The Great White Hope...

U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins offered encouragement to conservatives at a town hall forum that the Republican Party would embrace a "great white hope" capable of thwarting the political agenda endorsed by Democrats who control Congress and President Barack Obama.

Jenkins, a Topeka Republican in her first term in Congress, shared thoughts about the GOP's political future during an Aug. 19 forum at Fisher Community Center in the northeast Kansas community of Hiawatha.

In response to inquiries by The Topeka Capital-Journal, a Jenkins spokeswoman said Wednesday the congresswoman wanted to apologize for her word choice and to emphasize she had no intention of expressing herself in an offensive manner.

Source

We all say and do things that we regret. In 3rd grade, I incorrectly spelled "lion." Yep, your boy wrote "loin" on the paper as if that was the right thing to do. I will never forget that misspelling because it made me pay more attention to the things that I say and do.

Fast forward to the comments Rep. Jenkins made about the GOP looking for a "great white hope." She probably retracted those statements because of the backlash she received for saying them. I hoped that she wouldn't succumb to the outside pressure because her comments were true. The Republican party IS looking for a "great white hope."

Let's be real here. There isn't a minority on the Right that has enough pull to beat President Obama in an election. Mike Steele, Bobby Jindal, and the like have relatively strong pockets of support, but none of those guys can "electrify the base" in small town USA. I know Jindal did his thing in Louisiana, but don't think that level of support would extend to middle America.

I don't think that all Republicans are racist. I have quite a few friends on the Right who base their political beliefs on theories that are independent of race. However, I am willing to bet my bottom dollar that the people spewing racist venom at the President vote Republican in all elections. This faction of the Right, the faction that wants to "take back America", is not going to show unrelenting support for anyone who isn't white. It's just not going to happen. They want a hero to come along...with the strength to carry on.

And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive