Unabashed Racist Wins GOP Primary in Tenn
 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...nics_candidate
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - An unabashed racist will represent the Republican party in the November election for a congressional seat after a write-in candidate failed to derail his effort.


AP Photo



With 86 percent of the primary vote counted Thursday, write-in candidate Dennis Bertrand had just 1,554 votes compared to 7,671, or 83 percent, for James L. Hart, a believer in the discredited, phony science of eugenics.


In November, the GOP candidate will oppose Rep. John Tanner (news, bio, voting record), a Democrat who has represented the northwest Tennessee district for 15 years.


Hart, 60, vows if elected to work toward keeping "less favored races" from reproducing or immigrating to the United States. In campaign literature, Hart contends that "poverty genes" threaten to turn the United States into "one big Detroit."


"I didn't expect to win," Hart said. "I thought their network would beat my ideas."


He has run for the 8th District seat before and drawn little attention. But people began to notice this time because he was the only Republican on the ballot.


Since the deadline for getting on the ballot had passed, Bertrand, also a Republican, began a write-in campaign, saying he wanted to protect the party's honor.


"I think his beliefs are not beliefs of any party that I know of," Bertrand said Thursday night. "I knew it was going to be a really long shot, but in good conscience, I had to at least give it an attempt."


Bertrand, a financial analyst and former military officer, was on active duty with the National Guard when the deadline to get on the primary ballot passed.


Hart said he will have lots of time to campaign for the general election since he was forced Wednesday to resign from his job as a real estate salesman because of the attention he drew during the primary.


"They didn't say 'You're fired' in exactly those words, but it was pretty clear what they wanted," Hart said.


While campaigning, Hart sometimes wears a protective vest and carries a .40-caliber pistol, but he said he has run into no trouble.


"When I knock on a door and say white children deserve the same rights as everybody else, the enthusiastic response is truly amazing," he said.


If a black person opens the door, he says he simply drops off campaign literature and leaves.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

He'll go the way of David Duke.

Ain't no way he wins. If he does, it'll say something very sad about the people of Tennessee. The only reason I can think of that explains how he won the primary is that he ran unopposed.

He must have been a former Democrat or something...probably still is.

-Rudey

Wow.


and what about Detroit?:confused:

What about Detroit? Huh?

No way he wins that election...too many reasonable people to get this guy into office.

Although you wouldn't think he'd even get this far.

He won't win the election. The democrat has been in office for like 15+ years, which is why the GOP didn't even try to field a real candidate for the race.

But like I mentioned in the other thread on this, the thing that scares me is that over 7,000 people even voted for him at all. And his views on eugenics have been well publicized in the local media.

Why because Republicans can't do wrong?

Well Democrats in the South tend to still want segregation from what we've heard up here.

-Rudey

This guy won't win, but he will get votes just because of his party. Some people would vote for the devil if he were with the right party. My guess is the only votes he'll get are from closet racists and sraight-ticket voters. Politics have always been a place to covertly express and/or support personal prejudices. As for the straight-ticket voters, they won't add up to anything significant.

Not that I know of but there probably are a few. It is Republicans that tend to get in trouble for racist stuff in the south. Look what happened to Trent Lott.

When David Duke was in the KKK, he was a registered Democrat.

Oy!
 

My sentiments exactly! I have to admit I am not surprised. :rolleyes:

Did he get most of the votes in Pulaski, TN? That is where the KKK started

You're still trying to call that crap racist?

He was just trying to be nice to Strom Thurmand who had a very influential career in politics. I'm not sure it was a smart and well researched statement, but racist?? C'mon..

Lay off of my bro, would ya?

Re: Oy!
 

I thought the KKK was started in Indiana??

Dixiecrats.

-Rudey

Re: Re: Oy!
 

Dubuque, Iowa as an anti-Catholic organization.
(or so I've been told numerous times, I tried to do a google search but couldnt find anything to back that)

Yes but most of them are dead by now. They left the party back in the late 40's and early 50's. They didn't like the parties civil rights stance. Most of the dixiecrats became republicans after the party disbanded. Strom Thurmond is the most famous of the bunch.

Must have been a sad piece of Democrat history ;)

-Rudey

The Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee passed a strongly worded resolution today calling on voters to oppose congressional candidate James Hart. Hart, a candidate in the 8th congressional district, has expressed support for a concept he calls "favored races." The resolution called Hart's views "abhorrent and outrageous" and urged all Republicans and Tennesseans to reject his candidacy.

What that they left the party to create their own party because they are racist, then later became Republicans? I say good riddance. :p ;)

When did it become okay to generalize an entire state? Or party for that matter???

There are as many 'in-the-closet' Democrat racists as there are Republicans. Sad but true, yes. And it's not just a Southern problem guys. Open your eyes.

Larouche is a Democrat from the Midwest that is considered by many in the party to be a racist.

-Rudey

Trent Lott simply expressed his "real" feelings on what he wished would have happened if Senator Thurmand was in power and I'm glad he got the boot for it.

I give him credit for being honest(finally) about his feelings though.

As far as this guy getting on the ballot, I don't know specific Tennesee election laws, but assuming they are similar state-to-state (especially for a federal election):

1. It is nearly impossible to write someone in. You have to write their name, the office you are running for, make a square box, and put an "X" in the square box. Voters mess this up all the time, by putting checkmarks in the box, or putting the office above the name, etc. Many election boards throw these out.

2. If he was the only guy on the ticket, a lot of people voted for him because they saw only one name on the ticket (duh). Election judges are required to let you know if you have under-voted, and while it is your right to do so, not many people do.

3. As a member of a major party, it is easy to get on the ballot. It is not as though any large-scale signature collecting needed to take place. Therefore, it would be pretty easy for him to do so without drawing enough attention that the GOP would field someone against him.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 7, 2004

The Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee passed a strongly worded resolution today calling on voters to oppose congressional candidate James Hart. Hart, a candidate in the 8th congressional district, has expressed support for a concept he calls "favored races." The resolution called Hart's views "abhorrent and outrageous" and urged all Republicans and Tennesseans to reject his candidacy.



# # #

In other words: District 8 Republicans: please vote for the Democrat.

YES, that is my congressional district....it won't be a hard vote to cast! GO DEMS!!

JP

I concur. The fact that Democratic Senator Byrd from West Virginia used to be a KKK member still makes me uneasy. Boston, in the Democratic stronghold of Massachusetts, has a reputation for undercover racism, not to mention the fact that it is HEAVILY segregated.