Steve Benen and Steve M over at No More Mister Nice Blog both seem surprised at Mitt Romney's newest low. Romney is using the phrase "Keep America American" a throwback right out of the infamous Ku Klux Klan's playbook.
Steve M. asks:
Really, Mitt? You really want to use this phrase?
I would say YES really. It is the exact kind of phrase that rings with the base. Why? Because that's who Romney needs to convince to ride with him through the primaries. And Romney and Romney's people know very well that's what they're doing here.
They want to paint Obama and his policies as wholly Un-American, it's something the Right has been trying to do since the '08 election. It's the base that foams at the mouth for FOX Nation headlines (update: Steve M. also saw the same FOX Nation headline), cheers with Rush when he calls Obama the "most-racial" president, and doesn't flinch when Billy Cunningham calls Obama a "boy". Romney needs that base to win and right now he ain't winning.
My question to both Steve's is, why are you surprised? At this point it should be expected. Mitt Romney has shown time and time again he has no qualms with flipping and flopping. Why would anyone think Mitt Romney wouldn't go this low? It's a phrase that is on the tips of every raging wing-nut's tongue, on message boards and in the underpinnings of right-wing talk radio.
This is the new conservative America. Same as the old. Romney wants the base to know he's more American than the socialist, Muslim, terrorist-sympathizing, Barack Hussein Obama and that he's man enough to say it in no uncertain terms.
I am Frank Chow and I approved this message
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