I can’t quite figure out if John McCain and Sarah Palin are inviting their supporters to engage in racial violence or if that’s just the likely outcome of their latest efforts to whip up white resentment and votes. In the end, I’m not sure it matters.
To recap, in case you haven’t been paying attention, the McCain camp recently bragged that it would be going negative for the remainder of the campaign. Which begs an important question: as opposed to what? The high-minded rhetoric we’d been seeing from Sen. McCain over the previous months? Regardless, with the economy melting down, and Sen. McCain having admitted that he doesn’t know very much about such issues, his campaign has pivoted to an all-culture-wars-all-the-time strategy. Or are these tactics? It can be hard to keep track sometimes.
At one rally, Sen. McCain looked on, after having just cast Sen. Obama as a suspicious and untrustworthy character, perhaps even a threat to the Republic, while a member of the fired-up crowd shouted that Sen. Obama is a “terrorist.” In another case, this time at a rally where Gov. Palin assailed the press for revealing her ignorance on matters ranging from the Constitution to basic political literacy, a thug told an African-American member of the media to, “sit down boy.” But of course “boy”, like “uppity”, is just a term of endearment in Dixie, so that’s just folks being folks. But then, just this morning, at another Palin event, Alaska’s governor stood by as one of her admirers claimed that Sen. Obama is guilty of “treason.”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t treason a capital offense? And if that’s the case, why is Gov. Palin not demurring when her partisans suggest that Sen. Obama has committed such a crime, that he might thus deserve to be put to death? And is Sen. McCain similarly complicit when he does nothing as his adherents label Sen. Obama a terrorist? Honestly, when it comes to apportioning responsibility for such behavior, I’m not sure what to think. Surely the McCain camp isn’t guilty of fomenting racial violence. But just as surely, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are guilty of demagoguery, of stoking the basest instincts of the crowd. This must be cast as desperate and reckless behavior, behavior that might result in acts of violence.
Which brings to mind The Politics of Rage, Dan Carter’s study of George Wallace, a great book I fear may be forgotten amidst all the admiration for Rick Perlstein’s Nixonland (just keep hitting refresh; we’ll have a review up any minute now). Carter’s book explores how Gov. Wallace, with the perquisites of de jure segregation in doubt, used white working-class anger to fuel his political career. White voters were drawn to Gov. Wallace’s claim that he would hold back the tides of change, insuring that the races would remain separate now, tomorrow, forever.
Once again, enduring racial hierarchies appear in danger of crumbling; a black man with a funny name is now the odds-on favorite to win the presidency. And John McCain seems to be fashioning himself, albeit more subtly than Gov. Wallance did, as a champion of white supremacy. In other words, the politics of rage is precisely what the McCain camp is serving up, fresh off the griddle and in heaping portions. Sen. Obama is mysterious = he isn’t knowable, isn’t like us. Sen. Obama came from nowhere = he doesn’t know his place, isn’t properly deferential to whites in positions of authority. Sen. Obama associates with terrorists, is an extremist, and doesn’t place country over personal ambition = he’s a seekrit mooslim, a close personal friend of zombie Malcolm X (the bad one, not the mellower, multicultural X from after the Haj), and quite possibly a wholly owned subsidiary of Al Qaeda.
Why is Sen. McCain doing this? There are many answers to that question: the economic crisis and Wall Street bailout have fostered a cultural climate in which populist appeals resonate even more than usual; Gov. Palin embodies the kind of false populism upon which the politics of rage necessarily rests; and Sen. McCain himself is very angry that a younger black man might best him for the office that he, Sen. McCain, has coveted his entire adult life. More than any of that, though, the politics of rage works for the Republican Party. It has since the era of President Nixon and Gov. Wallace. If working-class white people were to stop voting against their class interests, this would fast become a one-party nation. And so Sen. McCain taps into deep wells of hatred, the lifeblood of modern Republicanism.
