Overt Racism and Other Ugliness Fail in Nashua's Ward 8

They tried. In Nashua's Ward 8 special NH House election, the Republicans tried everything they could to get that seat back for former House Majority Leader Pete Silva. Pete himself tried, too. It turns out that the voters of Ward 8 weren't impressed with overt racism. Silva commented that it looked like "New Delhi" outside the polls on the day of the primary. That "they'd be coming out of the woodwork" to vote for his opponent, Latha Mangipudi. Silva not only refused to apologize, he ramped it up, decrying "political correctness." 

Last week I wrote:

Silva's refusal to apologize was stupid. By refusing, he's kept this story alive far longer than it needed to be. Unless he thinks he's going to win BECAUSE of those comments, the refusal to apologize is a big tactical error. Someday the NH GOP is going to want the immigrant community's votes. This isn't the way to get 'em. 

I wasn't wrong. 

Pete Silva lost.  And so did the Republican Party, BECAUSE they tried everything. The racist commentary wasn't all they tried.

Somegopone put out ugly fliers: Nashua Patch.

Racism and fliers weren't all though. From the Nashua Telegraph:

A few rumblings of controversy were heard on Election Day at Ward 8, when at least two voters took issue with being videotaped inside the polling place at Bicentennial Elementary School.

Karen Thoman, who tended a small video camera mounted on a tabletop tripod behind where the ballot clerks were seated, said, “One called me a Nazi.”

It’s all perfectly legal and permissible, Thoman said, producing paperwork as confirmation. “The only restriction is I don’t record children. That’s easy, because there’s no school today,” she said.

Anderson, the ward moderator, said Thoman had the OK because she got written permission from city clerk Paul Bergeron, who ran it by state officials early Tuesday.

Outside the school, GOP city committee member Ed Stebbins indicated the video camera idea was supported by the committee, but Thoman said she wasn’t part of an organized initiative.

“I’m not working for anyone; it’s just a project I wanted to do on my own,” said Thoman, who is currently the secretary of the GOP city committee.

She said the only other person involved was her husband, who spelled her from time to time. Her reason for recording voters, Thoman said, was “to see the process, that’s all.”

Apparently the Republicans decided to attempt to intimidate the brown skinned voters of Ward 8 with a video camera. Who were the "state officials" that approved this nasty bit of business? If anyone thinks that Thoman was doing this on her own, I've got a bridge in New Delhi for sale. 

That Pesky Political Correctness

It's 10 days till the special election for the NH House in Nashua. As I've pointed out, there has been some controversy surrounding remarks made by candidate Pete Silva. He said that on the day of the primary election "I thought I was in New Delhi." His opponent is Latha Mangipudi, who is of Indian descent. His further comment about how Indian voters would be "coming out of the woodwork" to vote for Mangipudi seemed, to many, to carry the unappealing aroma of racism. Silva, and the NH GOP have been quite aggrieved since the story aired, bemoaning "political correctness." 

It has been my experience that people who complain bitterly about political correctness are people who miss the good old days of racial/ethnic, homophobic, or misogynistic slurs. Back when a broad was a broad, a fag was a fag, and a nigger, a kike, or a spic knew their place. Forgive me if I don't miss those days. Feel free to call me a bleeding heart - I just don't think we need to speak to each other with that kind of contempt and disrespect. 

In the Nashua Patch, Silva offers up some unrepentant attempts at justification:

"I'm standing by what I said, because people are turning it into something it isn't. If there had been a huge turnout of Italian voters, and someone said, 'It looks like Little Italy,' I wouldn't have a problem with that.

How generous. He might, however, have a problem if someone said "look at all the dagos, greaseballs, guineas, and wops crawling out of the Sicilian woodwork." I'm betting his disgust with political correctness might be tested by the use of ethnic slurs that apply to HIS background. 

Those words show contempt and a lack of respect. The same kind he displayed when speaking of Ms. Mangipudi and the voters in her district. 

His comments are inexcusable. 

There were 50 to 60 people there who heard what I said. I was a Majority Leader – I know how to speak in a group of people, and I wasn't trying to be guarded, because what I said was harmless," Silva said.

Silva was the House Majority Leader under former Speaker O'Brien. He was part of the O'Brien leadership team.  That alone should instill some fear into the voters of Nashua. That he thinks he knows how to speak in front of a group of people is certainly worrisome. Silva's refusal to apologize was stupid. By refusing, he's kept this story alive far longer than it needed to be. Unless he thinks he's going to win BECAUSE of those comments, the refusal to apologize is a big tactical error. Someday the NH GOP is going to want the immigrant community's votes. This isn't the way to get 'em.