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While GOP candidates stammer Clinton directly confronts race - The Washington Post
The massacre last week at a church in Charleston, S.C., opened a leadership opportunity for the nearly two dozen politicians running to be the next president.
But few stepped forward to seize it.
The Republican hopefuls mostly stammered and stumbled in response to the shootings. At first, some resisted calling the massacre racially motivated, only to reverse course when it became obvious it was.
Most stopped short of calling for South Carolina leaders to remove the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the state capitol in Columbia. Some, like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, declined to comment at all. Only after South Carolina’s Republican governor, Nikki Haley, emotionally declared Monday that the flag should come down did most GOP candidates join the chorus.
Some also lacked sensitivity. Sen. Ted Cruz joked Friday — less than two days after the slayings — that in his home state of Texas, gun control means “hitting what you aim at.” The next day, he campaigned at a shooting range.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, by contrast, has forcefully initiated a conversation about race and bigotry in recent days. At this moment of national trauma, the Republican candidates seemed as though they didn’t know what to say.
“This is a leadership opportunity for candidates to show the kind of moral clarity and risk-taking leadership it will take to lead the free world,” said Russell D. Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. “I think that candidates who are skittish are demonstrating that they’re not aware of where the country is right now.”
Clinton gave an impassioned speech about persistent racism to the U.S. Conference of Mayors on Saturday...
...For Republicans especially, rising to the occasion has proved difficult. The candidates have been balancing the political imperative to present a welcoming face to minority and moderate voters with hesitancy to turn off conservative white voters who see the Confederate flag as a representation of their family heritage and Southern traditions.
The result has been timid, measured responses. It is telling that the most unambiguous Republican statement came from a non-candidate; 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney tweeted Sunday, “Take down the #ConfederateFlag at the SC Capitol.”
There is more at the link. Also interesting to note is that this op-ed was written by not just one, but rather, two individuals:
Philip Rucker
Philip Rucker - The Washington Post
Phil Rucker promoted at Washington Post - POLITICO.com
-and-
Ann Gearan
Anne Gearan - The Washington Post
AP veteran Anne Gearan joins the Washington Post JIMROMENESKO.COM
Two journalists with long resumes, a hell of a lot of credentials and a lot of experience. They are no wilting daisies, to be sure.
Discuss: are the GOP candidates showing lack of leadership in the wake of the massacre in Charleston, SC? Did Hillary Clinton seize the moment?