Pennsylvanian Republicans have chosen African American ex-NFL star Lynn Swann to be their nominee for November's Gubernatorial election against Former DNC chair and incumbent Democratic Governor Ed Rendell.Current DNC Chair Howard Dean has decided to terminate the LGBT Outreach staff position but is keeping the DNC's LGBT fundraising operation.
These seemingly disparate events illuminate the complicated nature of what has come to be disparagingly referred to as "identity politics." Republicans and race is a topic that MadProfessah has previously discussed many times before on this blog. The question of the Democrats and their commitment to gay rights is a new topic for this blog, but is a much discussed topic all over the blogosphere.
I suppose the first question to answer would be "How are these two things related?" To me, it is clear they are related in that black people running as Republicans or voting for Republicans indicates a shocking lack of awareness and understanding of the history of race-baiting by Republicans in electoral politics. Similarly, the decision by the Democratic National Committee to disband a specific institutionalized outreach plan to LGBT democrats should not be surprising to anyone who has followed the numerous instances of homophobia by Democratic candidates and various organs of the Democratic Party.
UPDATE: The DNC has released a press release defending its consolidation of minority outreach programs and touting the progress made since Howard Dean became DNC chair.
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