What gets me about this whole Trent Lott thing this week is that everyone seems so shocked by it, by his words, and by the fact that he's voted against any and every piece of civil rights legislation throughout his years in Congress. Why is everyone so surprised? Helloooo! Who do you think the right wing of the Republican party is anyway? Who do you think the majority of the Republican party is anyway? How do you think the Republican party got so big, when the reality is the party is anathema to the economic interests of the very poor and rural white folks of the South that it's catering to? It's all about wedge issues, especially playing the race card (coded or blunt, depending on the folks being catered to).

...the fact that racial appeals have played a role in the success of the modern Republican Party is not under debate. It is irrefutable.