At the Daily Beast, John Avlon reports on black Republican anger over Sarah Palin’s tweets defending Dr. Laura and her racist invective:
The few black conservative candidates, columnists, and media figures—who represent the GOP’s only hope for reclaiming the legacy of Lincoln and, with it, long-term demographic relevance—are not amused. They’re now saying what many in the GOP increasingly believe: Sarah Palin is not fit to be a serious leader of the Republican Party.
Michael Faulkner, who is challenging Charlie Rangel for his New York House seat, said of Palin’s tweet that Dr. Laura shouldn’t “retreat” but “reload:” “Lady, are you kidding me? That is scary language in anyone’s terminology. Sarah Palin scares me.”
The Beast also sought comment from Timothy Johnson, the chair of the Frederick Douglass Foundation (who has his own problems with a history of domestic violence that apparently doesn’t damage his standing with either the Foundation or the North Carolina Republican Party), who said “many black Republicans don’t use Sarah Palin as a benchmark.”
As I’ve reported, the religious right is working hard — through the Frederick Douglass Foundation and other organizations — to reinvent itself as a racially diverse movement. But as much as Palin is adored by religious right activists, it’s always appeared that she operates outside much of the religious right infrastructure, shunning big events like the Values Voters Summit. To the extent that infrastructure is trying to pull in more blacks and Latinos, it will be interesting to watch whether they start backing away from Palin.
