Is Kathleen Parker trying to tell us anything?

posted by: Nick | on: Wednesday, 22 October 2008, 11:14

There's an interesting article by Conservative commentator Kathleen Parker in today's Washington Post about what she describes as the 'reverse Bradley Effect' - ie white Republicans who will be secretly voting for Obama.

Parker claims that there is a growing chorus of traditional Republicans and Conservatives who have been less than impressed with the direction of McCain's campaign.

She writes: "While some have minimized the impact of a Bradley effect in this election, we'd be wrong to discount it. Anti-black has morphed to some degree into anti-foreigner and anti-Muslim.

"Palling around with terrorists," as Sarah Palin said of Obama, gets to an underlying xenophobic, anti-Muslim sentiment. Using surrogates who strategically use Obama's middle name, Hussein, feeds the same dark heart.

This tactic, denied but undeniable, has been effective with target audiences, some of whom can be viewed on YouTube entering a Palin rally in Pennsylvania. One cherubic older fellow totes a stuffed Curious George monkey wearing an Obama sticker as a hat.

She herself has bitterly attacked the decision to put Sarah Palin being on the ticket. Is she trying to tell us something?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/21/AR2008102102328.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter