"A Poor Choice of Words"

The Republican Party chief called on Senator Harry Reid on Sunday to step down as Senate majority leader over racial comments about President Barack Obama, while Democrats tried to put the issue behind them.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Senator Reid should step aside as Senate majority leader based on remarks published in a new book. Reid's comments, made in private conversations, were quoted in a newly published book about the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, "Game Change," by Time magazine reporter Mark Halperin and New York magazine writer John Heileman. The book quotes Reid saying “Obama (is) a "light-skinned" black man "with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one."

“I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words,” Reid said in a statement to CNN.
In his Saturday statement, Reid said he apologized “for offending any and all Americans, especially African Americans for my improper comments.

“I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama’s legislative agenda.”

Reid also pointed to his efforts to integrate the Las Vegas strip and the gaming industry, among other legislation favored by African-American voters: “I have worked hard to advance issues important to the African American community.”

Steele says that if a Republican made the same remarks Democrats would be "screaming for his head."

"Oh yeah, there's a big double standard here," Steele, who is black, said on the NBC program "Meet the Press."

Both Obama and Reid are Democrats and Reid is a key figure in pushing Obama's agenda through Congress. Reid apologized to the president on Saturday over the remarks and the president issued a statement accepting the apology. Democratic Party chairman Tim Kaine said "the comments were unfortunate and they were insensitive," but he said there is no reason for Reid to step down as majority leader.

"I think the case is closed because President Obama has spoken directly with the leader (Reid) and accepted his apology. ... We're moving on," Kaine told "Meet the Press."

"Harry Reid made a misstatement. He owned up to it. He apologized. I think he is mortified by the statement he's made. And I don't think he should step down," Democratic Senator Jack Reed told "Fox News Sunday."

Boyce Watkins, a professor of finance and social commentator at Syracuse University, doesn’t see Reid’s statement as a matter of individual racism, but as a calculation of political fact.

Reid “wasn't necessarily giving his own opinion. Rather, he was giving his assessment of the preferences of the American public,” writes Dr. Watkins on the website, theGrio.

Reid is “a bellwether of public opinion and an accurate reflection of the ‘political pulse’ of the white American voting population,” he adds.

Watkins's conclusion: It “reminds many African-Americans across the country that if our speech patterns or appearance are 'too black' (whatever that means) or too different from what some consider acceptable, we are going to be deemed inferior.”


Funny, I don't hear the Republican leadership condemning all the public disrespect thrown at President Obama by their constituents. Nothing was said to denounce the signs and posters with racial slurs at the Tea Parties. There was nothing but support for the "You Lie" shout out hurled at the president during the Joint Session of Congress. Oh Well, the Party of NO wouldn't miss an opportunity to slap at the Democrats, "poor choice of words" not withstanding. I'll be convinced of their outrage when I see some Republicans comment to some of the outlsndish remarks coming from other Republicans or Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck et al. of course, there's no political hay in doing that, is there?

Sources: The Christian Science Monitor
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