September 10, 2012

BarackObama.com: No love for "European and Mediterranean Americans"

A commenter points out that the Democratic Convention's "European and Mediterranean Americans" innovation has yet to percolate to BarackObama.com, where we read:
Groups are made up of supporters
Organizing around the issues they care about 
As a member of a group, you’ll be connected with an online and offline community of people passionate about re-electing President Obama. Pick one (or a few) to join today. 
AFRICAN AMERICANS
ASIAN AMERICANS & PACIFIC ISLANDERS
CATHOLICS
EDUCATORS
ENVIRONMENTALISTS
JEWISH AMERICANS
LATINOS
LGBT AMERICANS
NATIVE AMERICANS
NURSES
PARENTS
PEOPLE OF FAITH
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
RURAL AMERICANS
SENIORS
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
VETERANS & MILITARY FAMILIES
WOMEN
YOUNG AMERICANS

Meanwhile, at MittRomney.com, we find the following list of "Communities:"
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Romney
Black Leadership Council
Catholics for Romney
Energy Voters for Romney
Farmers and Ranchers for Romney
Former Obama Supporters for Romney
Jewish Americans for Romney
Juntos con Romney
Lawyers for Romney
Polish Americans for Romney
Public Safety Professionals for Romney
Romney Voters for Free Enterprise
Veterans and Military Families for Romney
Women for Mitt
Young Americans for Romney 

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obama is great.

Chicago said...

Amerigo Vespucci qualifies as a Med I would suppose. Today, we are all Meds.

Auntie Analogue said...

I say it again:

Divide and rule. Rinse and repeat until dissolved.

Anonymous said...

Romney has "farmers and ranchers", names of actual occupations, where Obama has "rural Americans", which can easily include layabouts.

Anonymous said...

Amerigo Vespucci qualifies as a Med I would suppose. Today, we are all Meds.

I'm not sure if the "Mediterranean" in "European and Mediterranean Americans" is supposed to refer to Italians.

On the one hand, Italians (and other Southern Europeans) are sometimes referred to as "Mediterranean".

On the other hand, Italy is obviously geographically European, and the Democratic staffers who came up with "European and Mediterranean Americans" may have been thinking of people like the Lebanese, not Italians, by the term "Mediterranean".

Naccer said...

See, Truth, there are no "White Supremacists for Romney" or "Poor White Trash for Lining Romney's Pockets with the Fruits of their Labor" in that list. All a figment of your imagination.

Matthew said...

Not only does Obama fail to have a group for "European and Mediterranean Americans" - he also fails to have a group for Protestants, though he has groups for "Catholics" and "Jewish Americans," unless that group for "People of Faith" is - like the DNC's title of its group for white people - a way of getting around directly referencing Protestants as such.

Query: why is the group for Catholics simply called "Catholics," but the group for Jews called "Jewish Americans"? Is this an acknowledgement that Jews are basically more of a poor, powerless race than a religious group?

Anonymous said...

The race that dare not speak its name! (Apologies to Oscar Wilde.)

Juan said...

"Query: why is the group for Catholics simply called "Catholics," but the group for Jews called "Jewish Americans"? Is this an acknowledgement that Jews are basically more of a poor, powerless race than a religious group?"

Because Jews have been hated for so long that the term "Jew" itself is used as an epithet ("filthy Jew", for example. You never hear "filthy Catholic") and is considered rude.

Victor said...

Wouldn't it be awesome if you clicked "Young Americans" and it took you to the Bowie song?

Anonyia said...

Haha...On Romney's why is it all "Group X for Romney, Group X for Romney, then Women for Mitt?

Why not just women for Romney?

Anonymous said...

I think a lot of white Americans are rightly suspicious of the "European American" label. After all, many of us are descended from those who quite consciously distanced themselves from old Europe, whether they came 100 or 400 years ago.

David Duke uses the term "European-American".

He's actually the only person I've seen use the term regularly and consistently.

Anonymous said...

Placing "European" immediately prior to "American" is too radioactive. The "and Mediterranean" provides a safety buffer.

Anonymous said...

"Placing "European" immediately prior to "American" is too radioactive. The "and Mediterranean" provides a safety buffer."

It gives them cover against the charge that they do not represent Americans, while at the same time providing plausible deniability.

An Australian, for example, reading a category like that would think, 'ah, Wogs.'

Luke Lea said...

How about:

Blue Collar workers for Obama/Romney

Two earner families

Factory workers

Unemployed workers

etc.

AllanF said...

What, they couldn't even bring themselves to create a NASCAR Dads for Romney group?

I tell ya, Romney's not looking good for Nov. Like McSame, he doesn't want it bad enough.

Truth said...

"See, Truth, there are no.... "Poor White Trash for Lining Romney's Pockets with the Fruits of their Labor" in that list."

That's not what they call themselves anyway, they call themselves "Isteve bloggers against Obama."

Anonymous said...

