Wow, guess the racist shenanigans of those Scott Brown campaign staffers aren't going to do much to help rectify this situation.
In the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, there was a front-page story entitled Indian Tribes, With More Clout and Money, Find an Ally in Obama by Matea Gold and Joseph Tanfani, chronicling the close relationship that has developed over the past four years between Native Americans and the President.
At a July fundraiser in the elegant Mandarin Oriental hotel near Washington's Tidal Basin, President Obama met with some of his most steadfast supporters — two dozen political and business leaders eager to write sizable checks to help keep him in the White House.
All were leaders of Native American tribes, who pressed their issues with a president they say is attuned to their needs.
Bill John Baker, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, told Obama his Oklahoma tribe was owed $50 million for its costs of administering federal health services.
"He said, 'Let me look into this and see what we can do,'" Baker recalled. A week later, he received a letter from the White House pledging to follow up. A White House spokesman said the administration had been reaching out to many tribes on the same issue.
Obama's timely response helped create a bond of trust between himself and the tribes.
"President Obama is a promise keeper," Baker said. "He promised that he would work with Indian country, that he would help us, and he has done that at every turn."
The tribes have shown their gratitude, giving at least $2.5 million to Obama's reelection campaign through the end of July — far outstripping their donations in other recent presidential elections, according to data provided by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics
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One of the reasons why this relationship is a particularly lucrative one is because Indian tribes are not constrained by law in how much they can donate to individual candidates, as say corporations or unions are.
And because of their status as sovereign nations, they can donate more to presidential campaigns than individuals, who cannot give more than $117,000 in federal donations every two years.
There are many reasons why Indian tribes are so bullish on the President:
Tribal leaders say Obama won their loyalty by doing more for Native Americans than any other president. Obama — dubbed Barack Black Eagle when he was adopted by the Crow Nation during the 2008 campaign — is the first president to hold an annual summit with leaders from the 566 federally recognized tribes.
The tribes received $3 billion as part of the 2009 economic stimulus package. In addition, the administration beefed up tribal law enforcement powers and improved Indian healthcare services.
Perhaps most significant, the administration has settled billions of dollars in outstanding land and trust claims, including a 13-year-old class-action lawsuit originally brought by Elouise Cobell, a member of the Montana Blackfeet Nation, alleging that the federal government had cheated Native Americans out of income from land and mineral rights the government managed on their behalf for more than a century.
Now, contrast that to this video of Scott Brown staffers performing tomahawk-chops and war-whoops mocking Elizabeth Warren's Native American heritage:
Guess the Republicans have managed to alienate yet another voting constituency. When will they ever learn?