Racial Twist for Republican Campaign

Over the course of the weekend, a story broke about a camp in Texas where Rick Perry and his father have leased land and hunted. As we know, if you are a Republican running for President, anything you have ever done over the course of your life will be put under the microscope, along with whom you may have done it with and where the events occurred. If you are a Democrat who served on boards with and had campaign events hosted by a guy who blew up a building or two, that may not be an issue for you. If however, you are a Conservative that hunted on some land that some people have attached a racist name to? Yea, stand by for some problems. So while the firestorm that is coming from the left is to be expected, I was a bit surprised that Herman Cain decided to jump on board and bottom-feed on this issue. First, the controversy.

The campaign of Gov. Rick Perry of Texas found itself on the defensive Sunday over a report that he had hunted at and brought guests to a West Texas camp with a racially charged name that his father, and later Perry, had leased.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that at least seven people it interviewed said the name for a portion of the property, Niggerhead, was visible on the rock at the entrance "at different points in the 1980s and 1990s," and that a former worker said he believed he had seen it as recently as three years ago.
The Perry campaign did not dispute that the racial slur was used as a name for the property. But it issued a statement saying the name was changed soon after Perry's father joined a lease that gave him hunting rights there almost 30 years ago.
The latest flare-up injected the issue of race into the Republican nominating fight, with one of Perry's opponents, Herman Cain, who is black, seizing on the issue Sunday, saying there "isn't a more vile, negative word than the N-word."

While I would agree with Herman Cain's statement about how vile and negative that word is, I can't help but notice a little bit of hypocrisy here. This statement, after all, is coming from the man who ran a chain of pizza places with the name and slogan "Godfathers Pizza: A pizza you can't refuse".

I can understand the sensitivities of the name at the camp, but it's not like Rick Perry or his father named it that. It's not like they ran the place and kept the name on it. In fact, the statement from Perry's campaign indicates that the name was changed shortly after the family leased it. On the other hand, Herman Cain was the head of Godfathers Pizza, a chain which openly exploits a negative stereotype against Italian Americans both in the name and in their marketing approach. This comes from the "About The Boss" page on the Godfathers website.

Besides great-tasting pizza, we've got somethin' else that those other wiseguys don't. The Godfather. Not only does The Godfather make sure our pizzas are made just the way you like 'em, but he also adds an element of fun that the whole mob can enjoy.
As da boss, The Godfather makes frequent appearances at a variety of restaurant openings and special community events. Check with the management team of your local Godfather's Pizza to find out if he'll be in your neighborhood soon.

Now frankly, I couldn't care less about Godfather's Pizza and what they do or say on their website. I'm sure it is offensive to some, but I personally have some pretty thick skin over here. It just seems to me from where I sit that what Herman Cain is doing might be a little bit of a case of the pot calling the kettle... well, you know.