MLK Being Cast as a Republican in Ads

Just when you think you've seen every distasteful dirty trick imaginable in an effort to influence voters, here's a real gem.

The National Black Republican Association, a conservative group, has been running ads in DC, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania claiming that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was a Republican.

Frances Rice, chairman of the National Black Republican Association, said "They've called me Aunt Jemima, a sellout, a traitor to my race."

"I absolutely do not regret the ads," said Rice, 62, a native of Atlanta, King's hometown. He "absolutely was a Republican," she insisted. "We were all Republicans in those days. The Democrats were training fire hoses on us, siccing dogs on us."

Obviously, the Republican Party has changed significantly in the past 40-50 years, as has the Democratic Party. Tying King to the present-day Republican Party to influence black voters is sickening.

"To suggest that Martin could identify with a party that affirms preemptive, predatory war, and whose religious partners hint that God affirms war and favors the rich at the expense of the poor, is to revile Martin," said the Rev. Joseph Lowery, the former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which the slain civil rights leader helped establish.

The spot, which ran for a time in the District, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania, will soon run again in those areas, as well as in Miami, Orlando and Tampa, according to Rice.

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R), who is running for the U.S. Senate, denounced the King ad, and Donald E. Scoggins, president of Republicans for Black Empowerment and a former member of the association, said it was a terrible idea.

Black Republicans railed against the radio ads, with the sharpest criticism coming from former members of the black Republican association.

"The vast majority of black Republicans I know would not have approved of the ad," Scoggins said.

Dissatisfaction within the ranks of the National Republican Association has been brewing for awhile. Several members have resigned since last year after disagreements with Frances Rice, notably her support for President Bush in the Katrina aftermath.

What's with her blind allegiance?