But as Ta-Nehisi Coates reminds us, this hate has both a history and consequences:
Somewhere, slumbering in this country, there are men who aren’t clued in that this whole ‘terrorist’ thing is mere strategy. They have guns, and all their lives they’ve wanted to be famous. Don’t give them a reason. This is still America. We are never that far from the past.
One wonders if Sen. McCain, as megalomanical a politician as we have seen in many years, understands the forces he has unleashed. Indeed, the politics of rage consumed Gov. Wallace and not his enemies; his career effectively ended when an assassin’s bullet lodged in his spine, paralyzing him during the 1972 campaign. One hopes that this grim chapter in our history will not repeat itself, that the anger bubbling just beneath the surface of our politics will not claim another victim.
27 comments
October 7, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Vance
surely, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are guilty of demagoguery
Yes — as during the primaries, when McCain indulged the question “How do we beat the bitch?”. He did not disavow the word “we”….
October 7, 2008 at 4:17 pm
urbino
But of course “boy”, like “uppity”, is just a term of endearment in Dixie
As a resident of Dixie, I invite Sen. McCain, Gov. Palin, and their affectionate supporters to visit the Orange Mound district of my fair city, and endear themselves to the local residents.
But then, just this morning, at another Palin event, Alaska’s governor stood by as one of her admirers claimed that Sen. Obama is guilty of “treason.”
I thought it was Ayers the shouter was accusing of treason. I also thought it was Ayers the earlier shouter wanted killed. But that may just be me.
The thing I really wonder about in all this is: how can it not mentally affect McCain and Palin when these outbursts happen at their rallies? How does one not say to oneself, “Jesus, are these the kind of people my views appeal to? Is this what I’m inspiring? WTF?”
October 7, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Jason B
The thing I really wonder about in all this is: how can it not mentally affect McCain and Palin when these outbursts happen at their rallies? How does one not say to oneself, “Jesus, are these the kind of people my views appeal to? Is this what I’m inspiring? WTF?”
That’s what really chills me about these conservatives. I can disagree with them on principle as far as their philosophies are concerned, and that doesn’t bother me. But this freaks me out. How do they not see what they’re fostering with this, and–if they do–how do they not try to stop it?
October 7, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Levi Stahl
What surprises me is that they made their turn to the dark side official three days before this debate, rather than right after. Unless I’m missing something, this both
1) Gives Obama a chance, should he choose to do so, to directly address their stated intention to go negative, and even some of their lies,
and
2) Leaves McCain at risk of having to answer a question or more from an audience member about the negative tone of his campaign and his lack of positive answers. Even with the pre-screening, I think it’s possible that such a question could be allowed.
October 7, 2008 at 5:07 pm
CJS
“How do they not see what they’re fostering with this?”
They do see what they’re fostering–that’s why, under the Karl Rove model, they’re doing it.
“If they do–how do they not try to stop it?”
Because all they care about is power.
October 7, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Jason B
This is the first time I’ve ever written this, but:
CJS: Congratulations. You’ve just outcynicked me. But only rhetorically, since those were rhetorical questions. But still.
October 7, 2008 at 5:23 pm
kid bitzer
“I thought it was Ayers the shouter was accusing of treason. I also thought it was Ayers the earlier shouter wanted killed. But that may just be me.”
urbino–
check the sources, but i think it goes like this:
there is some chance that the “kill him” referred to ayers, not obama.
but the “treason” clearly referred to obama, and was in a part of a speech that had nothing to do with ayers.
October 7, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Ben Alpers
“Jesus, are these the kind of people my views appeal to? Is this what I’m inspiring? WTF?”
My guess is that many in the leadership of the GOP are so deeply cynical about democracy that many of them simply assume that the crowds are full of yahoos, so nothing they do surprises them.
On the other hand, when George Wallace began to consider running as a Democrat in 1972 (after a little prodding from Tricky Dick) he told his aide Tom Turnipseed “I’m tired of those kooks in the third-party business. It’s crazy. I’m thinking about going back into the Democratic Party.”
So even George Wallace craved a certain sort of respectability in his followers.
