First term Congressional Republican Lynn Jenkins looking for a ‘great white hope’
Jack Johnson used to hear about 'Great White Hopes,' too.
I was going to say that I hope the story detailed below is the last step in our racial summer. But let’s face it, as long as President Obama lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, every season of the year will be racial – Racial Autumn, Racial Winter, and Racial Spring. Many of the forces that oppose the president’s policy agenda just can’t help but engage the basest racist instincts of some of their constituents.
A freshman House Republican, Rep. Lynn Jenkins, said at a town hall that she hoped one of three House Republicans could be the GOP’s ‘great white hope’ in 2012:
Jenkins told people at the Hiawatha forum the nation could benefit from inspired leadership of a group of “really sharp” young Republicans in the House, particularly Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va. Cantor was mentioned as a possible GOP vice presidential candidate in 2008 and is thought to be interested in seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2012.
“Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope,” Jenkins said to the crowd. “I suggest to any of you who are concerned about that, who are Republican, there are some great young Republican minds in Washington.”
A videotape of the presentation contains footage of Jenkins identifying three members of the U.S. House — Cantor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. — as future movers and shakers in the GOP. All are white, as is Jenkins.
“So don’t, you know, lose faith if you are a conservative,” Jenkins said in Hiawatha.
Louisiana’s Governor Bobby Jindal must feel so left out!
Jenkins is already backpedaling as fast as she can, CJOnline adds:
Mary Geiger, a spokeswoman for Jenkins, said the reference to a great white hope wasn’t meant to denote a preference by Jenkins for politicians of a particular “race, creed or any background.” Jenkins was expressing faith fellow GOP representatives in the House would be key players in returning Republicans to a leadership role in Washington, Geiger said.
“There may be some misunderstanding there when she talked about the great white hope,” Geiger said. “What she meant by it is they have a bright future. They’re bright lights within the party.”
Yes, there is a misunderstanding Ms. Geiger; ‘great white hopes’ tend not to be people of color!
This isn’t Jenkins’s first brush with good old prairie racism in this racial summer. In July, she attended an event where a Republican candidate for Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, joked around that Obama didn’t have a birth certificate, according to Dave Weigel at the Washington Independent. I don’t see any indications that Rep. Jenkins guffawed out loud at the joke, but apparently she didn’t distance herself from Kobach, either. And when the Kansas City Star gave Rep. Jenkins the chance to explicitly distance herself from the birthers a couple of weeks later, she didn’t deign to respond to their inquiry.
I’m not sure what the problem with Kansas is, but I think we’ve discovered Rep. Jenkins’s problem.
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Another GOP’er showing her “true colors”.
Glad you posted this. When I heard about it, I was surprised that she actually used the term (GWH) openly. This may get her some votes, but will more likely help to ensure her party’s demise.
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