October 19, 2017

"Virginia Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Ralph Northam omitted any mention of Justin Fairfax, the party’s African American candidate for lieutenant governor..."

"... from about a thousand pieces of campaign literature, a move Fairfax called a 'mistake' and that has stoked tensions within the Democratic ticket and threatens to alienate African American voters three weeks before Election Day. The palm cards with photos of Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring (D) were produced for canvassers with the Laborers’ International Union of North America, which asked that Fairfax be excluded because it did not endorse him. Fairfax has spoken critically of two proposed natural gas pipelines that the union supports."

WaPo reports.

It's a "mistake" only in the sense that what they did completely intentionally has received attention and made them look bad. And do you even believe the explanation for why they did it? These were palm cards with photos. I would guess that the party is afraid that black people who see a photo of a black face will decide that's the one to vote for.

ADDED: I'm misreading this, so my guess there is wrong. Northam is the only Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor. So the Democrats can't be accused of trying to redirect black voters to a white candidate. They may be trying to hide the black candidate from voters who don't like or are skeptical of black candidates, but I'm willing to believe the union's argument: they don't like his position on pipelines and didn't mind risking alienating black people (until it got too much attention).

IN THE COMMENTS: cubanbob said:
So the Democrats are hiding the candidate the union rank and file would be against since he is against their interests. That's the problem for the Democrats; too many interest groups to placate and many of them at cross purposes.

62 comments:

Phil 314 said...

What Charlottesville has wrought!

Kevin said...

Mistake: the word used for actions by a Democrat which would be called racist if done by a Republican.

See also: Biden, Joe.

rhhardin said...

It's generic taking of offense. I doubt anybody cares which group is offended this time.

rhhardin said...

Only when women are offended is something interesting.

It's always a hook for a humorist.

Hagar said...

What is a "palm card"?

Curious George said...

I thought African American was hyphenated.

traditionalguy said...

Black disfavor must be that white supremacy about which a war to the death was once fought all over The Commonwealth.

Curious George said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rhhardin said...

There are blacks who are not American, so African-American actually is not a race claim. If they mean it to be, it can't work.

rhhardin said...

Plus there are white Africans.

rhhardin said...

Women are less self-aware than other sexes, so their taking offense is always interesting.

MikeR said...

Sounds like it probably wasn't racist. But Democrats would have called it racist, so we can too.

gspencer said...

You mean the party of the KKK, which wanted to eliminate Negroes, behaved in a manner which eliminated the Negro from the picture.

Shocking,

cubanbob said...

So the Democrats are hiding the candidate the union rank and file would be against since he is against their interests. That's the problem for the Democrats; too many interest groups to placate and many of them at cross purposes.

Ralph L said...

If their excuse is accurate, the union bosses were trying to deceive their own people into voting for the Dem candidate for governor by leaving off a person they object to. That's the disgusting part IMO.

Ralph L said...

Great minds, cubanbob.

Sean Gleeson said...

Althouse, I don't understand this sentence: "I would guess that the party is afraid that black people who see a photo of a black face and will decide that's the one to vote for."

Why would the Democratic party be afraid of persuading black voters to vote for the Democratic candidate? Or did you mean something else?

I'm Full of Soup said...

I am skeptical of this explanation because Laborers' unions tend to have a high majority of minority members who would typically support a black candidate.

M Jordan said...

Northam’s a racist. Simple as that.

Bob Boyd said...

"Althouse, I don't understand this sentence: "I would guess that the party is afraid that black people who see a photo of a black face and will decide that's the one to vote for.""

Yeah, I don't get that either.

cubanbob said...

AJ Lynch said...
I am skeptical of this explanation because Laborers' unions tend to have a high majority of minority members who would typically support a black candidate."

You forgot the rule about rules: there is always an exception. Minority members of the Laborer's unions like paychecks, particularly theirs.

brylun said...

A palm card is a small card, palm or pocket size, that typically has info about the candidate, his/her picture, and (most of the time) the party who supports the candidate. A palm card is intended to be handed out when a candidate meets and greets prospective voters, and is given as a reminder of who the prospective voter should actually vote for.

Clyde said...

That's how they ended up with Obama instead of Hillary in 2008.

robother said...

Democrats: when they're not playing, they're palming the race card! Now you see it, now you don't.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Justin Fairfax was meant to cover the spread ;)

cubanbob said...

Ralph L said...
If their excuse is accurate, the union bosses were trying to deceive their own people into voting for the Dem candidate for governor by leaving off a person they object to. That's the disgusting part IMO.

10/19/17, 8:03 AM
Blogger Ralph L said...
Great minds, cubanbob.

Trying to deceive is being charitable. If you are a long time reader of this blog then you would remember what happened in WI when Governor Walker signed a right to work act and the membership in the teachers unions dropped considerably. That is what happens when the union bosses and the membership aren't in alignment.

