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'Magic Negro' Flap May Help GOP Pol

RNC members rally against outrage over tasteless satire

By Gabriel Winant, Newser User

Posted Dec 30, 2008 12:33 PM CST

(Newser) – When a conservative politician is called racist, expect a backlash. The fracas over Chip Saltsman’s distribution of the song “Barack the Magic Negro” in his campaign to be Republican National Committee chairman has, as per usual, caused compatriots to flock to his defense, Politico reports, and may actually work to his benefit. Committee members are put off by what they see as feigned outrage. “This is just people looking for something to make an issue of,” says an Alabama committeeman.

Some Saltsman rivals have rebuked him for using the song; incumbent chairman (and competitor for the post) Mike Duncan said he was appalled. But in a party that considers itself under siege already, such criticism may not win friends. “Mike Duncan is a nice guy, but he screwed up big time by pandering to the national press on this,” says one committee member.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (2)]

Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell is a rival of Saltsman for RNC chairman, and would be the first African-American in the post. He declined to condemn Saltsman. (AP Photo/Julie Malakie, File)

Chip Saltsman, left, when he was campaign manager for presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, right, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007, near Osceola, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Incumbent Republican National Committee Mike Duncan at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Monday, Sept. 1, 2008. Duncan has condemned Saltsman's use of the "Magic Negro" song. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

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Unfortunately, there is hypersensitivity in the press regarding matters of race. This is in large measure due to President-Elect Obama being the first African-American elected president. - Ken Blackwell, Saltsman rival and potential first black RNC chairman

There are a lot of things about Chip that would have made a good a RNC chairman, but this has definitely hurt him. - Gary Emineth, North Dakota Republican Party chairman

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'Magic Negro' Flap May Help GOP Pol