Joe Walsh: Country Voted For Obama Because He is Black
Rep. Joe Walsh, R-Ill., has made his fair share of controversial comments, and today is a reminder of his tendency to make news in ordinary settings. Liberal activists are circulating a video of a Sunday town hall meeting in which Walsh says President Obama would have never been elected in 2008 if he wasn't black.
The left-leaning ThinkProgress has clipped the above video and posted it to YouTube. Here's what Walsh says:
"He was a historic figure. He's our first African-American president. The country voted for him because of that. It made us feel good about himself. I've said it before. It helped that John McCain was about 142 years old. It helped that the economy was tanking. A lot of these things helped. But he never would have gotten there without his historic nature."
Walsh is a heavy underdog against Democrat Tammy Duckworth in Illinois's 8th district. His latest comments are especially unwise considering that following redistricting, the 8th gave over 61 percent of the vote to Obama in 2008. Suggesting that the primary reason Obama was elected is his race is likely to anger supporters of Obama's policies and message.
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