White guy wins - voters believed he was black
#1
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White guy wins - voters believed he was black
Holy crap, this is funny
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-...ink-hes-black/
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-...ink-hes-black/
If you're a conservative white Republican running for public office in an overwhelmingly African-American area, you'll almost certainly face an uphill climb to victory.
The road might be a bit easier, however, if your campaign advertisements strongly imply that you're black.
That's what happened during a recent race for a seat on the Houston Community College Board of Trustees, when Dave Wilson -- a white, anti-gay activist and former fringe candidate for mayor -- defeated 24-year incumbent Bruce Austin by only 26 votes to claim the win, CBS affiliate KHOU reports.
Wilson, who said he was fed up with "all the shenanigans" within the community college system, circulated campaign flyers featuring smiling African-American faces lifted from the Internet and accompanied by the text "Please vote for our friend and neighbor Dave Wilson."
One campaign flyer said Wilson had been "Endorsed by Ron Wilson" -- an apparent nod to a popular black former state representative by that name. But in a bait and switch, the "Ron Wilson" referred to on the direct mail piece was Wilson's cousin, who just happens to share a name with the former lawmaker.
"He's a nice cousin," Wilson told KHOU, stifling a laugh. "We played baseball in high school together, and he's endorsed me."
His opponent denounced Wilson's tactics as "disgusting" and vowed to seek a recount.
"I don't think it's good for both democracy and the whole concept of fair play," Austin said. "But that was not his intent, apparently."
"He never put out to voters that he was white," Austin added in a statement, according to the Houston Chronicle. "The problem is his picture was not in the League of Voters [pamphlet] or anywhere. This is one of the few times a white guy has pretended to be a black guy and fooled black people."
Austin even circulated his own fliers, lambasting Wilson as a "right wing hate monger," but he ultimately proved unable to halt Wilson's rise.
Despite the razor-thin margin, some wondered whether the election results might have had more to do with the sorry state of Houston's community college system, which has recently come under fire for insider business deals, than a deceptive campaign by one of the candidates.
"I suspect it's more than just race," says Bob Stein, a Rice University political scientist told KHOU. "The Houston Community College was under some criticism for bad performance. And others on the board also had very serious challenges."
The road might be a bit easier, however, if your campaign advertisements strongly imply that you're black.
That's what happened during a recent race for a seat on the Houston Community College Board of Trustees, when Dave Wilson -- a white, anti-gay activist and former fringe candidate for mayor -- defeated 24-year incumbent Bruce Austin by only 26 votes to claim the win, CBS affiliate KHOU reports.
Wilson, who said he was fed up with "all the shenanigans" within the community college system, circulated campaign flyers featuring smiling African-American faces lifted from the Internet and accompanied by the text "Please vote for our friend and neighbor Dave Wilson."
One campaign flyer said Wilson had been "Endorsed by Ron Wilson" -- an apparent nod to a popular black former state representative by that name. But in a bait and switch, the "Ron Wilson" referred to on the direct mail piece was Wilson's cousin, who just happens to share a name with the former lawmaker.
"He's a nice cousin," Wilson told KHOU, stifling a laugh. "We played baseball in high school together, and he's endorsed me."
His opponent denounced Wilson's tactics as "disgusting" and vowed to seek a recount.
"I don't think it's good for both democracy and the whole concept of fair play," Austin said. "But that was not his intent, apparently."
"He never put out to voters that he was white," Austin added in a statement, according to the Houston Chronicle. "The problem is his picture was not in the League of Voters [pamphlet] or anywhere. This is one of the few times a white guy has pretended to be a black guy and fooled black people."
Austin even circulated his own fliers, lambasting Wilson as a "right wing hate monger," but he ultimately proved unable to halt Wilson's rise.
Despite the razor-thin margin, some wondered whether the election results might have had more to do with the sorry state of Houston's community college system, which has recently come under fire for insider business deals, than a deceptive campaign by one of the candidates.
"I suspect it's more than just race," says Bob Stein, a Rice University political scientist told KHOU. "The Houston Community College was under some criticism for bad performance. And others on the board also had very serious challenges."
#4
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
#5
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black
"He never put out to voters that he was white," Austin added in a statement, according to the Houston Chronicle.
#7
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black
I don't think it's good for both democracy and the whole concept of fair play
#8
#9
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black
I think the only thing that comes close to "unfair play" territory would be "Endorsed by Ron Wilson."
But by going that route, he was taking a big chance that the "real" Ron Wilson would never find out that someone was using his name and respond by actively campaigning for the other guy.
But by going that route, he was taking a big chance that the "real" Ron Wilson would never find out that someone was using his name and respond by actively campaigning for the other guy.
#10
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black

#11
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black
I think the only thing that comes close to "unfair play" territory would be "Endorsed by Ron Wilson."
But by going that route, he was taking a big chance that the "real" Ron Wilson would never find out that someone was using his name and respond by actively campaigning for the other guy.
But by going that route, he was taking a big chance that the "real" Ron Wilson would never find out that someone was using his name and respond by actively campaigning for the other guy.
#12
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black
So, we need a white male who can pass as a black hispanic woman to run next time around
#14
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black
If a candidate is willing to misrepresent the color of their skin to get elected, then how is that different from how every other candidate misrepresents their stands on issues?
#15
#16
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black
If I'm running for office and I want to appeal to female voters and I use a bunch of stock photos of women in my campaign materials and I don't explicitly state to the voters that I am not a woman, am I misrepresenting my gender?
Should anybody with a first name like Alex, Casey, Chris, Hunter, Jamie, Logan, Mackenzie, Madison, Morgan, Pat, Peyton, Sam, Shannon, Taylor, Tracy, etc, have to explicitly state their gender in all campaign ads?
#18
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black
The flier clearly said that voting for Wilson could lead to impotence, blindness, loss of body hair, cirrhosis, growth of extra toes, diarrhea, hardening of the arteries (and softening of the testicles), sagging pectoral muscles in females, memory loss, and change in gender or racial identity. Also 'void where prohibited by law'.
They also didn't mention that Wilson considered registering under his newly-adopted nickname, "LaDavius".
The nerve of some candidates...fooling helpless voters who have pondered for many hours comparing the relative skin color...er, qualifications...of the candidates.
Represent!
Last edited by creekdipper; 11-11-13 at 01:55 PM.
#19
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black
#22
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black
Never underestimate the stupidity of the voting public. I have always thought that a good thing for democracy would be for voters to be required to fill out a, let's say, 10-question quiz of basic contemporary news knowledge along with their ballots. Fail the quiz, vote not counted. Isn't it a good thing to have only at-least-moderately informed folks, whether they be on the left or right, deciding our future? Knowledge is vital to a properly functioning democracy.
#23
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black
Never underestimate the stupidity of the voting public. I have always thought that a good thing for democracy would be for voters to be required to fill out a, let's say, 10-question quiz of basic contemporary news knowledge along with their ballots. Fail the quiz, vote not counted.
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Re: White guy wins - voters believed he was black
So now republicans aren't even pretending they're the better candidate and are bragging that they "tricked" people into voting for them?
#25