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Romney
Jewish Americans for Romney
Polish Americans for Romney


What about Anglo-Americans for Romney?

After all, they do form his core support base. Just saying.

Silver said...

Placing "European" immediately prior to "American" is too radioactive. The "and Mediterranean" provides a safety buffer.

Yes, a bit like "That's gay!...not that there's anything wrong with that."

It gives them cover against the charge that they do not represent Americans, while at the same time providing plausible deniability.

Also, though, it takes racial reality into account by recognizing that "racial units" are not so much individuals as they are "constellations." That's to say that racial identity isn't always decided merely at the individual level, rather it's formed by taking into account who one is related to and how closely. The simple fact is there has been quite substantial mixing between northern Europeans and these "Mediterraneans" we've been hearing so much about such that the attempt to enforce blanket exclusion on the latter is quite likely to alienate large numbers of the former. You can be as racialistic as you like, but I can't see how you're going to escape acknowledging that your relationship with your racial next-of-kin is more subtle, more nuanced, requiring greater finesse, than your relationship with more distant racial others.

guest007 said...

Steve,

Someone has finally admitted that your theories about President Obama are correct.

http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?type=&id=903&fulltext=1&media=

Anonymous said...

The "Juntos con Romney" is a joke, right? I mean, they know that a "juntos" is defined as a small, usually secret group united for a common interest, right?

Anonymous said...

Biggest difference I see is that the Romney bunch doesn't SHOUT when they write their list of supporters.

Matthew said...

"What about Anglo-Americans for Romney?"

No "Anglo-American" worth a damn ever refers to himself as an "Anglo-American" - British-American, Scottish-American, Scots-Irish, or WASP are fine, but never, never, ever "Anglo-American." Anglo is a term Messicans would use, except when it appears in Anglo-Saxon or Anglosphere which, of course, are acceptable.

Whiskey said...

Yeah, David Duke, there's a winner right there. The stunning electoral and cultural success of David Duke just begs to be imitated.

The only group that matters is WOMEN. They are not tied into either party. They are very junior in the spoils parade for Dems, but don't really share in the entrepreneurial options of the Republicans (really, how many women will start the next Facebook?)

Thus they are between, and the strategic electoral AND cultural high ground fought over. Hence "War on Women" and Sandra Fluke as slut-heroine for Women. Which has been effective, Obama's bounce has been his embrace of "Fifty Shades of Grey" domination which women eat up like chocolate ice cream. Women don't really care about the economy if they get their domination.

The only kicker is that Obama's weakness abroad practically begs the Egyptians to say, scale the Embassy and burn the flags in Cairo (which happened today) and maybe take diplomats hostage -- women abhor weakness in a man, and will not forgive it. Obama is personally weak, but his being Black has helped (hence the "Once you Vote Black, you never go Back" slogans/buttons designed to appeal to women).

Romney cannot win women, but if he picks off enough high ground (say 40%) and takes 70% of White men he wins. Simple as that.

Silver said...

The "Juntos con Romney" is a joke, right? I mean, they know that a "juntos" is defined as a small, usually secret group united for a common interest, right?

Juntos just means "together" in Spanish. Perhaps you're thinking of "junta."

Svigor said...

No "Anglo-American" worth a damn ever refers to himself as an "Anglo-American" - British-American, Scottish-American, Scots-Irish, or WASP are fine

No Anglo-Saxon worth a damn refers to himself as a "WASP."

Anonymous said...

They left out:

ROMNEY FAMILY FOR ROMNEY

and

MORMONS FOR ROMNEY.

He might just carry Utah.

Anon.



Temple of the Man said...

"It's about time we officially recognized ethnic Americans, i.e. American Americans, as a real nationality, just the same as Indians, Mexicans and black Americans (who are not really "African" Americans, and they will tell you why if you ask)."

This was the original idea, but having all these disparate groups is a way the dems split up and reunite through various 'who, whom?' schemes to get votes and power, and the groups are rewarded, for now anyway, with various handouts they never had to work for. Neither the various minority groups nor the dems proper will ever go along with it.

In addition, the blacks I've talked to about the tag 'African American' have tended to support the idea of calling blacks 'African Americans' even when you point out the absurdity of applying that term when they have never even been to Africa before.

Anyway, jokes on them. The dems and minority groups are screwing up the US so badly at this point, compared to how great it was when real whites controlled it and when we referred to ourselves as 'Americans'... let them all call themselves XXXX-Americans. I'll stick with 'Caucasian' or 'White' at this point. All the baggage of the f'd-up modern state of America rightfully belongs in their title.

Matthew said...

"No Anglo-Saxon worth a damn refers to himself as a 'WASP.'"

Oh Svigor, quite a few Anglo-Saxons worth a damn - plus myself - refer to ourselves as such.

The friend who taught me the term in high school is quite brilliant, and extremely successful, and has always called himself a WASP. He is an uber-WASP - Mayflower descendant and all that.