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“Frankly, when you take a look at [General] Colin Powell, you have to wonder whether that’s an endorsement based on issues or whether he’s got a slightly different reason for preferring President [Barack] Obama,” said former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu.

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With these words, Sununu, a campaign surrogate for GOP hopeful Mitt Romney, illuminated the racial demagoguery that conservatives are employing to pander to those blue-collar, White, voters who actually pay attention to the Limbaughs, Becks and Trumps of the world. He also exposed the deceptive, manipulative tactics that Romney’s camp has resorted to — even more than usual — in these last weeks before the November 6th election.

See Sununu’s comments below:

Though General Powell endorsed the president in 2008, and gave lengthy reasons for doing so — both then and now –, apparently because he’s a Black man, he has to have his back, even if his policies would fail the nation. This is the same desperate, regurgitated narrative from ’08 and in an op-ed for CNN, TV One commentator and political analyst, Roland Martin, discusses the inherent, thinly-veiled racism in Sununu’s statement and why neither President Obama nor General Powell will allow it to become a distraction:

Read more below:

Powell is an American hero. He has served as national security adviser, head of the U.S. Army Forces Command, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, secretary of state.

As a distinguished military man who has worked for four U.S. presidents, he has witnessed up close and personal what it takes to be president of the United States and commander in chief. It is ridiculous to assume Powell would be so shallow as to think race is the only determinant for him. The suggestion is beneath him.

So, why did Sununu say it? Because it’s easy to dismiss an accomplished black man who just praised another accomplished black man. By boiling it down to race, it’s easy for others who think such a thing to say, “Oh, that’s it!”

Unfortunately, we see this type of thinking in America all of the time.

This issue will not get a rise out of President Obama or Gen. Colin Powell. They won’t even dignify Sununu and others who think like them. They’ll just keep laughing all the way up the ladder to the next successful step, marveling at the childishness of some whites to reduce black support of another African-American to just the color of their skin and not the content of their character.

Read Roland Martin’s entire op-ed at CNN.com.

See General Powell’s endorsement below: