Because it’s in dog whistle?
Via Mediaite:
Chris Matthews‘ panel on Wednesday examined the “racialized,” “otherized” messaging coming out of Mitt Romney‘s presidential campaign. They agreed that Romney’s camp has been utilizing questionable themes to attack President Barack Obama and “stoke hatred.” Matthews wondered why so few media outlets were talking about what he and his panelists viewed as the obvious racialization of the election via attacks on Obama for, among other things, allowing states flexibility to redefine welfare’s work requirements.
After playing a montage of clips he viewed as racially-charged attacks on Obama by Romney supporters, Matthews asked MSNBC’s host of NOW, Alex Wagner, why no one talks about the obvious racial undertones employed by Obama’s opponents.
“It’s shameful,” Wagner replied. She cited Denesh D’Souza’s documentary, 2016 – a popular political documentary about Obama’s hypothetical second term. “It is doubling down on an incredibly divisive, ‘racialized ‘otherized’ politics.”
Matthews asked why Romney supporters like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the “meanest” of all of Obama’s critics in Matthews’ opinion, and former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu kept striking what Matthews considered racial themes.
After paying a portion of an ad from the Romney campaign hitting Obama’s administration for “gutting” welfare reform’s work requirements, Matthews noted, “That ad had all white people in it.”
He attacked Romney for saying the changes to welfare by the Obama administration were designed to “shore up his base.” Matthews said he considered that “code for African American Democrats.”