ABC’s Jake Tapper just posted that the Pastor Wright ad that the NCGOP planned on running won’t run, at least in a large part of the state. The people at those stations are kidding themselves if they think that this stops the so-called controversy. First, let’s identify the stations:

ABC Charlotte affiliate WSOC-TV and CBS Raleigh affiliate WRAL-TV are refusing to air the North Carolina Republican Party TV ad featuring the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, an ad condemned by both the RNC and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

“I just don’t think it’s appropriate to be on our air,” Joe Pomilla, general manager for WSOC-TV, told The Charlotte Observer. “I think it’s offensive, and I’m not real comfortable with the implications around race.”

Mr. Pomilla’s saying that the ad has racial implications is insulting. This ad doesn’t have anything to do with race except with people who think that everything is racial. This has to do with highlighting Sen. Obama’s relationship with extremists. That’s fair game.

There’s another question that begs asking, namely, would they have refused to run this ad if Hillary was making this buy? I suspect that they would. If they would’ve run this ad had it been Hillary’s buy, then isn’t that censorship?

It’s worth questioning Democrats’ objections to the ad based on this statement:

The North Carolina Democratic Party has called the ad racist. Jerry Meek, the chairman of the N.C. Democratic Party, told the Winston-Salem Journal that the ad is attempting to exploit racial bias among white voters.

“It clearly is the case that this is part of the ‘Southern strategy,’” Meek said. “It’s been around for a long time. This is a page directly out of something that Jesse Helms would do.”

What’s funny to me is that this just highlights Obama’s relationship with a racist. Whether the ad runs or not is irrelevant at this point. It’s been shown on TV. pundits have discussed it extensively. That’s before considering that the ad’s bouncing around the internet.

It isn’t that I think the ad is that effective. It isn’t effective for the NC GOP, though I’m betting that it’s put a smile on Hillary’s face. I’m convinced that it’s helping her there.

The biggest thing that I’d be worried about if I were directing the Obama campaign is that I’d worry that the Wright videos has decimated his ability to attract blue collar workers in Pennsylvania and Michigan. That’s where Reagan Democrats came from.

Sen. Obama isn’t the only one worrying about that. I’d bet the proverbial ranch that Howard Dean is drinking Maalox in unprecedented quantities. I’m betting that state party chairs are worried, too. They were hoping for a huge Obama turnout helping them win extra state legislative seats as well as extra House seats for Speaker Pelosi. The bloom is off that rose. People have noticed that Sen. Obama isn’t a great postpartisan healer of all things political.

People see that he’s just another smooth-talking politician.

Technorati Tags: Obama, North Carolina GOP, Censorship, Hillary, Jesse Hlems, Racism, Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean, DNC, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

1. the forests playing for the up across I even are all pretty I assumed called let it go.

   Comment by frogtomgoogl — May 7, 2008 @ 2:57 am