# Did Romney go to the NAACP hoping to get booed **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 11, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943 "2012-07-11T23:52:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/61 "2012-07-12T17:04:04Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Right, because we’ll be seeing this soundbite/image over and over again. :dubious: > > It’s easy to get stuck in the 24-hour news cycle and think whatever the story du jour is matters so much more than it actually does. I didn’t say we’d be seeing it over and over again. I didn’t say candidates are trying to create images and sound bites that last forever and ever. I don’t know… try reading and understanding what I’m actually saying? You seem to be importing a lot of ideas into what I said that don’t belong there, perhaps making assumptions about what I _probably_ believe or something. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/62 "2012-07-12T17:06:40Z")
[Michael Tomasky nails it.](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/12/michael-tomasky-on-mitt-romney-the-race-baiter-at-the-naacp.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_morning&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_morning&utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet) > [@](#): > > Until yesterday, I thought of Mitt Romney as a spineless, disingenuous, and supercilious but more or less decently intentioned person who at least wasn’t the race-mongering pyromaniac that some other Republican candidates of my lifetime have been. Then he gave his speech to the NAACP, and now I think of him as a spineless, disingenuous, supercilious, race-mongering pyromaniac who is very poorly intentioned indeed, and woe to us if this man sets foot in the White House as anything but a tourist. > > \ > > But he wasn’t a race-baiter until yesterday. That speech wasn’t to the NAACP. It was to Rush Limbaugh. It was to Tea Party Nation. It was to Fox News. Oh, he said some nice things. And sure, let’s give him one point for going there at all. But listen: You don’t go into the NAACP and use the word “Obamacare” and think that you’re not going to hear some boos. It’s a heavily loaded word, and Romney and his people know very well that liberals and the president’s supporters consider it an insult. He and his team had to know those boos were coming, and Romney acknowledged as much a few hours later in an interview with . . . guess which channel (hint: it’s the one whose web site often has to close articles about race to commenters because of the blatant racism). Romney and team obviously concluded that a little shower of boos was perfectly fine because the story “Romney Booed at NAACP” would jazz up their (very white) base. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/63 "2012-07-12T17:10:10Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > What I’m thinking isn’t that this was calculated to persuade anyone to vote for Romney who might otherwise have voted for Obama, rather, it’s calculated to cause people to vote for Romney who might otherwise not have voted at all, or who might have voted for a Constitutional Party candidate or some other hard-right third party. _I’m conservative, and am not too keen on Romney, but since the niggers booed him, he’s got my vote!_ Yeah, I can see that happening all across the country. Or in one guy’s basement. Can’t decide which. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/64 "2012-07-12T17:13:10Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > _I’m conservative, and am not too keen on Romney, but since the niggers booed him, he’s got my vote!_ > > Yeah, I can see that happening all across the country. Or in one guy’s basement. Can’t decide which. I know you hate to think that these people exist (I do, too) but I think we’d be fooling ourselves if we didn’t think there were thousands who had that very thought. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/65 "2012-07-12T17:20:06Z")
Occam tells me that the more parsimonious explanation is that a bunch of left leaning political junkies can’t imagine that a Republican candidate for office doesn’t calculate every move for nefarious purposes. Or, as Occam’s buddy Sigmund said: Sometimes a boo is just a boo. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/66 "2012-07-12T17:22:24Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > “We need to replace Obamacare with something better”. _What_, Romney? I’d really like to know. I don’t think “obamacare” (and god do I hate calling it that; it’s not _just_ his creation) is the greatest thing in the world, but I haven’t really heard anything out of _your_ trap. > > Oh yeah, and booing too. We _do_ need to replace the PPACA with something better. Single-payer. Romney sure as hell isn’t the guy to do it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/67 "2012-07-12T17:28:27Z")
Last year, all it took was a single scary comment about Obama on election day to get my parents, who were going to vote for Obama, to vote for McCain. You can’t underestimate how little it takes to change some people’s votes. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/68 "2012-07-12T17:28:46Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > a bunch of left leaning political junkies I resemble that remark! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/69 "2012-07-12T17:35:04Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Last year, all it took was a single scary comment about Obama on election day to get my parents, who were going to vote for Obama, to vote for McCain. You can’t underestimate how little it takes to change some people’s votes. What was the comment? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/70 "2012-07-12T17:38:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Last year, all it took was a single scary comment about Obama on election day to get my parents, who were going to vote for Obama, to vote for McCain. You can’t underestimate how little it takes to change some people’s votes. LAST YEAR? I guess you came here in a time machine from 2009, right? Say, could you do me a favor? Nip on back to June 25, 2012 and pick me up a Mega Millions ticket for the June 26, 2012 drawing, with the numbers 3, 16, 23, 35, 36, and the Mega number of 20. There’s a cool fifty bucks in it for you; what do you think of _that_, eh? ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/71 "2012-07-12T17:45:05Z")
