Racing to 2012

Yeah, I know John Edwards has a lot of baggage. Whether it was his vapid screeds as Democrat VP candidate in 2004, his pathetic efforts to prove he was a "regular guy" when announcing his 2008 Presidential bid or his cheating on cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth, there's no doubt he has issues.

Regardless, I don't think I would have kicked up much of a fuss had Edwards somehow been elected President in 2008 and proceeded to advocate the nationalization of our health care system, hike taxes through the roof, destroy our economy and pass on trillions in debt to my grandchildren.

Really?!?! You're an unabashed conservative, yet you're saying you'd sit idly by while this country went down the proverbial crapper?!?!

No, not really.

Yet if you believe Barack Obama, such destructive policies might be more tolerable if our President were a white guy.

In May 2010, he told guests at a private White House dinner that race was probably a key component in the rising opposition to his presidency from conservatives, especially right-wing activists in the anti-incumbent "Tea Party" movement that was then surging across the country. Many middle-class and working-class whites felt aggrieved and resentful that the federal government was helping other groups, including bankers, automakers, irresponsible people who had defaulted on their mortgages, and the poor, but wasn't helping them nearly enough, he said.

A guest suggested that when Tea Party activists said they wanted to "take back" their country, their real motivation was to stir up anger and anxiety at having a black president, and Obama didn't dispute the idea. He agreed that there was a "subterranean agenda" in the anti-Obama movement—a racially biased one—that was unfortunate. But he sadly conceded that there was little he could do about it.

Sure, Obama's lap dogs in the media tried to conjure up sounds and images of racism amongst the Tea Party movement. I guess it's easier than trying to defend horrific domestic policies.

To be fair, the President made these remarks 5-6 months prior to the midterm elections. For him to continue the racial narrative after the shellacking he took on election night would be at worst utterly foolish and at best incredibly naive. Lest we forget, some of the more prominent tea party candidates were Marco Rubio (Hispanic; FL Senator), Allen West (African American; FL Congressman) and Nikki Haley (Indian-American; SC Governor).

If the President is not careful to listen to the will of the American people, he may face an even harsher rebuke come November 2012. And once again, his race will be the least of the concerns amongst the American electorate.

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