In any event, the area is considered one of the most politically "progressive" parts of the country, which is basically just code for "blue states (and a District with no Congressional voting rights)". The area would also like to consider itself among the most racially progressive, and for the most part I'd agree. Of course, my sample size is small. I've spent half my life here, and the other half in North Carolina. So yeah, the results might be a bit skewed.
In any event, Maryland is very quietly on the verge of making possible political history next month, as Anthony Brown is the odds-on favorite to become just the 3rd elected black Governor in US history. It's a race few people care about, and in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1, it's somewhat of a forgone conclusion. But don't tell that to Brown's Republican competitor, Larry Hogan, who is running one of the most sneakily racist commercials I've seen in ages.
Watch this and tell me if you caught it...
"Has Brown earned a promotion?"
Come on, you can't tell me that's not on some low-key, infamous Jesse Helms/Harvey Gantt "Hands" ad sh*t. Kick rocks, Larry Hogan.
A bit to the South, there's a similarly sneaky racebaiting incident in the District, where two uninspiring mayoral candidates (no, Marion Barry isn't still the mayor!) are duking it out.
Independent candidate David A. Catania has gone to some lengths during his mayoral campaign to paint Democratic nominee Muriel E. Bowser as untrustworthy and in thrall to powerful supporters.Catania had a puncher's chance of actually upsetting Bowser, who has all the charisma of a half-smoke, but this is probably the final nail for him. And yeah, that sh*t is racist. Had Bowser sent out a "Queer As Folk" ad about Catania, who is gay, she'd be dead wrong. So yeah, Catania's dead wrong. And like Hogan, he's gonna lose.
Most of that has surrounded the saga of the Park Southern Apartments, the deteriorating Ward 8 complex briefly managed by a prominent Bowser backer who explored purchasing the property in a questionable transaction that city officials have characterized as a sweetheart deal. Catania has slammed Bowser for not using her council committee to investigate and otherwise “greasing the wheels” for Jones.
Now Catania has opened another front, sending out a mail piece that notes the fact that a prominent ex-adviser of Bowser’s is embroiled in other corruption allegations. The mailer, which started landing in mailboxes over the weekend, has a “Scandal” theme — as in the Shonda Rhimes-produced, Kerry Washington-starring, Thursday-nights-on-ABC phenomenon.
Meanwhile, the “Scandal” mailer has gotten a good run not only in mailboxes but on social media, where it has stirred up considerable reaction — including from the Bowser campaign.
Question: Are these two political attack ads "racist" or merely "racial"?
