Co-chair for Rudy campaign referred to African-Americans as “retarded”

Big headache for Rudy:

Back in May, the New Jersey Republican Party rigged the early February 5th presidential primary for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The Republican Party state chairmen sent on to the state committee a recommendation that the rules be changed to award all delegates to one winner.

As Rudy is leading all others in the polls in New Jersey and is sort-of a ‘favorite son’, this saves Rudy time and money. And a Rudy candidacy would put New Jersey in play in ‘08 for the Republicans, who lost the state in ’92, ’96, ’00, and ’04.

In a very racially diverse state such as New Jersey, this could be a good thing for the Republicans nationally and in local races.

But wait, there’s more: The state chairmen may wish to rescind their vote --- a co-chair for Rudy campaign referred to African-Americans as “retarded”. Yes, really ---- “retarded”.

Arthur Ravenel Jr., a former U.S. congressman [January 3, 1987-January 1995] is the new co-chair of the Rudy campaign in South Carolina. According to the DNC, Ravenel has a long history of making insensitive, racist comments toward blacks, comments that Ravenel has dismissed as mere "slips."

Some of his “slips” include:

• He called the NAACP the "National Association for Retarded People" twice in 2001, first at a pro-Confederate flag rally at the Statehouse and then, according to The Post and Courier, "repeated the offending remark during an interview outside the Senate chamber with four print reporters, three of whom had tape recorders running."

Ravenel apologized only to people with mental and physical disabilities, saying "No apologies to the NAACP or the national NAACP." Speaking to a New York Times reporter, Ravenel said "they [the NAACP] are the enemy."

• As a member of Congress, he referred a white committee chairman who was late to a meeting as "operating on black time".

• Speaking in 1993 to the Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC), the country's largest white nationalist organization—which, according to The Post and Courier, opposes "all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called affirmative action".

Is this the kind of leadership New Jersey Republicans ---one of the most racially diverse states in the nation ---would be willing to support for President?

I sure hope not. Not even New Jersey Republicans can be that insensitive.

Thus far, no apologies have been forthcoming from Rudy.