Name calling among politicians and their supporters and opponents is nothing new.
The level of the venom, however, often is much higher when an underlying hatred based on race is at work. So when incumbent President George W. Bush made fun of opponent Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) for “flip-flopping” positions on the war in Iraq, it was considered funny, and even clever, when Bush supporters brought flip-flops to rallies and waved them in the air.
Ultimately, though, it was a campaign between two privileged white men, separated by ideology, but race, ethnicity and religious affiliation were not factors, unlike 2008 when Barack Obama was described as not American, a “secret Muslim,” the N-word and portrayed in emails, on websites, flyers and campaign memorabilia as a chimpanzee.
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