Michele Bachmann is a controversial character and her conservative evangelical views do not appeal to everybody but Bachmann recently made an attempt to reach out to both Hispanic and African American voters. At the "Republican Leadership Convention", held this week in New Orleans, Bachmann made a speech pointing out that her primary focus as president would be "job creation". She continued on and said, "As president of the United States, my goal will be job creation in the Hispanic community, job creation in the African-American community, job creation for all Americans, and turning this economy around, and we will" (
CNS News). Bachmann, who has appealed to evangelicals across racial lines, made an effort to reach out to Hispanics and African Americans because with Rick Perry entering the race, Bachmann needs the minority vote to secure her spot. Bachmann does this by highlighting Obama's faults, saying "This president has failed the Hispanic community, He has failed the African-American community"
(CNS News). This is where Bachmann may have crossed the line because she has not always had Hispanics and African Americans in her vision.
Bachmann is apart of a "social conservative pledge called 'The Marriage Vow -- A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family' that is anti-abortion, anti-same sex marriage, anti-divorce ect ect that GOP candidates are being urged to sign"
(JJ Politics). This act seems to apply universally across racial barriers but upon further analysis, the act contains racially charged language: "
Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President. (Huffington Post).
Using slavery as a way to gain political leverage is a controversial road to go down and clearly by signing the pledge, Bachmann is solidifying her beliefs in the public realm. Yet, this may not go over well with her minority voters which could be a reason she is attempting to reach out to them now. Is it too late? Time will only tell.
It seems to me that Bachmann just has a knack for controversy. I think she likes to bring up sensitive subjects and get a lot of attention for it. It's really interesting to see Bachmann reaching out to the Hispanic and African American populations. There is no doubt that she is getting desperate here. She is fully aware that she has to do something radical in order to give herself an edge over Perry. It seems like it is going to be a tough battle for her, but under the circumstances, I guess she has nothing to lose.
ReplyDeleteI don't see her reaching out to the African American Community much more. In fact, I would be surprised if she made any attempt at all to do so. Her history of gaffes with the African American community really hurts her. The pledge isn't the only issue. In 2002, she published a list of her "must read" books. Included on the list was one that postulated that African Americans were better off under slavery. I am not sure one can recover from something like that even if it did happen 9 years ago.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that this is very much indicative of the desperate flailings of a woman whose flavor-of-the-week appeal dried up pretty much completely over a month ago. To stay relevant, she has no choice but to flop around various minority constituencies and see if anything sticks.
ReplyDeleteBut at this stage, there's really no chance of that working; at least, not in the numbers Bachmann so urgently needs right now. The chance of conservative blacks, Hispanics, etc. coming to her rescue after such meager token gestures is, at this point, probably about equal to the chance of Jimi Hendrix, Keith Moon, and Freddie Mercury rising from the grave to form a rocking supergroup.
- Kevin Chafe (sorry, forgot to indicate my identity last time I posted)