Here We Go Again

Back in July 2005, Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee, gave a speech before the NAACP, where he apologized for previous attempts by the Republican party to play the race card and appeal to racial prejudices, and promised that the Republicans would stop:

"Some Republicans gave up on winning the African American vote, looking the
other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization. I am here
today as the Republican chairman to tell you we were wrong."

Unfortunately, as is all too often the case, Mehlman was lying through his teeth.

You see, Harold Ford Jr., who happens to be African-American, is running a great campaign in Tennessee for Bill Frist's open Senate seat so the RNC has been forced to get down in the muck again, running this ad against Ford. In the ad, a blonde, scantily slad white actress says she met Ford at "the Playboy party" and tells him to call her.

As if that wasn't enough, the RSCC also issued a press release last week concerning, Julia Allison, a former Georgetown University student (who wrote a sex column for the school paper) who Ford dated several years ago.

Here's the release:

For Immediate Release: Monday, October 16, 2006 Contact: Dan Ronayne(202)
675-[redacted]

More Details Of Ford's Fancy Fling

WASHINGTON--The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) issued
the following release after The Commercial Appeal reported more details of
Congressman Harold Ford, Jr.'s previous "nonexclusive courtship" with a
Georgetown University sophomore:

"It's good to hear Congressman Ford's Georgetown University girlfriend's
spring break planning didn't get in the way of his meetings with the President,"
said Dan Ronayne, NRSC Spokesman. "But the least Fancy Ford could have done was call her back after news broke of their relationship. Not providing closure is
distinctly un-fancy."

The woman, who now writes for New York magazine, said that they went on a ski trip together and that was about all. She said Ford was a terrible skier. She even posts some pictures from their ski trip on her blog. She claims that he broke up with her after the press learned of the relationship. (The reference to spring break and the president is from a recent article where she said, "I mean when I'm talking about spring break, he's talking about meeting with the President.") Overall, she seems pretty annoyed that the Republicans are even interested in her. She writes:

Do I know if Ford would be a good Senator or not? Hell, your guess is
as good as mine. But I'd hate to think that a Republican could gain some
advantage because the Dem was a shitty date. I mean, c'mon. REALLY??

If the GOP has to resort to "But He Never Called Julia Back," they're even
more fucked than Keith Olbermann (and I) would like to believe.
I mean, can't they at least allege that he stiffed me on dinner? Didn't
buy me jewelry? Refused to confirm the Wednesday before a Saturday night
date? SOMETHING!?!? Damnit, where's Rove when you need
him??

I don't think that's where they're going with this, Julia.

Did I mention that she also happens to be white?

So much for Mehlman's promise.
- posted by Joshua @ 5:44 PM