Marcus said...

Yes. Waiting for Ann's explanation for that statement which, in and by itself, makes sense but not in context.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Why would the Democratic party be afraid of persuading black voters to vote for the Democratic candidate? Or did you mean something else?"

Puzzled me as well. Nevertheless, a great example of the pitfalls of identity politics and the utterly bogus (and therefore meaningless) outrage that accompanies them.

Matt Sablan said...

I was surprised at how sloppy the removal was on the campaign literature. It was BEGGING to be noticed.

James Graham said...

Here in Virginia governors never mention the LG candidate and it is possible to split your vote unlike the national ticket.

Ann Althouse said...

:What is a "palm card"?"

"Campaign palm cards are a small yet powerful way to get your message to your voters. Let your voters know your message and your background from day one. RUNandWIN.com can design you effective political push cards of the highest quality. Available with or without a union logo." (Website for palm card printing company.)

My little bit of research has me thinking this is a labor union term. The idea is to give uninformed people an easy way to know who to vote for.

Amadeus 48 said...

Furthermore, the Washington Post apparently has embraced the English rather American spelling of "judgment".

Sad.

MAJMike said...

Why are the DemCong such racist cowards?

Ann Althouse said...

"Why would the Democratic party be afraid of persuading black voters to vote for the Democratic candidate? Or did you mean something else?"

The "and" shouldn't be there.

But to answer your question... I can see that I misread something and have done an update. Thanks.

exhelodrvr1 said...

So apparently the Democratic leadership think that the people typically vote Democrat are racist. I think that they are correct. For evidence, see how the they treat conservative blacks.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Margaret Sanger would be proud!

J. Farmer said...

@cubanbob:

That's the problem for the Democrats; too many interest groups to placate and many of them at cross purposes.

Agree completely. Steve Sailer refers to it as the "coalition of the fringes." And demographics suggest the problem will only worsen with time. Ergo, America is doomed.

mockturtle said...

Same old Democratic Party. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Kevin said...

My little bit of research has me thinking this is a labor union term. The idea is to give uninformed people an easy way to know who to vote for.

The unions in MA hand out lists of "approved" candidates that the teachers and union workers take to the polls so they know exactly how to mark their ballots.

Can't have people making up their own minds, now can we?

Kevin said...

That's the problem for the Democrats; too many interest groups to placate and many of them at cross purposes.

What an opportunity for an opposition party dedicated to lifting all boats.

brylun said...

Ann, a palm card is more of a political party term than a labor union term. Most political candidates, especially in local races, have palm cards. If you want to show off union support then the palm card will have a union logo. Typically, Democrat candidates have the union logo on their palm cards, while Republicans don't. Any printing house that does political candidate signs and brochures will do palm cards, not just union-affiliated print shops.

Michael K said...

too many interest groups to placate and many of them at cross purposes.

Agree completely. Steve Sailer refers to it as the "coalition of the fringes."


Jay Cost wrote a pretty good book about it. It is called, "Spoiled Rotten."

The theme of the book is just what you said. Interest groups with conflicting agendas.

Obama won by black turn out and white guilt.

That's why I think Kamala Harris will be the 2020 candidate.

mockturtle said...

Michael K asserts: Obama won by black turn out and white guilt.

That's why I think Kamala Harris will be the 2020 candidate.


Agree on point number one but to predict that white guilt and male guilt would be sufficient to win an election would be a severe misstep, IMO.

cubanbob said...

J. Farmer said...
@cubanbob:

That's the problem for the Democrats; too many interest groups to placate and many of them at cross purposes.

Agree completely. Steve Sailer refers to it as the "coalition of the fringes." And demographics suggest the problem will only worsen with time. Ergo, America is doomed."

I wouldn't go as far as saying the country is doomed but more likely it is the Democrat Party as it is currently composed that is doomed. There is a reason Trump was elected. And it isn't because of the man himself but what he embodies. If the Democrats continue the way they are going they will become a Left minority party and be replaced by the Republicans who on balanced are not that far out of touch with the majority sentiment of the country.
You can tell the cognitive disconnect the Left has when they can't grasp that a New York real estate developer billionaire was considered by millions of voters to be the real populist working stiff candidate and not the candidate of the official party of the working class. The Left thinks its the vanguard of the proletariat, that it knows what the people really want and need despite their false consciousness. Therefore the push for cars that are battery powered that without subsidies would be ridiculously expensive while those who work and pay taxes for the subsidies in most of American in their false consciousness simply want cheap gas thanks to fracking for their perfectly good and not too terribly expensive ICE vehicles. The only question is can the Republicans snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory?

Big Mike said...

Northam is the only Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.

