Ron Paul wasn't the only Republican presidential candidate to display his regressive racial politics this weekend; on Friday, while addressing the Georgia Republican Party convention, Newt Gingrich called President Obama "the most successful food stamp president in modern American history":
Gingrich sought to lay blame for the recession, as well as the economic and social upheaval in Detroit, on Obama and his policies. "President Obama is the most successful food stamp president in American history," Gingrich said. "I would like to be the most successful paycheck president in American history."
Even when considered in its full context, this reads as a not-so-subtle attempt to link President Obama to "undeserving" welfare recipients. That said, this wasn't the worst part of Gingrich's address. Later in the speech, Gingrich proposes reviving poll tests:
“You know, folks often talk about immigration. I always say that to become an American citizen, immigrants ought to have to learn American history. [applause] But maybe we should also have a voting standard that says to vote, as a native born American, you should have to learn American history. [applause] You realize how many of our high school graduates because of the decay of the educational system, couldn't pass a citizenship test.”
As Matthew Yglesias points out, these tests were used during the Jim Crow-era to exclude African Americans (and poor whites) from voting. Given the large educational disparities between poor Americans and their higher-income counterparts, the results of a modern-day poll test would be similar, if not the same.
With his many weaknesses, Gingrich will not last long as a presidential candidate, but until he drops out of the contest, this gives us a good outline of what to expect from his campaign: conservative orthodoxy coupled with a large dose of racial resentment.
