I first crossed paths with Robert Stacy McCain back in 2006; he had just put out a book and was running around claiming (in 2006!) that the Democrats were more corrupt than Republicans. He managed to book himself as a guest on the Jim Bohannon Show; I was able to call in. You can listen to the audio here. (You should. You really should.)
Anyway, before I had made that call, I had learned a bit about Mr. McCain from my one of my favorite bloggers, Atrios:
So, let’s take a look at the views and not-so-hidden agenda of one of the actual editors of the paper, specifically, assistant national editor Robert Stacy McCain, who has a habit of posting commentary on message boards and elsewhere around the Internet:
"[T]he media now force interracial images into the public mind and a number of perfectly rational people react to these images with an altogether natural revulsion. The white person who does not mind transacting business with a black bank clerk may yet be averse to accepting the clerk as his sister-in-law, and THIS IS NOT RACISM, no matter what Madison Avenue, Hollywood and Washington tell us."
Yes, you read that right: a "natural revulsion" and "THIS IS NOT RACISM."
That was posted by Robert Stacy McCain (who has contributed to New York Press in the past) on a website called Reclaiming the South. The Washington Times editor posts a lot on the right-wing FreeRepublic.com as well, using an assumed name (BurkeCalhounDabney) but often linking back to his personal website, where there are photos of him and the rest of his large family of Seventh Day Adventists (and which identifies him by his real name and as a Washington Times editor). Editor McCain, who hails from Rome, GA, is one of those Confederate types who still hasn’t gotten over the Civil War and is trying to get the South to secede. He’s a member of a Southern secessionist organization called League of the South.
Why all this to-do about the "Other McCain"?
This is why:
That’s Terry McAuliffe with Robert Stacy McCain.
Of course, the McAuliffe campaign, through supporter Lowell Feld, claims that the candidate is all about smiling and charming and having his picture taken with any ol’ schmoe that wanders within range of a viewfinder. And normally, that’d be a really good excuse: inadvertent error, mistake, let’s move on from this...
But let’s look a little deeper at this.
When was this picture taken?
On the evening of this fundraiser. You’ll remember – the one co-hosted by Steve "Let’s take the netroots activism and money and ignore them otherwise" Elmendorf, the Deputy campaign manager of "Joementum" Joe Lieberman’s ridiculous 2003-4 Presidential campaign, and this guy:
Evidently, immediately after this event finished, McAuliffe had another reception at Morton’s Steakhouse – a reception (sit down for this) for minority business owners. That’s where Terry McAuliffe "pal’d" around with the racist.
So far, there is no official word from the McAuliffe campaign. The McAuliffe campaign went through extraordinary machinations to spin away every other so-called smear (otherwise known as accountability data-point) they’ve faced:
Some have accused Terry of raising money from a "Republican lobbying firm." BGR is a bipartisan firm. Terry held a fundraiser at BGR in March. Out of 11 event chairs, 10 were Democrats, including Terry's longtime friend Jonathan Mantz, who has spent his career fighting for Democratic candidates and causes. Mantz was the principal host of the event. Throughout his career in Democratic politics, Terry has built relationships with many people, both Democrat and Republican. This ability to reach across the aisle is part of what will make Terry an effective governor.
They've had nothing to say about this.
You know, I would think that under the circumstances, Terry McAuliffe may personally want to say something about how fucking repugnant he finds Robert Stacy McCain and how immediately upon learning of his close encounter with the fucking racist, he burnt the clothes he was wearing.
Of course, that wouldn’t be very bi-partisan of McAuliffe, so I guess maybe this is just a case of him and I seeing things differently.