Now this is just beyond revolting. But I suppose nothing should surprise us about the GOP at this point.
A former Miss America winner who is now a GOP candidate for Congress was called a string of profane names today, including “street walker,” ”love child” and “Miss Queen. ” Her attacker? A local Republican Party chairman [named Jim Allen] in central Illinois.
Erika Harold, 33, is a woman of mixed race background running in the Republican primary for the 13th Congressional District of Illinois. The seat is currently held by Republican Rodney Davis. By all accounts, Harold is a conservative Republican.
Now, Republicans usually reserve their anti-women racial slurs for Democrats such as Michelle Obama. Could it be that this Montgomery County GOP Chair Jim Allen fellow was so apoplectic at the idea of Ms. Harold's primary challenge to the incumbent that he simply became a little confused?
He launched his criticism in a letter today to Republican News Watch, a local conservative news site. He derided her Miss America platform of advocating for abstinence and against school bullying.
“The little queen touts her abstinence, and she won the crown because she got bullied in school — boohoo, kids are cruel, life sucks and you move on,” Allen wrote. “Now, Miss Queen is being used like a street walker, and her pimps are the DEMOCRAT PARTY and RINO REPUBLICANS.”
He went on to call her “the love child of the DNC.”
No, there was no confusion. Allen,
who is white as the driven snow [as is Rodney Davis], was just doing what came naturally. Never mind that in addition to her being a former Miss America, his target was a graduate of Harvard Law School and an attorney (sort of like another bi-racial politician we know):
Harold's ethnic background is extremely varied. On her father's side, she has Greek, German and Welsh ancestry, and on her mother's side, Native-American, African-American and Russian descent.[1]
No, to this guy, she was just another black street hooker who got where she was today by mooching off her betters.
But wait, there's more from Mr. Allen!
Rodney Davis will win and the love child of the D.N.C. will be back in Shitcago by May of 2014 working for some law firm that needs to meet their quota for minority hires.
Once in a while, the veil slips away and we get a true glimpse of how Republicans really feel about race, and about women. We just usually don't see it directed at one of their own.
And people wonder at the level of disrespect this President is afforded by the Republican House.
The editor of Republican News Watch, Doug Ibendahl, said the comments were “outrageous” and underscored “why we as Republicans fail to gain any respect from minority voters.
Allen has issued an
"apology". Why he should feel the need apologize for saying what he believes is unclear. In fact, until tonight it appears that Congressman Davis considered Allen a valued member of his "team."
But then, it wasn't much of an apology:
"The words in the commentary I wrote were completely wrong," said Jim Allen, the Republican Party chairman in Montgomery County. "I apologize to Erika Harold, her staff and her supporters."
With that, Allen hung up.
Until Wednesday, he had been listed as a member of "Team 2014" on U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis' campaign website, but his name was removed sometime during the day.
"Completely wrong?" Try "Despicable?" "Abhorrent?"
Or maybe just "Revealing."