusual among conservatives in that he might just respond
favorably, making clear that appeals to the fear and hatred toward fellow
Americans have no place in politics.
Of course McCain’s goodwill curbs
markedly once you reach America’s shores, and he’s shown time and
again the same willingness that George Bush has to demonize those who
challenge America abroad. And that’s where the scapegoating and
fear-mongering is most likely in this general election.
McCain talks frequently and excitedly about
Muslim extremists hellbent on our destruction, and no doubt will contrast
Obama’s relative inexperience on national security and foreign policy to
stoke fears about making the Democrat commander in chief.
We’ve already seen this primary season
how Internet rumors have suggested Obama has an Islamic past or refuses to
put his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance. Both lies.
This week, closeted pseudo-journalist Matt Drudge posted photos of Obama
wearing traditional African garb on a trip to Kenya, and we can expect
more of that, to be sure.
But it’s still small potatoes to the
fear-mongering of gays in 2002 and 2004, and the scapegoating of Hispanics
we’ve seen more recently. If those running for the nation’s highest
office can keep things clean, maybe it will trickle down to the rest of
the electorate as well.
Chris Crain is former editor of the Washington Blade, Southern
Voice, and gay publications in three other cities. He can be reached via
his blog at www.citizencrain.com.
|
Back to Top of Page 