October 7, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Ben Alpers
What surprises me is that they made their turn to the dark side official three days before this debate, rather than right after.
McCain’s staff is about as good at running a presidential campaign as the Bush administration is at running the country (and say what you will about Bush’s crowd…they knew how to run a campaign).
Why did they do this when they did it? They’re entirely incompetent and tend to think only one or two news cycles ahead.
October 7, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Jason B
and say what you will about Bush’s crowd…they knew how to run a campaign
If I were to have seen this during the 2000 campaign I’d have laughed at you. That seemed to me to be the dumbest campaign ever. But then they won. Huh? So apparently America is even dumber than I thought. Now I know, and I know that you’re right about that.
They took Mencken’s advice and ran with it.
October 7, 2008 at 6:00 pm
ignobility
I was just talking to an African-American co-worker who saw Obama speak this weekend. She was so inspired and uplifted, saying it wasn’t about white vs. black, or Republican vs. Democrat, but about healing and bringing the country back together for the good of everyone. It was about history. I couldn’t bear to tell her about the latest turn in McCain’s campaign and the slurs that are being shouted at his rallies.
October 7, 2008 at 6:03 pm
jw
I felt annoyed at the McCain campaign until this latest innovation. Now I’m honestly scared for the future of democracy in our country. Kill the liberals! Lock up the journalists!
And then on my way home, exhausted after teaching, I started watching a podcast (video, you know? I’m so hip) from Bill Moyers (because if you’re gonna be hip, it might as well be with an old white guy) and now I’m no longer scared for the future of democracy in our country: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09122008/profile.html
I’m scared for the present. And I’m not the kind of guy who gets all outraged and foamy at the mouth. I tend to think that presidential races are more about ego, etc. But stirring up crowds to this? Ominous.
I take comfort for my own sake that Obama is way ahead in the polls, but I’ll bet Michelle Obama isn’t sleeping very well.
October 7, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Prof Burgos
It’s not just race hate, though that’s certainly a part of it. There is a deep vein of resentment qua hate running through Republican discourses among other Republicans — resentment of loss of privilege (racial), presumed loss of privilege (economic), fear of possible loss of privilege (racial and economic). I write that as someone chased out of the Republican Party by this vein of resentment and hate.
One afternoon in Iraq I was talking to an insurgent. On another afternoon I was talking to a Shi’a whose parents had been killed in the 1991 uprising. On yet another a Sunni who was tortured for having deserted from the army.
Neither did the insurgent hate the U.S. Army nor the Shi’a and Sunni hate the old regime as much as some of my fellow officers — Republicans all — hated the Democratic Party and the U.S. government.
I’ve read Bell, et al. and all of them seem to cut into the problem, but I’ve never seen it explained in one place. The G.O.P. seems to be a party that depends critically upon hatred and resentment for its very ideological life’s blood. My sense of the past 7 years is that they have offered a window into the soul of the Republican Party, but nothing like that which has been opened by the McCain campaign in the past week.
Forget George Will and the rest of these conservative intellectuals. There’s no place for Burke in this G.O.P. This is not an intellectual movement — it is an atavistic one. Nixon wished he had it this good.
October 7, 2008 at 8:56 pm
urbino
That’s been my sense for a while, Prof: resentment, fear, and self-regard are the core values of the contemporary GOP.
October 7, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Ben Alpers
So after a couple days of this–Ayers, Wright, etc.–not a word of it comes up at the debate. Not even a clearly blown dogwhistle.
From the point of view of the health of our nation’s political life, McCain’s decision to play it safe and boring at the debate was a relief. But I’m even more puzzled about what the McCain campaign thinks it’s doing.
October 7, 2008 at 11:36 pm
ari
I just saw speculation somewhere, probably TPM, that Sen. McCain decided that he would salvage what’s left of his dignity, that the most brutal attacks would be reserved for appearances before partisan audiences, and that Gov. Palin would do most of that heavy lifting from this point forward.
