On November 6, Americans will choose between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney for the office of President of the United States. In the weeks leading up to the election, Drunk Monkeys presents reflections from its editors, staff writers, and regular contributors on the choice ahead and what it will mean for the future.
On the 4th of October, the Fox News program Hannity aired a speech given in 2007 by (then) Senator Barack Obama. Sean Hannity presented the exclusive video as evidence of President Obama’s use of “the race card” to further his “radical” “racial” agenda.
In the heavily spliced video, Mr. Obama spoke before a predominately black congregation regarding frustrations with a tax code that favors the super-rich as well as a sub-standard government response to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
By framing Obama’s speech in a racial context, Mr. Hannity distracts from the real issue of rampant economic inequality. But such an argument is crucial for the Republican Party to pit white voters against a minority in order to strip the President of his populist appeal. Sean Hannity’s “race card” argument fails because Senator Obama’s 2007 speech would be received equally as well if it were voiced in the national spotlight of the 2012 election. Mr. Hannity’s assertions are nothing but a lazy veil for a problem whose roots run deeper than skin color or political affiliation.