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In Tennessee’s 2006 US Senate campaign, the Republican National Committee gave money to a political action committee to create an ad that, once aired, raised allegations of race-baiting. The 30-second ad satirized Harold Ford, Jr.’s supporters and platforms, featuring one white woman who said she met Ford at a Playboy party. “From the black woman who endorses Ford (an African-American candidate) only because of his looks, to the white floozy who ends the ad asking Ford to call her, this RNC-created ad trades on racial stereotypes,” Haney López argues. “Most explosive was the implication that Ford was open to pursuing sexual relations with white women.” The ad was denounced by politicians on both sides of the political spectrum and Bob Corker, Ford’s opponent (and eventual victor), asked that the ad be pulled from the air. |
