Anyone who cares about race, politics or some combination thereof had something to say about the presumptive GOP nominee's remarks to the nation's oldest civil rights organization -- and the boos he received when he proclaimed that he'd do away with President Obama's health care law. In case you missed them, we've rounded up a few reactions.
The Daily Beast [5]'s Michael Tomasky didn't mince any words, writing today:
Until yesterday, I thought of Mitt Romney as a spineless, disingenuous, and supercilious but more or less decently intentioned person who at least wasn't the race-mongering pyromaniac that some other Republican candidates of my lifetime have been. Then he gave his speech to the NAACP, and now I think of him as a spineless, disingenuous, supercilious, race-mongering pyromaniac who is very poorly intentioned indeed, and woe to us if this man sets foot in the White House as anything but a tourist.
BET [6]'s Keith Boykin called Romney's "Sister Souljah Moment" a bust, adding:
At times, Romney sounded completely delusional. "If you want a president who will make things better in the African-American community, you're looking at him," he told the crowd. But he never mentioned that his policies of cutting government jobs and cutting back on education spending would disproportionately hurt African-Americans [7], who are more likely [8] to be employed in the public sector and less likely [9] to hold college degrees.
Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin wasn't any more thrilled with the crowd's reaction to Romney than the NAACP members were with his message. She deemed the booing "obnoxious" and implied that it displayed some hypocrisy on the part of black members of Congress, Mediaite reports [10]:
"I thought it was obnoxious," Malkin replied. "I understand from Congressman Cleaver -- Emanuel Cleaver -- that apparently it's racist to criticize the President at all, but somehow it's fine to receive a guest -- and invited guest -- in the way that booing audience did."
Decorum aside, the Washington Post [11]'s Jonathan Capehart dismissed the message as "hollow," explaining:
There were two moments in the 25-minute address [12] that bore this out. In one, Romney seemed to be trying to cement the view among conservatives that he's a man of bedrock principles. In the other, he revealed a glaring hole in his own record in an apparent appeal to independent and moderate voters who might be impressed…
After Romney's assertion that he would be better for African Americans than the African American sitting in the White House with 95 percent of the African American vote in 2008 and a 90 percent approval rating among African Americans today, this was the gasp-worthy comment in Romney's speech. Romney's problem within the Republican Party all along has been the concern among conservatives that they don't actually know who he truly is in his heart. And with good reason.
What's your one-paragraph assessment? Let us know in the comments.
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