# I guess this is why McCain skipped the Values Voter Summit **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 14, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597 "2008-09-14T21:01:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/1 "2008-09-14T21:01:09Z")
I was watching TV news commentary and someone expressed a bit of surprise that McCain was going to skip the Values Voter Summit. Maybe he knew that something like [this](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Obama-Waffles.html) was all too likely: > [@](#): > > Activists at a conservative political forum snapped up boxes of waffle mix depicting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as a racial stereotype on its front and wearing Arab-like headdress on its top flap. > > Values Voter Summit organizers cut off sales of Obama Waffles boxes on Saturday, saying they had not realized the boxes displayed ‘‘offensive material.’’ The summit and the exhibit hall where the boxes were sold had been open since Thursday afternoon. Obama monkeys. Alligator hats. Obama Waffles. “Obama’s Baby Mama.” “Uppity.” “Boy.” This country needs a punch in the face. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/2 "2008-09-14T21:14:21Z")
Preferably with brass knuckles. With spikes. Big sharp ones. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/3 "2008-09-14T21:15:10Z")
What’s an alligator hat? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/4 "2008-09-14T21:17:23Z")
It’s a reference to poor Southern blacks who are nothing but alligator food. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/5 "2008-09-14T21:18:16Z")
[Alligator hat at the RNC](http://www.daylife.com/photo/0eXbeRj32Z38i/Barack_Obama). [Alligator bait](http://www.prwatch.org/node/4005) in context. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/6 "2008-09-14T21:36:41Z")
Holy crap, that’s vile. I understand that the McCain people have no control over the forum, but why would they not ask people to refrain from that crap at the convention? But you have fought some ignorance. In Richard Zacks’ book _An Underground Education_, there is an illustration of a Jim Crow era stereoscopic photo a black man being “eaten” by 2 clearly taxidermified alligators. The caption reads “This sick racist joke was acceptable in the United States c. 1900.” Sick, yes, but I could never figure out what made it racist. Alligator bait, real classy. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/7 "2008-09-14T21:37:49Z")
Out of curiosity, what values is this summit supposed to promote? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/8 "2008-09-14T21:39:23Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > Out of curiosity, what values is this summit supposed to promote? White ones, evidently. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/9 "2008-09-14T21:41:04Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > Holy crap, that’s vile. I understand that the McCain people have no control over the forum, but why would they not ask people to refrain from that crap at the convention? > > But you have fought some ignorance. In Richard Zacks’ book _An Underground Education_, there is an illustration of a Jim Crow era stereoscopic photo a black man being “eaten” by 2 clearly taxidermified alligators. The caption reads “This sick racist joke was acceptable in the United States c. 1900.” Sick, yes, but I could never figure out what made it racist. Alligator bait, real classy. Yep, today it functions as dog-whistle politics pretty readily. I didn’t know the reference, but my husband took one look at the guy in the hat and said, “Alligator bait.” He was surprised I’d never heard the term. Apparently it was an unremarkable thing to hear in Kentucky where he grew up. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/10 "2008-09-14T21:52:43Z")
In case anyone was still on the fence about Lou Dobbs’s biases, [here he is yukking it up with the sellers](http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=D48A4B9FA3294253C614F048B1FBE676?diaryId=6994). ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/11 "2008-09-14T21:59:55Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Yep, today it functions as dog-whistle politics pretty readily. I didn’t know the reference, but my husband took one look at the guy in the hat and said, “Alligator bait.” He was surprised I’d never heard the term. Apparently it was an unremarkable thing to hear in Kentucky where he grew up. There are a fair amount of knick-knacks and advertising from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries with that theme. [Here](http://www.authentichistory.com/diversity/african/alligator/01.html) ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/12 "2008-09-14T22:02:48Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > White ones, evidently. Today’s seminars include Mayonaise or Miracle Whip: The Debate Rages, Neil Diamond: God among Men or God of Men, and Hockey: Greatest Sport Ever. