If you don’t vote for a black man because you don’t think he is thebest candidate, you are a racist. If, however, the only reasonyou vote for a man is because he’s black, you aren’t a racist but apatriot.
The sign went up Sunday evening, bold black letters against the stark white background of the marquee at the Colony South Hotel & Conference Center in Clinton: “Country First. McCain/Palin.”
By daybreak, pandemonium had broken loose all across heavily Democratic Prince George’s County. Many local supporters of Democrat Barack Obama, jolted by the message as they headed down Branch Avenue on their Monday morning commutes, grabbed cellphones and BlackBerrys to notify friends. Operators of neighborhood e-mail group lists cried foul to their memberships. The NAACP logged calls. Community leaders demanded boycotts of the hotel, a common venue for Democratic events.
The marquee supporting the GOP ticket in “an area that is strongly African American was like putting a stink bomb in the middle of the living room,” said University of Maryland political Professor Ron Walters. “What it does show is the emotions that are around this campaign and this election.”
Colony South General Manager Alan Vahabzadeh said that the hotel, oneof several Washington area businesses that has dared to venture intothe political thicket, got the message after about 100 phone calls andthree dozen e-mails. The sign came down Wednesday afternoon.
“I didn’t even realize it was going to be like this,” he said in aninterview. The last thing “we want to do is lose business,” he added.
But Friday afternoon, motorists noticed new signs — broad bannersattached to wooden stakes in the hotel’s front yard — again toutingthe Republicans.