# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/81 "2012-07-12T18:51:47Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Now they just call him a bigot. Who, exactly, called him a bigot? Condescending and out-of-touch, sure. But not a bigot, that I can recall. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/82 "2012-07-12T18:59:40Z")
I wouldn’t call Romney a bigot. But he knows he needs the bigot vote… ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/83 "2012-07-12T19:08:20Z")
> [@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. > > Oh yeah, and booing too. Perhaps he’d be in favour of the health delivery system reforms he enacted in Massachusetts? ---
**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, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/84 "2012-07-12T19:51:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Would they be wrong? Yes, in my opinion. Having it both ways is always good. If Romney doesn’t speak to the NAACP, then he is a bigot who is afraid of black people. If he does, he is a bigot who is trying to appeal to other bigots who are afraid of black people. If you are going to be condemned no matter what you do, and Romney will be condemned by the SDMB no matter what he does, Romney might as well do what he thinks is right. So he goes to speak to the NAACP, and they start booing him before he can complete his sentence. OK, so they’re not listening. At least he tried. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/85 "2012-07-12T20:03:59Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > 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 I agree that if president he won’t make race a factor. Just income. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/86 "2012-07-12T20:06:59Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > 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. Right… His handlers let him go without a thought on what would happen. Remember the don’t even let the press near him any more for fear he shoots off his mouth again. And every move he makes is for a nefarious purpose - him getting elected. But, to be fair to Mitt, I think it was a shock to him to discover that there were African-Americans who are not rich or CEOs. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/87 "2012-07-12T20:08:59Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager] I agree that if president he won’t make race a factor. Just income. [/QUOTE] Sort of like Obama. 😉 -XT ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/88 "2012-07-12T20:09:30Z")
> [@Esox Lucius](#): > > The whole of Romney’s message was that Obamacare will destroy jobs Won’t someone think of the grave diggers? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/89 "2012-07-12T21:24:25Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Having it both ways is always good. If Romney doesn’t speak to the NAACP, then he is a bigot who is afraid of black people. If he does, he is a bigot who is trying to appeal to other bigots who are afraid of black people. > > If you are going to be condemned no matter what you do, and Romney will be condemned by the SDMB no matter what he does, Romney might as well do what he thinks is right. So he goes to speak to the NAACP, and they start booing him before he can complete his sentence. OK, so they’re not listening. At least he tried. Don’t narrow this down into just those options. If Romney was a bigot and a coward before addressing the NAACP, simply going there and speaking doesn’t make him less of either epithet. Having had a long history of saying whatever he thinks his audience wants, and trying to appeal to them by tacking as far right as possible, this one incident which won unanimous praise in right-wing circles doesn’t change what he’s done or who he is. You want real courage? He should stand up to the conservative and Tea Partiers, the ones whose votes he can reliable affect, and tell them what they don’t want to hear. If he doesn’t want to seem bigoted, he should at least take some heat from his white constituents and praise something like Affirmative Action. Those actions of his would have real consequences. The fact that guys on Fox News or Rush is praising this and showering him with praise for courageousness is proof that there wasn’t a losing scenario for him going to the NAACP as far as his base was concerned. Speaking of having it both ways, what kind of response from the NAACP audience would it take for you to think Romney came out worse? If booing him made him look good, and cheering him would definitely do that, how could they have responded? ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/90 "2012-07-12T23:55:40Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > As I remember from many health care discussions the evidence I have seen is that a huge number of new jobs are prevented in the current environment as many would be entrepreneurs calculate the big costs in health care that they and any future employees will typically encounter if they start a business. (Small business usually have this disadvantage against big business, big business can get better deals from health care providers just by their big pool of workers) This is specially so if there is a family member that already has a previous condition, the would be entrepreneur then decides to stay in the big corporation that gives him or her a better deal. > > What I say here is that Romney and the republicans still have just a very narrow view about what the current irrational health care that we have does to the big job picture. Without knowing much about it myself, that certainly sounds plausible. I don’t doubt that Romney’s deliberately talking out of his ass for political reasons. By focusing on the economy in his campaign, he has to portray everything that Obama does as bad for the economy. Next: “Killing bin Laden destroyed jobs!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Oldeb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@Oldeb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oldeb)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/91 "2012-07-13T04:23:56Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > 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. W. Bush also spoke there during the 2000 election and later as President in 2006. I don’t think he spoke before the 2004 election though. He received only applause, not boos, both times. The [speech from 2000](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/elections/bushtext071000.htm) was actually pretty good. ---
**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 13, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/92 "2012-07-13T05:41:06Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > 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. Oh, so you’re saying that one showing of this soundbite is going to convert a bunch of bigoted, tepid Romney supporters into solid Romney voters? Sorry if I didn’t think you’d put forth something so utterly implausible. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/93 "2012-07-13T06:50:51Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > But, to be fair to Mitt, I think it was a shock to him to discover that there were African-Americans who are not rich or CEOs. Nonsense. I’m sure he’s quite familiar with the existence of A-A service staff. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/94 "2012-07-13T10:52:58Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Oh, so you’re saying that one showing of this soundbite is going to convert a bunch of bigoted, tepid Romney supporters into solid Romney voters? Sorry if I didn’t think you’d put forth something so utterly implausible. My bad. You’re doing it again. You’re importing the concepts of “a bunch” and of an immediate solid conversion into my comments. You know what? You’re not speaking to me in good faith. I suspect you aren’t fully aware of this, so take this as me informing you of the fact. I expect you to do better. ---
**Author:** ![mtomm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@mtomm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtomm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/95 "2012-07-13T20:50:22Z")
Hello, I share this quote from my Facebook news feed as my first post: > [@](#): > > Y’all know that I’m not big fan of Romney - he wasn’t my nominee of choice. However, yesterday he earned my respect. He knowingly went into a nearly 100% unfriendly environment and spoke the same message he’s been talking about all along. He got booed and he stayed on message. He didn’t try to tailor the speech to appease the audience. IMO, that takes a lot of gumption, especially for a politician. I think Mr. Romney got exactly what he was looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/96 "2012-07-13T20:58:09Z")
Unless it was votes. He’s been working hard to shore up his conservative credentials for a long time, but he needs people other than the Republican base to vote for him. Can I ask again how the NAACP reaction was racist? If they didn’t boo John McCain in 2008 (and haven’t booed other white Republican candidates), doesn’t that make it very unlikely race had anything to do with their reaction to Romney? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/97 "2012-07-13T21:03:38Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [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) “Obamacare” an insult? [Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.](https://store.barackobama.com/?p=2) ---
**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 13, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/98 "2012-07-13T22:13:49Z")
[Martin Bashir](http://video.msnbc.msn.com/martin-bashir/48179526/#48179526)hit it out of the park today. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/99 "2012-07-13T22:17:30Z")
**magellan01** , you do realize I was asking _you_ about the whole “the NAACP is racist for booing Romney” thing, right? I’m still waiting for you to explain how booing Romney was racist, or how you determined the booing was related to his race and not his statements and policy proposals. Or else you could withdraw the comment if you can’t support it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943/100 "2012-07-14T15:48:46Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [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) > [@magellan01](#): > > “Obamacare” an insult? > > [Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.](https://store.barackobama.com/?p=2) Yeah, I don’t get that either. The administration has (quite cleverly, I might add) decided to own the Obamacare label. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-go-to-the-naacp-hoping-to-get-booed/627943.md?page=6)