It’s one thing for an editorialist to opine that a particular campaign ad is racist. It’s quite another for front line, so called “objective” reporters to state it as a fact. But that is exactly what reporters did in the case of the Republican ad on the immigrant caravan.
Who came down from the mountain and casted reporters in the role of determining what qualifies as racist? Not only did liberal leaning NBC ban the ad from its airwaves, but, remarkably, so did Fox. Why?
The ad featured video of the courtroom outburst of a heinous illegal alien gang member, Luis Bracamontes, who lashed out his regret that he couldn’t kill more cops than he was already on trial for. He had been previously deported, but easily re-entered through the border thereafter.
“Dangerous illegal criminals like cop-killer Luis Bracamontes don’t care about our laws,” the ad said. It further claimed that Democrats let him in and Democrats let him stay. The final on screen message: “Stop the caravan. Vote Republican.”
The mainstream media’s politically correct police pounced on the ad on two fronts.
First, it was claimed to be deceptive because Bracamontes re-entered the nation during tenure of George W. Bush. On this point, the critics have some validity. No Democratic official took any direct action to grease this villain’s slipping into our nation. But it would be fair to say our nation’s lax enforcement of our borders indeed led to his entry. And while chamber of commerce Republicans disgracefully joined Democrats in looking the other way, as millions of illegal aliens migrated here over the decades, more recently, it has been Republicans seeking to tighten the borders, while Democrats are calling for the abolition of ICE and defending sanctuary cities. Any attempts to close the loopholes in the laws related to unaccompanied minors or asylum are being thwarted by the Democrats and the liberal judges they appointed. The second in command of the Democratic National Committee marches in parades sporting a T-shirt declaring his support for open borders.
It is fair to say that the Democratic Party is, at best, lax on enforcing our immigration laws, and, at worst, is promoting open borders, hoping it continues to shift formerly red states into the purple electorates. Republicans have every right to raise these issues on the campaign trail. If there is a distinction between the two parties, why can’t those distinctions be accentuated in campaign ads?
No, Bracamontes was not ushered into the states by Democratic official, but Democrats supporting sanctuary cities are indeed impeding efforts to have him deported. Kate's Law, which would impose mandatory jail time for any criminal alien seeking illegal re-entry was stymied by Democratic votes. It’s fair game to call Democrats out on their extreme position on the issue.
Secondly, the critics claim the ad is racist. But they never actually say what’s racist about it. Is it that the killer was Hispanic or did the media read into the ad that if this Hispanic immigrant was a murderer, then it could be assumed all Hispanic immigrants are as well?
Media outlets were quick to compare it to the Willie Horton ad of the Bush 41 campaign. The ad featured a photo of Horton, an African American convicted murderer, who had been granted a weekend furlough as part then Governor Michael Dukakis’ liberal program. While on release, he raped a woman.
As a then Democrat and Dukakis supporter, I didn’t see it as racist; rather, I saw it as quite effective. And unfortunately, quite true.
Dukakis liked bragging about the fact that he was a card carrying member the ACLU. Well, if you are going to enact insanely dangerous policies to suck up to the hard left, then you have to be willing to deal with the political fallout.
The ad’s backlash from the liberal mainstream media was so intense, it even guilted the ad’s producer, Lee Atwater, the king of negative ad operatives, to eventually apologize for its creation. He shouldn’t have. Atwater was lambasted for seeking to instill fear in the voter, but why was that out of bounds when there was good reason to fear having convicted murders out on furlough? How could it be racist to simply state in an ad the factually accurate account that a woman was raped by a murderer released onto our streets by Dukakis’ program?
Likewise, why would it be considered racist to play a clip of an illegal alien boasting about killing cops and thereafter correctly noting that Democrats are making it easier, through their sanctuary city policies, for him to stay here. The fact that he is Hispanic is incidental. Claiming the ad shouldn’t be aired because he’s Hispanic is ...well...racist.
If Democrats are going to support dangerous open border policies so they can maximize votes via their identity politics strategies, then they must be forced to deal with the negative consequences when being called out on it.
Steve Levy, former New York state assemblyman, Suffolk County executive, and candidate for governor, is now a distinguished political pundit. Levy's commentary has been published in such media outlets as Washington Times, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Albany Times, Long Island Business News, and City & State Magazine. He hosted “The Steve Levy Radio Show" on Long Island News Radio, and is a frequent guest on high profile television and radio outlets. Few on the political scene possess Levy’s diverse background. He’s been both a legislator and executive, and served on both the state and local levels — as both a Democrat and Republican. Levy published Bias in the Media, an analysis of his own experience, after switching parties, with the media's leftward slant. Levy is currently Executive Director of the Center for Cost Effective Government, a fiscally conservative think tank. He is also President of Common Sense Strategies, a political consulting firm. To learn more about his past work and upcoming appearances, visit www.stevelevy.info. To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.
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