First Lady Laura Bush voiced her concern about Hurricane Gustav on Monday to a cheering crowd of state delegates in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Her appearance included a wallpaper listing of organizations taking donations for Gustav victims.
Fortunately, the storm which was billed to do as much damage as Katrina, blew through New Orleans leaving the town intact. According to the Washington Post, "1.4 million homes and businesses are without power, and some communities reported damage to water and sewer facilities as well. Thousands of National Guard troops, federal law enforcement officials and other emergency workers were being deployed to clear debris, distribute supplies and secure communities isolated by the storm."
President Bush is set to make a video appearance from the White House tonight. And yes, Republicans have called the switch hitter up from the bullpen, Senator Joe Lieberman. This is one confused guy, but the Republicans feel putting him on the speaker list will demonstrate how a once left leaning liberal can be a staunch McCain supporter. This should be interesting.
Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has captured the spotlight with her announcement that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. This has taken away from the Alaskan Senator's chance to discuss her positions on a number of national and foreign relations issues. Instead, Lindsay Lohan is blogging about her. Advise from Lindsay Lohan, take it or leave it. Palin says her daughter will be having the baby, which gives relief to anti-abortion conservatives, but the whole situation screams for better family values in the Palin household.
Others have made more noise about Palin's appearance than the substance of her message. Radio Host Rush Limbaugh said, "She's a babe. I saw a picture . . . Well, it's undeniable . . . The babe is the icing on the cake aspect, something the Democrats can't claim on their side." This is just the kind of nonsense the GOP does not need in marketing Palin to the public. I've always found it tasteless to comment on someone else's wife or girlfriend. Yuck !
Anyway, back to the convention. RNC Chairman Mike Duncan says, ""It is going to be a lot of John McCain, who is John McCain, making sure we frame that for the American people." Almost a month ago, I called Duncan's office up hoping to share my views on diversifying the GOP. A young woman answered the phone and with a terse voice asked, "And where are you calling from?" She did not immediately recognize Politics In Color, but she did suggest emailing my thoughts. I did, including a number of links to stories about diversity, specific to the GOP.
Duncan never replied. He could say, "I was too busy preparing for the convention." But the truth is no time is a good time to have a realistic and critical look at this issue of diversity and the GOP. Instead, the Republican National Committee website has a section for African-Americans that does not even load up on my computer. I tried 3 times in different internet explorer windows. These kind of technical errors overshadow a greater problem. Reaching out to the black community is not a priority.
Instead of attacking Obama, Duncan could be talking about the multi-cultural environment of the city that was chosen for the convention. Such conventional wisdom is beyond the pale of thinking for individuals like McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt. He's still focused on Palin's selection process; fielding questions that focus on the past.
Meanwhile, Minneapolis has gained national attention for being a multi-racial city with regional cooperation. Now there is a concept that the GOP could identify itself with and boost popularity and inclusion. I'm reading Sheryll Cashin's book "The Failures of Integration: How Race and Class are Undermining the American Dream," and it discusses this city in particular as a success story. Surely, Duncan has missed an opportunity here. But Republicans are generally uncomfortable with any debate regarding race or diversity. That's sad, but it's never too late to bring this into the dialogue of McCain's candidacy.
In Minneapolis, according to Cashin's book, "a coalition of twenty-six organizations was built that included mayors from declining suburban communities, inner-city community groups, environment groups, transit advocates and churches." "When mayors from older suburbs, like then mayor Jesse Ventura, who represented a declining, predominately white, blue collar community realized that a fair-share affordable housing bill would not increase their obligations because their communities already had more than a fair share of modest housing, they became very strong supporters of the bill because it would open up the affluent developing suburbs to ordinary working people." Cashin goes on to discuss the value of diverse communities and the benefits to kids getting to know other cultures from the very beginning of their lives.
This is way too much for Duncan and his ilk. Yet, they have a lot to learn from the city they are in right now. If only Steve Schmidt embraced this reality.
Time is of the essence for Republicans. Duncan is right about getting to the heart of the matter. Who is McCain today? What is his plan for the future of America? How does he hope to accomplish those goals? Republican's shadowed by the image of the Bush Administration, really dodged the bullet on the Gustav Storm. Now they must overcompensate on lost time and highlight what it is that should convince voters to join their cause.