I’m not sure that’s right. My theory? Sen. McCain is a very old, very tired, very angry man. But his age and infirmity trumped his rage tonight, leaving him unable to mount much of an offensive. He just looked awful to me, awful and fatigued, enough like my grandfather near the end of his life that I almost, for a moment there, had a flash of pity for the man. But then I realized that this man wants to be president, that he knows that his health is fragile, and that he chose Gov. Palin as his running mate. As quickly as that, I stopped feeling the least bit bad for him.
October 7, 2008 at 11:44 pm
urbino
Competentist.
October 8, 2008 at 12:04 am
ari
You take that back.
October 8, 2008 at 9:41 am
Walt
Campaigns don’t usually leak strategy changes, so I bet there are two factions within the campaign, and the not-totally-evil faction is on top, at least temporarily.
October 8, 2008 at 10:33 am
ch.annel2-i.s-n.ow-a.ngry » Blog Archive » Sumbering quietly
[…] October 8th, 2008 Why is Sen. McCain doing this? There are many answers to that question: the economic crisis and Wall… […]
October 8, 2008 at 11:36 am
Rich Puchalsky
Walt, I think that campaigns leak strategy changes all the time when the staffers see that they’re going to lose and are positioning themselves to avoid blame / talk up why their strategy would have worked if it had been approved.
My guess is that McCain is clueless about what his strategy is, and that his staffers are having him go easy in the debates because that both gives them an excuse — “we would have won if he hadn’t refused to take the gloves off” — and makes them not look as bad as they would if he did go really nasty and they lost anyways.
October 8, 2008 at 3:25 pm
urbino
I bet there are two factions within the campaign, and the not-totally-evil faction is on top, at least temporarily.
Sounds remarkably like the Bush White House. Not that a John McCain administration would in any way resemble same — maverick and straight talk and whatnot.
My guess is that McCain is clueless about what his strategy is
I don’t know if everybody watched the video of McCain’s responses to the Des Moines Register editorial board, but he struck me as a man deeply out of touch with reality — a man so enbubbled by his advisers, he’s literally unaware of reality.
Again, not that a McCain administration would in any way resemble…
October 9, 2008 at 4:59 am
[links] Link salad for a Thursday | jlake.com
[…] McCain and the politics of rage — The Edge of the American West asks questions about the GOP’s win at any cost tactics. My favorite bit, though somewhat lateral to the main point of the post: “If working-class white people were to stop voting against their class interests, this would fast become a one-party nation.” […]
October 9, 2008 at 1:56 pm
dixieflatline
As a Southern white male of almost fifty I grew up right at the end of the most overt period of racism in our country. I was always astounded by the more insidious, but just as evil, form it took as I grew older. McCain has reverted back to the old Nixon Southern strategy and expanded it nationwide. It doesn’t matter whether it’s some Florida cracker or Milwaukee yahoo, the sentiments are still the same. I grew up with some of those people and still know a lot of them, some of whom I didn’t grow up with and who knew nothing about the South before they moved here, but they still harbor those some fears of the other, be they Black, Hispanic, Muslim, or have different tastes in dating. Mr. Coates is absolutely right about their inclinations and feelings. When she was nominated I told my wife that Sarah Palin struck me as the type of person I’d vote most likely to utter a racial epitaph before the campaign was over. She’s the perfect conveyor of this kind of hate. I wonder, if you incite this and it leads to something we’re all going to regret, how do you think that God of yours will forgive you? Was it the honorable thing to do because when you have to win anything is fair game.
I don’t know how they sleep at night.
October 9, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Mariano Bartolomei
Unfortumately, innuendo and sublimial whispers are enough to give voice (and a call to action) to minds that barely make logic out of clouds/rain. After all these months I’m not willing to assume that the “McPalin” camp isn’t deliberately walking the fine edge of crowd enticement.
October 9, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Unfit for the presidency part n where n is some very large number. « The Edge of the American West
[…] know, Ari posted on a related topic, Scott posted on a related topic, but still, the campaign keeps hitting these […]
May 22, 2009 at 9:05 am
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