Ken Blackwell, via the Hotline:
Blackwell, on how, as RNC chair, he thinks he can convince other people of color that they should be part of the GOP: “One of the things I’ve done is, I’ve criss-crossed the country and I’ve spent a lot of time in the territories, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, as well as Puerto Rico. I think those three territories can help us with African-Americans, Latinos and Asians.”
More: “When we stop looking at a cookie cutter approach here in Washington, DC, and sort of tap the leadership of resources of the party at the grassroots level, that’s when we can develop solutions that respond to the legitimate needs and aspirations of people of all colors. We don’t have to adopt an approach that is color-conscious. We can adopt an approach that has been consistent with Republican legacy, one of being the party for freedom, limited government, and the rule of law.”
Blackwell, on ex-TN GOP Chair Chip Saltsman sending around a CD with the song “Barack the Magic Negro” on it, and whether he thinks it was appropriate, even as a joke: “Well, look, what I know is that this is selective hypersensitivity. The reason I say that is because, when Al Sharpton and others would come into Ohio and call me outside of my name, call me Whitewell instead of Blackwell, because I happen to be a conservative Republican, I didn’t hear this hypersensitivity and concern about that approach. It seems that it’s okay to attack conservatives and call them out of their names and use parody and humor to degrade them, but all of the sudden, Republicans get shot down for parody and humor that a lot of folks … get millions of dollars for.”
CNN’s Chetry: “Well, you called it a bit of hypersensitivity. Let’s just say that you had an opportunity to send a gift to the RNC committee members. Would you have sent out this CD?”
Blackwell: “No, I wouldn’t have. But again, I’m not going to throw Chip under the bus because he sent a CD with 30-odd cuts on it, and one happened to be a parody that was actually geared towards criticizing Al Sharpton’s concern for the fact that Barack Obama was liked by so many people” (CNN, 1/6).