The left, the race card, and Herman Cain

It should be possible to talk about Herman Cain without resorting to racial pejoratives. The political race card ought to be by now nothing but an ugly memory. Something no decent voter, activist, or candidate would dream of brandishing. Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfathers Pizza, beat frontrunner Texas Governor Rick Perry with 37 percent of the vote in Floridas straw poll. The Boston Globes Jeff Jacoby in his column The left, the race card, and Herman Cain, calls Cains win a dazzling victory, and Cain a GOP rock star. However, its really a stretch for Jacoby to label Cain a rock star based on a straw poll, which at the end of the day doesnt really mean very much. The voting takes place by delegates who have paid a registration fee for their right to vote. There is no oversight and a candidate could plausibly purchase tickets for others in order to influence the results. That certainly does not sound like a reliable system on which to hang your hat. Jacoby opines that surging Republican support for a proud black entrepreneur -- an up-fromsegregation business star potentially the GOP's first charismatic, credible black presidential candidate should require the same respect for accomplishment as that of our first black president. They should evoke similar feelings. Especially if you think the Republican Party has a poor racial record, shouldn't you be encouraged that so many Republicans are excited about Cain. Obamas success at attaining the presidency was truly historic. He broke the ice. Among unbiased, fair-minded people, Cain is recognized as a man who is a successful businessman and growing national political figure. In consideration of Americas abominable racial history, however, Cains success does not meet that same historic standard as that of our first AfricanAmerican President. To harp on the fact that it so happens to be a republican black mans success is in itself a revelation of the continuing racial predisposition that plagues our nation. Racial McCarthyism has been a staple of left-wing political rhetoric for years, says Jacoby. He cites as an example on AlterNet, a prominent left-wing website, Cain is jeered as a black garbage pail kid and other pejorative racial metaphors. The AlterNet article, Black History

Month is Herman Cain Playing the Race Minstrel for CPAC, was authored under a pseudonym, Chauncey DeVega, for the We Are Respectable Negroes blog. So, all races have their racial biases, black as well as white. Journalist -- the media -- bloggers, politicians, and everyday Americans should not play up that ugly fact. Love Cain or loathe him, it should be possible to talk about his candidacy without resorting to racial pejoratives. Like Lester Maddox's axe handle, the political race card ought to be by now nothing but an ugly memory -- something no decent voter, activist, or candidate would dream of brandishing. Sources: Jeff Jacoby, The left, the race card, and Herman Cain, The Boston Globe