Interracial Sex: The McCain Campaign’s Nuclear Option

Interracial sex is the Republican nuclear option, and I expect them to use it in the next few weeks. Here’s an example of how it can be wielded very effectively.

In 1988 the Republicans scored big with a campaign tactic focused on Willie Horton, a black convict who escaped while on furlough from prison and raped a white woman in Virginia while her white boyfriend watched. The spin went like this:

That crazy Democrat is weak on crime, and this is the type of thing that happens when criminals get out of prison…

But the code was this:

Vote for the non-Republican and you’ll get more black guys raping white girls in front of their husbands…

The key is to speak to the subconscious rather than the the rational part of the voter, i.e. to subtly play on the fears and hang-ups of white people–especially in the South–regarding interracial sex. It’s an insidious and calculated tactic. And the architect of the whole thing was Lee Atwater, Karl Rove’s mentor and friend. Yeah, that Karl Rove (the one currently advising McCain).

Ah, but maybe it was just a point about crime, right? Maybe it wasn’t a race play after all? Wrong. Here’s what Lee Atwater had to say about it himself:

If I can make Willie Horton a household name, we’ll win the election.

and…

There’s a story about a fellow named Willie Horton who, for all I know, may end up being Dukakis’s running mate…

and…

The Horton case is one of those gut issues that are values issues, particularly in the South, and if we hammer at these over and over, we are going to win.

Indeed. And now that McCain is doing so poorly expect to see the launch codes on this option get dusted off. Keep in mind: the “Willie Horton Tactic”, as it’s now known, not only erased the 17 point lead that Dukakis had against Bush, but it actually won the Republicans the election.

And that’s why I predict upcoming ads with large groups of Obama supporters–with primary focus on the young, attractive, white females. Here’s the code for this play:

That’s all we need–a black president sending the message that it’s ok for our white women to be attracted to black men…

The sad part isn’t that this will happen; the sad part is that it’ll work. It’s just the kind of thing to get people thinking with their fear and hate instead of their brains, which is precisely what the Republicans need right now.:

Links

[ Lee Atwater | wikipedia.org ] [ Karl Rove | wikipedia.org ] [ William Horton | wikipedia.org ]