March 12, 2004
Race-baiting ads
Ryan Lizza's blog at TNR has the scoop on Bush's latest campaign ad, which stoops to a "new" low by using a swarthy, Arab-looking guy as a stand-in for a terrorist.
One reporter asked whether it was appropriate to use an Arab-American to depict a terrorist. Campaign aides said the actor in "100 Days" wasn't Arab-American. One official on the call insisted it was just a "very generic" image. ... What's interesting is that Bush's team must have known that by using this actor they would probably ignite a debate about race, ethnicity, and terrorism. You have to wonder about why they did it.
Obviously they remember that Willie Horton's face worked wonders for W's dad -- it sparked a controversy, of course, but it gained them votes where they were needed. This kind of thing only pisses off the left -- for the Bush base, it's like red meat to a starving tiger. Of course they'll outwardly deny that there's any racist implication, or else they'll ignore the issue outright, but inwardly they will exult.
The racist nature of the phrase "very generic image" should be obvious as well. The official claims the terrorist isn't Arab -- and maybe he isn't -- but he's still brown. Why? Because, implicitly, they want you to believe that all brown people are potential terrorists. They can't make this claim directly, and they don't want you to think it consciously; they want you to absorb it subliminally. And by placing the threatening image next to the words "John Kerry's Plan", the trope becomes that much more terrifying: John Kerry is in favor of brown people terrorists!