Even as the Republican Convention in Tampa winds down, instances of highly questionable judgment on the part of its attendees continue to make headlines. According to Think Progress, Pennsylvania delegate Mark Harris and his wife Irene took a trip to Disney's Epcot Center as a part of their trip to Florida, and were shocked and horrified by what they found there.
In a post called "Offended at Epcot" at the couple's blog "Rock Star GOP," Irene Harris wrote, "During our time at Epcot we visited the different countries. It was neat seeing each country and the employees were from that individual country. Then we visited America . . . one would think you would find American employees. We were offended to find a person from Mexico working in America."
Mark Harris apparently complained to Disney personnel, but the blog post was not clear as to whether he spoke to anyone besides the Latino employee, such as a supervisor or customer service representative, or whether he was content to simply snipe at the offending worker. Irene wrote that her husband was "civil, but his point was well made."
Local Republican officials have decried the foofaraw to website, The Daily Item.
“The statements made by Mark and Irene Harris are uninformed and highly offensive,” said Snyder County Commissioner Joe Derk. "The Harrises’ comments show their ignorance as they cast judgment on someone they do not know. They do not speak for our county or party."
As Think Progress notes, this is not the first ugly racist incident to stem from the RNC in Tampa. Earlier this week, an African-America 34-year-old camera operator for CNN had peanuts thrown at her by a pair of older white male delegates who said, "This is how we feed the animals."
In what may be an historic first, support of the Republican candidate by black voters is statistically invisible. According to polls, the Romney/Ryan ticket is pulling in 0 percent of the African-American vote.
Latino voters favor the Democratic ticket this year nearly two-to-one.
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