A few days ago, a group of Massachusetts' Republican Senator Scott Brown's prominent campaign aides were caught on camera simulating Indian war whoops as well as doing the Atlanta Braves' tomahawk chop. Mr. Brown is engaged in a super-heated contest with Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren for what had once been Teddy Kennedy's Senate seat until his death in 2010. Senator Brown prevailed in a special election to serve out the remainder of Kennedy's term.
The significance of his aides' offensive and totally unfunny attempt to "play Indian" resulted from the first debate between the two candidates. Mr. Brown initiated the proceedings by questioning Professor Warren's Native American ancestry. After all, he opined, "she doesn't look it". He further accused her of claiming this heritage in order to enhance her chances of being admitted to Harvard --- something she vehemently denied. (There's no official record of her ever having made such a claim).
Scott Brown has made some feeble attempts to disassociate himself from his aides' behavior, but the sense I get is that it may be too late for damage control. Anyway, the embarrassing antics described above remind me of Cosmo Kramer, a regularly featured character in the popular '90s sitcom, Seinfeld.
In one episode, Jerry Seinfeld (who played himself) introduced his friends to his new girlfriend, a Native American. Kramer, a character totally lacking in social graces, reacted by dancing around and yelling war whoops, just like Scott Brown's guys. (Incidentally, I have the distinct impression that Michael Richards, the actor who portrayed Kramer, may have been playing himself as well. A few years back, during a standup comedy gig, he experienced an onstage meltdown, complete with racial slurs targeting some African-Americans in his audience).
Speaking of the unfair portrayal of Native Americans, it seems kinda hard to believe that we still have pro sports teams known as the Redskins, the Braves, and the Indians; the latter features a grinning caricature of a Native American on their uniforms. (And yep, Major League Baseball fans are gonna have to endure the Braves' tomahawk chop at least partway into the post-season).
In any event, at least a couple of other Republican senatorial campaigns appear to be experiencing meltdowns as well. For instance, there's Missouri Republican Congressman Todd Akin's mind-blowing observation regarding anti-pregnancy hormones that kick in whenever a woman is "legitimately raped", whatever that's intended to mean. According to the polls, prospects for incumbent Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill's reelection seem to be looking rosier.
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D. - Wisconsin), who hopes to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Senator Herb Kohl, seems to have experienced an uptick in the polls as well. Her Republican opponent, former Governor Tommy Thompson, stated that if it was appropriate for anyone to trash Medicare and Medicaid, he's the right guy to do it.
Then of course, not to be forgotten, is Master Romney and his trash talk regarding the 47% of households who pay no federal income tax (though the majority do pay other, generally more regressive taxes). Yeah, moochers all! He also made it abundantly clear that he doesn't believe that access to health care is a human right.
Yet despite the missteps catalogued above, there's no room for complacency. Many Republicans seem hell-bent on highjacking this election, however humanly possible. Efforts to combat state-mandated voter suppression statutes seem to be having some success, but when all is said and done, it's still likely that a lot of loyal voters will remain disenfranchised --- especially in Pennsylvania where many of the facilities providing voter IDs are short-staffed.
As for me, I plan to do everything I can to make a dent; even if it's merely a "dentlet". Included will be weekend day trips from my home base in Chicago to Southern Wisconsin for some good old-fashioned, salt-of-the-earth precinct work: door-to-door canvassing.
Onward to November!
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