To the editor:
When politicians speak, the rest of us would do well to take cover.
Put on the spot by a foreign newspaper to explain why the Democrats took such a drubbing in Novembers election, Rep. Jim Moran (D-8) blamed racism. But to impute racism as a cause, something would have to be different this time from last time, as if all the racists stayed home in 2008 because they didnt notice that President Obama happened to be black.
Mr. Morans 2010 Republican opponent Patrick Murray (R) called Morans remarks un-American, whatever that rhetorical political clich might mean. He insisted Americans voted based on facts and policy reasons, as if the majority re-electing George W. Bush in 2004 did not continue to believe the canard that Iraqs Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction long after it had been definitively disproven.
Only a minority of the electorate pays attention to fact and policy, but that minority contains most of the swing-voters that put Mr. Obama in office in 2008 and restored Republican control in 2010.
Mr. Moran told the newspaper that many people dont want to be governed by a liberal black man who wants to spend money on and reach out to everyone in our society. Someone should tell Mr. Moran the people dont want to be governed by a white man who is like that either; they have not elected one since Lyndon Johnson despite ample opportunities.