The John Murtha Award for Painting America as
Racist
Winner
“What
do you think the bigger obstacle is for you in becoming president, the
Clinton campaign machine or America’s inherent racism?”
— ABC’s Chris Cuomo to Barack Obama in a December 20, 2007 interview on
Good Morning America. [89 points]
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Runners-up:
“Her
attack was unsubstantiated and carried a racially tinged subtext that
John McCain himself may come to regret....Palin’s words avoid repulsing
voters with overt racism. But is there another subtext for creating the
false image of a black presidential nominee ‘palling around’ with
terrorists while assuring a predominantly white audience that he doesn’t
see their America?”
— Associated Press writer Douglass K. Daniel, October 5. Palin was
referring to Bill Ayers, who is white. [50]
“When
we did our very first interview, and I asked you, I said, ‘Do you think
the country’s ready for a black president?’ You said that you didn’t
think it would hold you back....I know, for a fact, that there are a lot
of people out there, there are a lot of people right here in Elko
[Nevada], who won’t vote for you because you’re black. I mean, there’s
not much you can do. But how do you deal with it?”
— CBS’s Steve Kroft to Senator Barack Obama on 60 Minutes,
September 21. [36]
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“There’s a phrase I wonder about, ‘community organizers.’...Is this the
new ‘welfare queen?’ Is this a new symbol, that we’re talking about
here?...I think what they’re getting is urban, downtown, trouble, tough
neighborhoods. ‘Community organizer’ is not a winning phrase for a place
like Scranton....It seems to me that the use of the word, ‘community
organizer,’ is almost like a bullwhip.... Are they saying that, that
Barack Obama is Al Sharpton? Is that what they’re saying?”
— MSNBC’s Chris Matthews to various guests on Hardball, September
8. [36]
Winner
