Klein on the Democrat's Problems in Black and WhiteJoe Klein
points out the easy time the Republicans are going to have making an issue of who would be heading up House committees in a Nancy Pelosi speakership.
The inevitability of race as a subliminal issue in the campaign became obvious as I watched House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, the personification of fluttery uncertainty, trying to defend Representative John Conyers on Meet the Press a few weeks ago. Conyers will be chairman of the Judiciary Committee if the Democrats win control of the House in November, and he has already threatened impeachment hearings against President Bush. This is one of the few scenarios that might rouse the demoralized Republican base from its torpor. It is also likely to alienate independents, who are sick of the hyperpartisanship in Washington and will be less likely to vote for Democrats if the party is emphasizing witch hunts instead of substantive policies. But the ugly truth is that Conyers is a twofer: in addition to being foolishly incendiary, he is an African American of a certain age and ideology, easily stereotyped by Republicans. He is one of the ancient band of left-liberals who grew up in the angry hothouse of inner-city, racial-preference politics in the 1960s, a group "more likely to cry 'racism' and 'victimization' than the new generation of black politicians," a member of the Congressional Black Caucus told me.Predictably, the libs are blasting Klein for daring to tell the truth.
Media Mutters gripes that Rove's first shot against the Democrats comes from Klein.
In April, Klein denied he had ever said that "the left hates America," a comment first reported by media critic Eric Alterman; in fact, as Media Matters noted, Klein has stated that the "left wing" of the Democratic Party has a "hate America tendency."This is self-evident. Dennis Prager highlighted on his show yesterday that Randi Rhodes refuses to declare the groups we are fighting in Iraq as evil. Never mind that they're willing to kill dozens of Iraqis in suicide bombings; they're opposing the United States and therefor must be considered "good".
Conyers, and Charlie Rangel, and Alcee Hastings will be issues in the fall (as will Pelosi, for that matter). Klein is just pointing out the obvious.
