Jason Riley, a Wall Street Journal columnist, criticized Obama and his “overt racial appeals” at a Maryland event where he spoke for Anthony Brown and attendees began to leave during his speech.
With the midterm elections just two weeks away, it was seen as an attempt to turn out the black vote.
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According to Riley, it was a slap in the face.
“What has [Obama and his party] done for blacks?”
“Why should blacks be enthusiastic about getting out to the polls to keep the president’s party in power?”
Riley expanded on that idea by noting the conditions blacks have seen since Obama took office.
“On another level, why should blacks be eager to run to the polls to support the Senate Democrats and Harry Reid? What have they done for blacks?
“Black unemployment is higher. Black labor participation rates are the lowest they’ve been in 30 years. Black poverty is going up. Why should blacks be enthusiastic about getting out to the polls to keep the president’s party in power? But to have a president out there pushing this racial angle–we’ve had stories in both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal to this effect–I think is very troubling.”
Riley also pointed out,
“It’s not just a red state, Democrat problem–that’s what is so remarkable about the Maryland footage. That’s a deep blue state that Obama won by 26 points in 2012. It’s quite remarkable. But what’s also remarkable to me is the reaction to this by the White House, which is to make overt racial appeals to get out the base. We have a president of the United States and an attorney general making overt racial appeals to voters. I find that very disturbing.”
“The voter ID stuff that they’ve been talking about constantly as if there’s some sort of Republican conspiracy out there to deny blacks the franchise. It’s just not true. Black voter turnout in 2012 was higher than white voter turnout in 2012,” Riley explained.