But make no mistake. Romney knows how to speak in the forked tongue of racial codes. For those with short memories, he said in 2007 he was “happy’’ to receive the endorsements of the chancellor and dean of Bob Jones University, the school that banned interracial dating until 2000 and teaches that Romney’s own Mormon faith is a cult. Just two months ago, Chancellor Bob Jones III said of President Obama, “I’ve no reason to think he’s a Christian.’’
The codes remain clear in a state where John McCain’s 2000 run was partially done in by rumors that his Bengali adopted child was black and illegitimately fathered by him. In Romney’s first appearance here after his New Hampshire victory, he repeated his line that his campaign against Obama would be about the “soul of America.’’ In a state that has yet to rest the soul of the Confederacy, the biggest applause he received was when he declared: “I want to restore America.’’
Much more notable was his appearance the next morning at a motorcycle dealership in the working-class city of Greer. His script was more tailored and honed. Romney said when he is asked how he is going to cut federal spending, he said he is inspired by Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who happens to be leading the charge on Capitol Hill to slash welfare benefits.
Romney’s patented “soul’’ line took on a more pointed tone when he said, “People came here for hundreds of years seeking opportunity for themselves and for their kids. And they knew that in this, if you will, merit society, in this opportunity society, that by virtue of what education you could get and working hard and taking risks and making great dreams you can accomplish all sorts of extraordinary things. And that’s the history of America.’’
Add to this a comment Romney made on the Iowa trail, saying he was “frightened that we have a president that doesn’t understand America.’’ This echoes Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin who, in the desperate final weeks of the 2008 campaign, inflamed her audience by saying, “I am so fearful that this is not a man who sees America the way that you and I see America.’’
