re: Klansman Robert Byrd (D) run for US Senate vs Klansman David Duke (R) run for LA Governor

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The letter after their names is really all that is different.

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No their politics are very different.

While Byrd was every bit the racist Duke is, he eventually oversaw policies advocated by black leadership. So Byrd and Black Leaders became strange bedfellows. George Wallace and LBJ were both malignant racists. Both make my skin crawl. But they too successfully manipulated politics to cover their core beliefs. David Duke does just the opposite.

Now, one can argue economic and social positions similar to those which Duke promotes could actually serve to break a legacy of intergenerational indigence caused by LBJ's War on Poverty. But you cannot make that argument successfully if you are DavidKKKDuke.

The other issue is internal. Many of us who aren't leftists find the racism inherent in identity politics to be repugnant. So whereas most corners of the Democrat Party will overlook racism if the right palms are greased, and politically correct policies promoted, often non-democrats are not nearly so forgiving.

The irony may be thick, but it's why Duke is hurt so much more by his background than was Byrd.