Re’ the OP, yes, I think Romney’s appearance and speech before the NAACP WAS a carefully planned bit of political theatre designed to bolster his pedigree with certain influential elements within the Right-Wing base. He knows he has a snowball’s chance in Hell of winning any significant percentage of the Black vote; he has to focus on upping his approval rating with the White, Fox-watching folks who consider Obama and Michelle “arrogant” (uppity) and “living high on the hog on the taxpayers dime” (like most Black folks, in their mind…the disgusting, widely circulated “joke” about “another Black family living in public housing” springs, unbidden, to mind :smack:). His remarks were designed to hit on certain key, hot-button issues (the repeal of “Obamacare”, “entitlements”, the “I am not a racist…my father supported civil rights” card, etc…) that would draw predictable reactions from the audience. Reactions which would be interpreted in a certain way by those he was actually speaking to (the White-Right base). Sure enough, Limbaugh, the unofficial “brain” of this demographic, reacted exactly as planned and right on cue: [http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2012/07/11/romney-booed-because-he-is-white-limbaugh/](http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2012/07/11/romney-booed-because-he-is-white-limbaugh/) “He’s (Obama) confident they’ll boo Romney, simply because Romney’s white…” Limbaugh went on to say that Romney’s remarks went “over people’s heads” and that members of America’s most venerable civil rights organization don’t understand what bootstraps are all about. “This group wants to hear about tax increases and bigger government to take care of people,” he said. “They don’t want to hear about self-reliance. They don’t want to hear about free enterprise. Free enterprise means you’ve gotta do it yourself. Free enterprise means it’s up to you. Free enterprise means you’re on your own.” The White-Right’s take-away from the speech? Just as they already knew, Blacks are less intelligent (went “over people’s heads” INDEED!), racist, lazy, entitled and brainwashed into supporting Democrats. And Romney’s positioning of himself as the “victim” of the NAACP audience’s sentiment (as interpreted by the White-Right) renders him more sympathetic to the demographic (who imagine themselves and indeed the whole country as “victim” to such racial politics).:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/72 "2012-07-12T17:52:12Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > _I’m conservative, and am not too keen on Romney, but since the niggers booed him, he’s got my vote!_ > > Yeah, I can see that happening all across the country. Or in one guy’s basement. Can’t decide which. Again, read what I said. I carefully used the word “caused” rather than “persuaded.” ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/73 "2012-07-12T18:12:37Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > I took one for the team and watched “The Five” on Fox yesterday to see how they treated Romney’s address to the NAACP. They went on and on about how “brave” and “courageous” he was. > > Brave and courageous for what, I’m not sure. For appearing? Um, 'cause those Black folks are scary? Especially when in a large group! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/74 "2012-07-12T18:27:20Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > “We need to replace Obamacare with something better”. _What_, Romney? I’d really like to know. I don’t think “obamacare” (and god do I hate calling it that; it’s not _just_ his creation) is the greatest thing in the world, but I haven’t really heard anything out of _your_ trap. With Romneycare, perhaps? Oops, too late. ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/75 "2012-07-12T18:30:04Z")
BTW (sorry, I missed the edit to add this to the above), re’ the “racism” of the NAACP/Blacks in general, how come they didn’t (negatively) boo BIDEN? He’s White. [http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544\_162-57471161-503544/at-naacp-biden-booed-for-ending-his-speech/](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57471161-503544/at-naacp-biden-booed-for-ending-his-speech/) “Just like Mitt Romney the day before, Vice President Joe Biden was booed at the NAACP convention. Unlike Romney, however, he wasn’t booed because the crowd was upset but because they didn’t want Biden to stop talking…” Blacks tend to vote Democrat. If there happens to be a Black Democrat running, hey, all the better! Biden focused on the clear differences between Democrat and Republican policy and vision of the future, which is, ultimately, what the Black preference for Democrats over Republicans boils down to. Increasingly, the Republican vision seems blindingly White and almost lynchingly mean-spirited. Lord, given the degree of racism coming from the Right lately (with even ROMNEY spewing rhetoric about lazy Blacks with their hands out…it’s not just coming from the fringe-dwellers anymore :eek:) I can’t believe ANY person of color would vote Republican. