Shots in the Dark

4 Responses

• Judith Ryan
  10/30/2008 10:47 pm

  Richard, you’ve pulled this quotation out of context. Chambliss does indeed mention heavy African-American early voting, but the sentence you quote is not in contrast to that. There’s a sentence in between about the Republicans, who, he says, are energized. Thus, when he goes on to say that “it has also got our side energized-they see what is happening,” he’s referring to the tactics the Republicans have been using recently against Obama (calling him a socialist, etc.).

• richardbradley
  10/31/2008 6:02 am

  Judith, I’m not so sure that’s true. Here’s the full paragraph from the Times:

  < >

  It seems pretty clear that when he says “They see what is happening,” and refers to “our side,” he’s talking about white Republican voters being energized by the sight of black voters voting early.

  On a side note, he has that line about “there has always been a rush to the polls by African-Americans early,” which I actually don’t think is true. (Any voting experts out there?) After all, the difference this time is turnout and timing, suggesting that there *hasn’t* always been a rush to the polls by African-American voters.

  I’m not offended by Chambliss speaking bluntly about voting patterns. But I do think he suggests that his base of conservative whites is energized because they are alarmed by the sight of blacks voting in large numbers.

  Which may be true….

  A final note: Saxby Chambliss is the senator who defeated Max Cleland, a Vietnam vet and double amputee (war wounds), by running an ad suggesting that Cleland wasn’t patriotic. So I don’t tend to give him the benefit of the doubt.

• richardbradley
  10/31/2008 6:03 am

  Whoops—let me try that paragraph again.

  —The development is not lost on Mr. Chambliss. “There has always been a rush to the polls by African-Americans early,” he said at the square in Covington, a quick stop on a bus tour as the campaign entered its final week. He predicted the crowds of early voters would motivate Republicans to turn out. “It has also got our side energized, they see what is happening,” he said.—

• Judith Ryan
  10/31/2008 12:36 pm

  Maybe I was being too kind, but don’t forget that we’re trying to interpret not the full conversation that Chambliss had with the reporter, but the way the reporter arranged the material, including the direct quotations from Chambliss. Perhaps all I mean to say is that it may not make sense to read too much into this either way.

Leave a Reply