George W. Bush failed to live up to his promise to be a “uniter and not a divider,” his disastrous decision to invade Iraq, and his economic policies that favor the wealthy have polarized this country like never before.

John McCain and Sarah Palin are doing little to unite this country, in fact they continue the GOP tradition of trying to win elections by pitting one section of America against another.

“As a proud resident of Oakton, Va. , I can tell you that the Democrats have just come in from the District of Columbia and moved in to northern Virginia. And that’s really what you see there. But the rest of the state, real Virginia, if you will, I think will be very responsive to McCain’s message.” — McCain senior adviser, Nancy Pfotenhauer

Pfotenhauer, is a proud resident of the heavily Democratic northern region of Virginia, and I’m a proud resident of Central Virginia, the “real Virginia” according to her. I agree with her that the overwhelmingly Republican residents of Central Virginia are hardworking and patriotic. The county that I live in has less than a one percent Hispanic population, but the fine folks here have made this Latino from San Francisco feel right at home. I’ve visited northern Virginia on many occasions, and I can testify that that region of the state with its large Hispanic population is just as patriotic and hardworking as any other part of the commonwealth.

“Northern Virginia, Arlington and Alexandria are communist country.” — Joe McCain (John McCain’s brother)

When I first heard Joe McCain’s comments a few days ago, I couldn’t believe that someone could be so ignorant as to portray northern Virginia as “communist.” But now we have the spectacle of John McCain making the ludicrous charge that Obama’s economic policies are “socialist.” How low will John McCain sink in a desperate attempt to win the election?

“This is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America.” — Sarah Palin referring to Barack Obama before an overwhelmingly white audience

When Palin uttered this ridiculous comment, it was a none too subliminal reminder that Obama is black. Palin is portraying Obama as a black man who palls around with terrorists and is probably a Muslim. Instead of reaching out to African Americans Palin is writing them off, and playing the race card to appeal to working class whites. Palin is implying that black folks don’t think like whites, they are different, scary and unreliable.

No wonder some yahoos at McCain/Palin rallies scream “terrorist” and “kill him” when Obama’s name is mentioned, Palin and McCain have convinced them that Obama is a Muslim socialist who palls around with terrorists.

“We believe, we believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, pro-America areas of this great nation.” — Sarah Palin

There are no red states and blue states, there is only the UNITED states of America. Our great nation isn’t divided into pro-American and anti-American regions, my birthplace of liberal San Francisco, Ca., is just as pro-American as the small conservative town in Virginia where I now live.

After eight years of the politics of division, it’s time we elect Barack Obama — a statesman who is truly a uniter and not a divider. Obama has run a civil campaign, he transcends race and political parties, and he’s the only one who can bring us together at this critical juncture in our history.

References:

CNN: Palin’s “Palling Around With Terrorists” Claim Is False

More Racism at a Palin Rally in PA

Bill Maher: Sarah Palin is a ‘Category 5′ Moron