Cokie Roberts says Romney's Poland trip meant to excite 'ethnic white voters'

Brett T. | 9:22 PM on July 30, 2012

If the American news media have worked to convince us of anything, it’s that Republicans are racist. Scratch the surface a little deeper, though, and you might uncover a former Democrat waiting to get out. What other reason could there have been for Mitt Romney to visit Poland on his overseas tour, Cokie Roberts wondered this morning on NPR.

NPR's Cokie Roberts: Romney's trip to Poland was racially motivated. Wow! This Lib Media really has gone off the cliff! #lnyhbt #tcot #gop

— Spiked Politics (@spikedpolitics) July 30, 2012

“You remember well the Reagan Democrats,” Roberts told “Morning Edition’s” Linda Wertheimer. “Those ethnic white voters, who had been Democrats for many years, turned out for Ronald Reagan, and have been fairly predictable Republicans since then.… And I think that getting those ethnic voters excited is really what Romney has in mind here. It’s more for the folks at home — the descendents of the people that he will be speaking to in Poland.”

So what we’re hearing on our taxpayer-funded radio program is that Romney’s visit to Poland — including a visit with Nobel Prize winner and former Polish president Lech Walesa — was an attempt to shore up the white vote by visiting Babcia and Dziadzio in the old country. Really?

"Ummm, Uhhh, Um, Uh – Race Card!" – NPR's Cokie Roberts: Romney Poland Trip Racially Motivated http://t.co/ym7efhuO

— Maggie Acerra (@MagsEast) July 30, 2012

https://twitter.com/yesnicksearcy/status/230037473034641408

@yesnicksearcy She's all worried about how "ethnic white voters" will vote, but she doesn't seem to mind Dems getting 90% of the black vote.

— A.J. Winkelspecht (@ajwink) July 30, 2012