Another major theme on the call was that hatred of Obama is not centered around race -- the focus groups were given an open, relaxed environment to discuss what they thought, and this never came up. I asked whether race might be there as an undercurrent, taking shape in other forms such as birtherism, but even here the hosts shied away from it.
Greenberg said that while there were certainly some individuals who used racial epithets, it wasn't a motivating force overall. "I'm not saying people don't have racial attitudes, but in these discussions they didn't slip into a racial discussion," said Greenberg. "They had very explicit discussions about being accused of racism, and the one thing they gave Obama credence for was saying it's not racism."
Now, this study was conducted by, among others, James Carville and Stan Greenberg. Like them or hate them, neither one of these guys is stupid, naive, or blind. Yet, upon what else is the deep-seated loathing for everything President Obama does, or proposes, or whatever accolades he receives overseas based? Since the dominant cry at the heart of all the tea-party crap, all the 9/12 protests, all the right-wing screeching about socialism and Nazism and "Obama worship" is, "We want our country back", it seems to me pretty clear what they are saying is, "We want the white face of our national leaders back." The racial - and with it social and cultural as well as political - change in leadership threatens the foundations of the worldview of many conservatives, even those who, as the study leaders suggest, do not have race as a dominant factor in determining their dislike for the President.
The schizophrenia - and I really am not sure there is another word to describe how completely bizarre some of the stuff coming from the right is - on the conservative political side cannot be explained by ideology, because the President is not an ideologue. It can't be explained by media fawning and adulation, because that just hasn't happened. It can't be explained by any reference to actual events, laws, Executive Orders, or any other action on the part of the President, his Administration, or the Democratic leadership in Congress (a very different animal from the Administration). While it is true the loathing of the right for Bill Clinton entered in to weird territory - the whole drug-smuggling through Mena, killing Vince Foster, on and on - there seems to be a change from hysterically stupid and occasionally scary (Clinton) to frighteningly unhinged and dangerously unsettling (under Obama) among the right.
It seems to me the various political labels tossed at the President - socialist, communist, fascist - all hinge not around ideology, but differentness. He is Different even from African-Americans. His father was Kenyan. He has an African name, rather than an Anglo name. He spent time in his childhood overseas. He grew up in Hawaii. All these things suggest that there is something different - not like us - about President Obama. The constant attempt to strip any legitimacy from him, the actions of his Administration, or even now, it seems, his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, are rooted not in any act, or statement, or even general theme of his Administration. Rather, it is rooted in a deep fear of the perceived threat that comes from the implicit social and cultural change inherent in having a President whose skin color happens to be darker than the norm.
Not all the opposition to President Obama is rooted in race, to be sure. Yet, the kind of thing this focus group report talked about, the kind of thing we see on the right day in and day out makes it pretty clear to this observer that the elephant in the room is race. I wonder how it is possible not to see that.
UPDATE: While hardly indicative of the folks in the study group, I think the kind of thing in this indictment make the point pretty clear. Sick, scary stuff, rooted not just in race, but also in a belief that Obama's Presidency is, fundamentally, illegitimate. The stuff about killing his family in front of him - God, that's just awful.
Adding, it is odd they left out the racial epithets, but left the rest of the foul language in.
