Racism? In GW's America?

In "The Wilder Effect", The Daily Standard comments on Bobby Jindal's defeat in the Louisiana gubernatorial race:

Why did Jindal lose after leading his Democratic opponent, Kathleen Blanco, in statewide polls in the weeks before the election? In a word, race. What occurred was the "Wilder effect," named after the black Virginia governor elected in 1989. Wilder, a Democrat, polled well, then won narrowly. Many white voters, it turned out, said they intended to vote for a black candidate when they really didn't. Questioned by pollsters, they were leery of being seen as racially prejudiced.

From a Republican perspective, pretty much everything was right about Jindal... except his skin color. The U.S. Indian population was very excited about this campaign, and Jindal received support and contributions from around the nation - even from loyal Democrats who, while opposed to his political philosophies, were excited at the prospect of finally gaining some level of electoral prominence.

There's a lesson here for both the Republicans and the Democrats.

The Republicans need to get over themselves, and purge themselves of their racist roots - even if it means paying a short-term price at the ballot box. It truly appears that, despite nominating a brilliant and accomplished candidate with the full support of the national party, they were hoist by their own "southern strategy". I don't want to overstate this - Jindal was selected, nominated, and came close to being elected as a Republican. It's a minority of the party that remains obsessed with racial issues. Call it my bias, but I think that's a minority that both of the major parties should leave to wacko third party candidates.

The Democrats need to stop taking their loyal supporters so much for granted that they feel it necessary to ignore their political beliefs and vote or contribute to another party's candidate. Did they learn anything from Nader's polling in the 2000 race? Because I am not so sure that a Republican of any ethnicity with Bobby Jindal's stellar qualifications would fare so poorly against a Democrat in some of the states the Dems presently seem to take for granted.

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