Don't Back Down, Governor

I'm not referring to Governator Schwarzenegger, who needs no counsel on that score. I'm referring to Governor Robert Ehrlich of Maryland, a Republican (oddly enough for Maryland), whose Lieutenant Governor, Michael Steele, happens to be black. Ehrlich, in the course of defending Steele against the usual "Uncle Tom" charges from black Democrats, pulled a reverse and played the race card against Democrats. Here's some of the story from The Washington Post:

High-ranking Maryland Democrats yesterday denounced Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s remarks this week that the Democratic Party is "racist" in the way it appeals to black voters.

Ehrlich told members of the Maryland delegation to the Republican National Convention in New York on Monday that the "message" conveyed at last month's Democratic National Convention is that "if you have black skin, you have to believe one way. You have to. Or you're a traitor to your race."

Ehrlich's statement was intended as a defense of Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R), an African American who addressed delegates last night.

"That's the message we've seen from a number of conventions," Ehrlich said. "That's why it's important that this lieutenant governor speak to this country. That's racist."...

Precisely. The presumption that the only "good" black is a Democrat black is blatantly racist. It implies that blacks can't think for themselves. And it's sad that some blacks -- partisan Democrats all -- live up to the stereotype of blacks as "Uncle Toms" to the Democrat Party's condescending white, liberal "massahs".