Harry's Attitude Is Bigger Problem Than His Words

By now we've all heard the quote. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate majority leader facing a tough reelection campaign, apparently said this about then-candidate Barack Obama:

His candidacy was promising because he was "light-skinned" and didn't speak with a "negro dialect."

Ok. Dumb thing to say to anyone, let alone an author. But everyone says really dumb things now and then, and I think we can all agree that for whatever his faults Harry Reid is no racist. But upon closer examination, his quote reveals a disturbing attitude about his own constituents and the American public in general.

"Light-skinned" as in our nation is too racist and unsophisticated to elected a more darkly colored individual.

And "negro dialect." I don't even know what that is. Does he mean like Dr. Dre or Cornell West or Gus Johnson? I think it is best to leave that one alone.

Back to this nonsense about "light-skinned." This comment reveals an ugly truth about those who spend most of their time inside the Washington beltway or in major cities on either coast. The truth is that there are those who lose touch with real Americans and think they can simply project their own assumptions over everyone and be, of course, correct in those assumptions.

Harry Reid thinks Americans would be too racist to elect Clarence Thomas or most any other prominent African-American in the country.

I'm not really sure why he would think this. Perhaps he is stuck in the mindset of a previous generation. But more likely, Reid subscribes to the all-too-common elitist strain of liberalism that sees regular Americans as too backward, prejudice, and unreliable, and in need of a giant, Washington nanny state to guide them in every direction in life.