| In a pretty well-written but nothing-new-if-you're-already-paying-attention article in today's New York Times, Monica Davey profiles Senate candidate Al Franken. It really is nothing new if you're already paying attention -- he's raised a lot of money, he's running a balancing act, and Republican leaders hate him with a fiery hot passion.
That's not what caught my attention. What did catch my attention was this quote from Ron Carey, chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota:
I look at his [Franken's] words and that's not how Minnesotans talk, not even in private conversation. His vile bomb throwing is so non-Minnesotan; he must have left his Minnesota roots in Hollywood and New York.
Mr. Carey should acknowledge the possibility that some Minnesotans do talk "that way", since there's no reasonable chance of him having spoken personally to enough Minnesotans to be able to make that assertion.
Of course, on a higher level, this fits right into Republican Playbook Rule #137: "Accuse Democrats of doing what we are ashamed of in ourselves:...that is, insulting those perceived as outsiders in order to satisfy the base. As a relatively recent arrival in Minnesota, having moved here in 2005 to start a family, I take a rather considerable amount of personal offense at Carey's comments.
Of course, his comments fit right in with his party leadership's backwards, nativist, reactionary Approach to Everything these days. At least Carey's consistent. |