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/76 "2012-07-12T18:31:14Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > What I’m thinking isn’t that this was calculated to persuade anyone to vote for Romney who might otherwise have voted for Obama, rather, it’s calculated to cause people to vote for Romney who might otherwise not have voted at all, or who might have voted for a Constitutional Party candidate or some other hard-right third party. There are few to no such people. I mean, a small number of people will vote for those parties, but they are not gettable votes for Romney no matter what he says - and few far-right Republicans were going to stay home rather than vote for Romney when he’s running against Obama. That’s one reason I think this was a blunder rather than a calculated decision. He doesn’t expect to get much support from black voters, but he needs to look like he’s trying to get it much more than he needs to try to get votes from white people who are happy he pissed off an NAACP audience. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/77 "2012-07-12T18:31:41Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m conservative, and am not too keen on Romney, but since the niggers booed him, he’s got my vote! > > Yeah, I can see that happening all across the country. Or in one guy’s basement. Can’t decide which. I think you may have hit the real issue here. It’s kind of all about how many of those people are there? Romney and his cronies, think there’s enough to carry the day. I think they are deluded. They can’t see that times have changed because they are so busy trying to restore yesterday. When women didn’t want abortions, divorce was unheard of, and minorities knew their place. It was so awesome they want to go back. Delusions keep you from seeing reality, even when it’s before your eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/78 "2012-07-12T18:43:12Z")
The NAACP is like the SDMB - they aren’t listening to Romney after they find a reason to boo him. I suspect Romney knew that. But if he didn’t talk to the NAACP, the loony left would call him a bigot and a coward. Now they just call him a bigot. If Romney is elected, he will be President over the whole country, not just the white parts. If the NAACP doesn’t look at it that way, oh well. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/79 "2012-07-12T18:49:18Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > But if he didn’t talk to the NAACP, the loony left would call him a bigot and a coward. Would they be wrong? The NAACP is still a fairly big deal even if they’re not as vital or powerful as they were a few decades ago. The organization has extended invitations to both major-party candidates for a long time and both have traditionally addressed the NAACP. McCain (rightly) also accepted, and he was not booed. ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/80 "2012-07-12T18:50:40Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > There are few to no such people. I mean, a small number of people will vote for those parties, but they are not gettable votes for Romney no matter what he says - and few far-right Republicans were going to stay home rather than vote for Romney when he’s running against Obama. That’s one reason I think this was a blunder rather than a calculated decision. He doesn’t expect to get much support from black voters, but he needs to look like he’s trying to get it much more than he needs to try to get votes from white people who are happy he pissed off an NAACP audience. I think Romney is going to have to work to get every Republican and Right-Wing Independent vote he can. As much as Obama is despised in those circles, their passion for Romney is lukewarm at best. Many flat-out hate him, not leastly because his “Romneycare” was the inspiration for “Obamacare” (this according to a 2006 interview with then Senator Obama, in which he specifically referred to to the then Governor’s system). One, it’s very close; the battle seems to be coming down to the “other candidates” and “undecideds”(and to turnout, of course): > **[Daily Presidential Tracking Poll](https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/trump_administration_second_term/prez_track_june10)** > > The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll shows... "Thursday, July 12, 2012 The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows Mitt Romney attracting 46% of the vote, while President Obama earns support from 45%. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are undecided." Two, a recent (July 10) poll showing the two neck and neck also found that Obama has a strong lead in terms of the enthusiam of his supporters: [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-07/11/c\_131707203.htm](http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-07/11/c_131707203.htm) "…The Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that Obama and Romney remain in a deadlocked contest, tied at 47 percent among registered U.S. voters, little changed from the situation in late May. Only twice in 13 polls in more than a year has either candidate held a lead exceeding the poll’s margin of sampling error, which is about 4 percent in the latest one. The race appears destined to remain extremely close in the final four months before the Election Day in November, The Washington Post said in a report… Obama still holds a clear lead over Romney in terms of backers’ enthusiasm, as 51 percent of the Obama supporters back his candidacy “very enthusiastically,” compared with 38 percent of Romney’s, the poll found. " [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943.md?page=5)