Today racism reared its ugly head in a town next door to me, Nixa, Missouri. The Republican Party HQ for Christian County made the racist so-called "Obama Bucks" available.
More below...
NIXA, Mo. -- Early in the day on Thursday, a flyer that was available at the Republican Party headquarters in Christian County contained Barack Obama's picture on a fake $100 bill with the words "socialist," "food stamps," communist symbols, and the misspelled phrase, "In Ahla We Trust." Reaction was mixed from people we talked to outside the office. One man said he agreed with some of the claims on the flyer. Another man who said he was a Republican said he was against such negative advertising.
The flyer asserts that Obama is a Muslim. That's an accusation that has swirled around his entire campaign. Obama has repeatedly said he's a Christian, but some remain suspicious.
The Missouri Democratic Party called this a distraction and a false attack. Ed Merritt, chair of the Christian County Republican Central Committee, said he is aware of the flyers and that a voter had asked to leave them at the office and he agreed. Merritt now says that was a poor decision on his part, and he has removed the flyers.
A little background on this area and me. My wife and I are volunteers for the Obama campaign in SW Missouri. Nixa is a suburb of Springfield, which is the third largest city in Missouri and near the country music tourist mecca Branson. But the Springfield area is very important. McCaskill went to Washington because enough folks from this area voted for her. Kansas City and St. Louis pretty reliably vote Dem, but the rural vote offsets that, leaving the greater Springfield area to make the difference. Springfield is a college town, which brings with it something of a liberal influence.
The volunteer staff here has been working on the belief that we make or break Missouri for Obama. My wife and I have been canvassing neighborhoods, phone banking, marching in parades, helping open offices, and will be shuttling voters to the polls on Tuesday. And so far, the race has been pretty clean here. Until now, and it makes me sick, although I'm not surprised.
The contact information for the Christian County Republican Party is:
Marvin Merritt 1455 N. 14th St Ozark, MO 65721 (417) 581-7813
Acquired from The Missouri Republican Party