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/13 "2008-09-14T22:06:43Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > Out of curiosity, what values is this summit supposed to promote? Them thar would be the values of Fear and Ignorance, sonny. And as we have seen, they win elections. I am truly nauseated after linking to this shit. This country is so fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/14 "2008-09-14T22:18:26Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Them thar would be the values of Fear and Ignorance, sonny. And as we have seen, they win elections. You misspelled small town values. > [@](#): > > I am truly nauseated after linking to this shit. This country is so fucked up. Here. This [link](http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff128/lajimi/Political/McShane.jpg) will make it all better. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/15 "2008-09-14T22:20:39Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > Out of curiosity, what values is this summit supposed to promote? > [@](#): > > FRC Action is dedicated to preserving and advancing the interests of family, faith, and freedom in the political arena and educating the general public and cultural leaders about traditional American values and to promote the philosophy of the Founding Fathers concerning the nature of ordered liberty. J > **[New FRC Action Homepage Updated](https://www.frcaction.org/)** > > New FRC Action Homepage Updated > **[New FRC Action Homepage Updated](https://www.frcaction.org/index.cfm?c=VVS)** > > New FRC Action Homepage Updated > **[FRC | Pro Marriage & Pro Life Organization in Washington DC](https://www.frc.org/)** > > FRC | Pro Marriage & Pro Life Organization in Washington DC > **[Family Research Council](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Research_Council)** > > The Federalist Papers (1788) > Democracy in America (1835–1840) > Notes on Democracy (1926) > I'll Take My Stand (1930) > The Managerial Revolution (1941) > Ideas Have Consequences (1948) > God and Man at Yale (1951) > The Conservative Mind (1953) > The Conscience of a Conservative (1960) > A Choice Not an Echo (1964) > A Conflict of Visions (1987) > The Closing of the American Mind (1987) > The Death of the West (2001) > Hillbilly Elegy (2016) > The Benedict Option (2017) > Why Liberalism Failed (2018) > The Family Research... ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/16 "2008-09-14T22:24:53Z")
Wow…I never knew the history of “alligator bait.” The only time I’d ever heard it was when a Univ. of Florida football player (the Gators) said on TV after a big win something to the effect of “If you ain’t a Gator fan, you’re just Gator bait.” FWIW, the player was African-American. I just assumed it was a University of Florida thing. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/17 "2008-09-14T22:28:46Z")
Damn Squink. And here I thought I was kidding about the small town values thing. Lily Tomlin had it right. No matter how cynical I become, I can never keep up. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/18 "2008-09-14T22:30:01Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > In case anyone was still on the fence about Lou Dobbs’s biases, [here he is yukking it up with the sellers](http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=D48A4B9FA3294253C614F048B1FBE676?diaryId=6994). Do you think the Obama Waffles is racist? Why? I watched the clip and I don’t see it. Couldn’t the same thing have been done with Kerry? Except he flip-flopped instead of waffled, I guess. Seriously. what makes it racist? (Though I do agree those guys got more than one helping of ignorant.) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/19 "2008-09-14T22:31:39Z")
Hey, McCain wanted to attend, but his sheets hadn’t come back from the cleaners. Yes, I know. Cheap shot at a person that, AFAIK, is not in the least bit racist. But his failure to immediately and totally condemn these yahoos makes him guilty by association, something he and his are quick to proclaim Obama. So no apology. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597/20 "2008-09-14T22:37:51Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Do you think the Obama Waffles is racist? Why? I watched the clip and I don’t see it. Couldn’t the same thing have been done with Kerry? Except he flip-flopped instead of waffled, I guess. Seriously. what makes it racist? (Though I do agree those guys got more than one helping of ignorant.) The Aunt Jobima caricature on the front and I suppose the arab headressed Obama on the back. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-this-is-why-mccain-skipped-the-values-voter-summit/463597.md?page=2)