Jennifer Delany, the wife of recently resigned New Jersey state Assemblyman Pat Delany, may or may not be a racist. But Bill Layton, the Republican Party chairman for Burlington County, N.J., thinks she is. “Former Assemblyman Pat Delany’s wife inexplicably sent an offensive and racist email in response to a routine email from Carl Lewis’ campaign,” Layton said, according to an Associated Press news story about the incident. “Her actions were inexcusable.”
Here, according to the story, is what Jennifer Delany said. “Imagine having dark skin and name recognition and the nerve to think that equaled knowing something about politics.”
In the interest of complete disclosure, Pat Delany wasn’t too happy with the wife’s comments either. (Boy, will they have a lot to talk about around the dinner table.)
According to Layton, as quoted in the AP story, “Pat Delany decided to leave office to shield his three children from ‘a hurtful and embarrassing public spectacle involving their mother.'”
Pat Delany, according to the story, issued a statement containing the quote, “On behalf of my family, we sincerely apologize to Mr. Lewis for any pain this caused him.”
Now that the obligatory mea culpas are over with, let’s cut to the bone of what Jennifer Delany really meant with her email. (But I’ll add this caveat: if Carl Lewis, who’s running as a Democrat for the New Jersey state Senate, were a conservative Republican, Jennifer Delany would be all for the man.)
Wasn’t Jennifer Delany really referring to what happened three years ago, when a plurality of American voters cast their ballots for a guy running for president who had dark skin, name recognition, gave a great speech but had no other qualifications whatsoever to be president of the United States?
She hasn’t commented, but I suspect she was. As I said, Jennifer Delany may or may not be a racist. But I definitely know who are the racists.
Any person who cast his or her ballot for then-Sen. Barack Obama for president in 2008, knowing full well they would never have considered voting for a white guy with the same qualifications, is a racist.
A white guy with Obama’s credentials wouldn’t have won the Iowa caucus. He would have won nary a primary. He certainly wouldn’t have received the endorsement of former talk show mega-mogul Oprah Winfrey, which really jump-started Obama’s campaign.
A white guy running for president with Obama’s credentials would have been dead and buried, politically, early in the presidential campaign. What did Obama have going for him other than dark skin, name recognition (with Winfrey’s eager assistance) and the ability to give a great speech?
The answer is: absolutely nothing. He had absolutely zero experience in the executive branch of government and was only in the U.S. Senate for a little over two years when he announced his decision to run for president of the United States.
So when Carl Lewis runs for the New Jersey state Senate, Jennifer Delany’s reaction — crudely stated, I must concede — becomes perfectly understandable.
Does Lewis bring anything to his state Senate race other than his dark skin — which proved in 2008 to be an asset, not a liability in a political race — his name recognition and his nine Olympic gold medals?
It wasn’t Jennifer Delany who put this question on the table; it was those who voted for Obama because of his race and little else who put it there.
If Jennifer Delany is a racist for bringing it up, why aren’t those who voted for Obama because of his race brought to account for their racism?
Examiner Columnist Gregory Kane is a Pulitzer-nominated news and opinion journalist who has covered people and politics from Baltimore to the Sudan.
