really? the repugs really want to highlight their record on race?

Republicans cite Lott in calling for Reid to quit

WASHINGTON – A double standard? Republicans seeking Sen. Harry Reid's resignation as majority leader over racial remarks he made about Barack Obama say yes — that Reid should be held to the same standard as former GOP Sen. Trent Lott, whose own racial gaffes cost him the Senate leadership in 2002.

Democrats say no, that Reid's comments — while unfortunate — were nothing like Lott's.

Reid apologized to Obama and a handful of black political leaders after a new book reported that he was favorably impressed by Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign and, in a private conversation, described the Illinois senator as a "light-skinned" African-American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."
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Lott had cheered the 1948 presidential campaign of Strom Thurmond — a segregationist Democrat opposing President Harry Truman — during a 100th birthday tribute to Thurmond, by then a longtime Republican senator.

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Yes, Reid's remarks were terribly unfortunate and he was right to apologize for them.

But Lott said that this country would have been better off if we had elected a racist segregationist, he opposed programs for the poor and minorities and he opposed MLK Day! These remarks were from an obvious serial racist, while Reid has been a campion of minorities.

Yes, Reid is a poor public speaker and yes, he should have never said these things and should have apologized, but equating these remarks is beyond absurd.

More from Think Progress:
Right Wing Rallies Around Trent Lott’s Segregationist Remarks To Attack Harry Reid
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And from Crooks and Liars:
GOP Whistling Dixie on Lott-Reid Comparison
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And from Daily Kos:
John Cornyn Says Segregation Is "Innocuous"
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