Some Democrats are distancing themselves from a comment made by their party chair, Howard Dean, that the GOP is “pretty much a white, Christian party.”
“It was divisive and wrong and I hope he apologizes for it,” Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., told the Washington Times.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson called Dean's comments “ill-advised” and Dick Harpootlian, former South Carolina Democratic chairman, told the Associated Press, “That's not the way you distinguish someone's politics. It forces us to distance ourselves from him.”
In response to a question regarding a study showing that women and minorities were dissatisfied with the GOP, Dean told a conference of California journalists June 6 that the study made sense given the demographics of the Republican faithful.
“You know, the Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people. They're a pretty monolithic party. Pretty much, they all behave the same, and they all look the same. … It's pretty much a white Christian party,” said Dean, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
Ken Mehlman, chair of the Republican National Committee, told the AP that, as a Jew, he didn't fit the description given by Dean.
“A lot of folks who attended my bar mitzvah would be surprised,” Mehlman quipped.
Religion News Service