Republicans Play the Race Card . . . Again

The Washington Post reports that the National Black Republican Association is running radio ads saying that Democrats "passed those black codes and Jim Crow laws" and "started the Ku Klux Klan." The ads have the virtue of being historically accurate on this point but mendacious in their implication about the stances of the two parties on racial issues today. The short Post report left out that the ads also attack gay marriage (hey, beat up on one minority to get the support of another!) and say that the Democrats want to "keep us poor". Listen for yourself here.

In another of his ongoing series of flip-flops, Michael Steele defended the ads yesterday but then today said that they are "insulting". To his credit, Steele at least ended up on the right side in the end on this one. Of course, we'll have to wait a bit to see if this opinion really takes or is subject to repeated reversal like his views on President Bush.