Let me offer some points of clarification. First, Northam is the current (sitting) lieutenant governor, and he is the Democrat candidate for governor. The Commonwealth of Virginia prevents governors from succeeding themselves and elections are held the year following the presidential election, so the despicable Terry McAuliffe is not on the ballot. Justin Fairfax is the Democrat candidate for lieutenant governor.

Secondly, the primaries for governor and lieutenant governor are independent of each other. Fairfax is on the same ticket, but he is only technically Northam's running mate. The election for lieutenant governor is also separate from the election for governor, and Virginia has had periods when the lieutenant governor was not from teh same party as the governor. (IMAO this is a blunder, but a state constitution is still the state constitution.)

Third, the context seems to be that the Democrats here in Virginia believe that union rank and file are racist to the bone, and would vote against Northam if they were aware that the number two candidate on the ticket is black. It's another mark of how out of touch the Democrat party is with the white working class -- white workers have been working shoulder to shoulder with African-Americans and other minority individuals for decades. Which is partly why the Dumbocrats lost these voters to Trump in the last election.

Fourth, the Republican candidate, Ed Gillespie, has been running a lackluster campaign. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was funded in the primaries by large Democrat donors to ease the way for Northam's election. So this blunder by Northam may be the only thing that lets Gillespie win.

Finally, my sense is that Terry McAuliffe and his handling of Charlottesville is a negative for the Democrat ticket, but with McAuliffe not on the ballot it's hard to say whether it's enough of a boat anchor to hand the election to Northam. But Charlottesville plus snubbing Fairfax may be enough.

Michael K said...

"to predict that white guilt and male guilt would be sufficient to win an election would be a severe misstep, IMO."

I don't think the Democrats will win in 2020 but I do think she is a likely candidate because they, like the craps player who won on 8, keeps trying 8. They don't know why they lost and show no signs of learning behavior.

mockturtle said...

They don't know why they lost and show no signs of learning behavior.

You're probably right. A severe misstep for them, a gift for the nation.

Michael K said...

Fourth, the Republican candidate, Ed Gillespie, has been running a lackluster campaign. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was funded in the primaries by large Democrat donors to ease the way for Northam's election.

Do you think this is the GOPe and its distaste for Trump? I've read that Gillespie, who must have a deep relationship with donors after being GOP chairman, is keeping his distance to keep his money flowing,.

Wilbur said...

As a former member of the Laborers Union, proudly led by our then-President Angelo Fosco, I resent these aspersions cast upon them.

Gahrie said...

Third, the context seems to be that the Democrats here in Virginia believe that union rank and file are racist to the bone, and would vote against Northam if they were aware that the number two candidate on the ticket is black.

The stated reason is that the candidate for Lt. Governor is against a pipeline the union is in favor of.

Big Mike said...

@Michael K, I agree. But -- memo to GOPe! -- if you're going to run, if you're going to ask us for contributions, then you owe it to us to be in it to win it.

Big Mike said...

@Gahrie, yeah, sure.

donald said...

Haha.

Michael K said...

" if you're going to ask us for contributions, then you owe it to us to be in it to win it."

Winning elections is OK as long as you vote right once in office and, if the Democrats push issues the donor class is OK with, like ZIRP which ran up $10 trillion in debt, make sure you are on the right side.

Bill Peschel said...

What all this really means is that Ralph Northam values a small minority of supporters over his party's candidate for Lt. Gov. Nice to see his priorities are in order.

If he's not going to show any spine now, wait until he gets into power and turns over his authority to them.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Agree on point number one but to predict that white guilt and male guilt would be sufficient to win an election would be a severe misstep, IMO."

White guilt having been forgiven by Obama's two terms, Democrats can return to the rapacious exploitation of Black folks and Republicans can continue with the benign neglect.

I think a lot of the current Black shit-fit has to do with the fact that they finally had a turn at bat, eight years of it in fact, and not a single thing got better.

Static Ping said...

cubanbob said... So the Democrats are hiding the candidate the union rank and file would be against since he is against their interests. That's the problem for the Democrats; too many interest groups to placate and many of them at cross purposes.

And, hence, "intersectionality." The whole purpose is to get those interest groups to no longer be interested in their interests and simply vote how they are told. This is interesting.

Bay Area Guy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bay Area Guy said...

The Democrats desperately need the political equivalent of Sheriff Bart in Blazing Saddles to make his first appearance in a small town in Virginia.

Earnest Prole said...

The Invisible Man

mockturtle said...

I think a lot of the current Black shit-fit has to do with the fact that they finally had a turn at bat, eight years of it in fact, and not a single thing got better.

And the fact that so many seem to take these shit-fits seriously encourages more of the same.

JaimeRoberto said...

I'll give the explanation the benefit of the doubt, but it really is a bad look. And we know darn well that this story would be leading CNN if a Republican had done it.