On his show tonight, Lawrence O’Donnell brought up the GOP’s “Southern strategy” and wondered if part of this strategy was “an appeal to racism and racist voting.” And this led O’Donnell to ask if the Mitt Romney campaign deliberately wanted to get booed by an audience of African-Americans in order to appeal to racist voters. Guest Goldie Taylor told O’Donnell that his assessment was on the mark. 
 
 RELATED: Bill O’Reilly And Marc Lamont-Hill Clash Over Fallout From Romney’s NAACP Speech 
 
 Taylor said that Romney didn’t go to the NAACP because he wanted to engage with the black community, but he wanted to make a show for small factions of the GOP base. She argued that if Romney was really there to appeal to the NAACP, he would have repudiated voter ID laws, which Eric Holder likened to a “poll tax.” 
 
 She said Romney can’t just appeal to the dissatisfactions of African-Americans to get them to vote for him, he needs to walk the walk. 
 
 Watch the video below, courtesy of MSNBC: 
 
 Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is hinting that all those boos toward Mitt Romney on Wednesday at the NAACP convention may have been exactly what the former governor was counting on. 
 
 
 
 “I think it was a calculated move on his part to get booed at the NAACP convention,” Pelosi said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday. She did not elaborate further during the three-minute interview clip provided by Bloomberg. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Mitt to NAACP: In my heart, I'm the candidate for you) 
 
 
 
 Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, faced a chorus of boos as he vowed before the crowd in Houston to repeal the health care law, the signature domestic policy achievement of President Barack Obama. The law's constitutionality was upheld by the Supreme Court last month. 
 
 
 
 Back in Washington, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus wasn’t all too pleased either with Romney’s comments on health care, either. 
 
 
 
 “I felt terrible when the booing started, but I also believe that if he’s got any African-Americans in and around his campaign – which I don’t know; if he does, I don’t know any of them -- if he has staff members who vetted that speech or inserted some of the things that I heard, they should be fired," Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) told a handful of reporters. “I mean, how in the world would you stand up in front of the NAACP and say that you oppose Obamacare?” 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: NAACP whacks Romney hours after speech) 
 
 
 
 But Cleaver at least gave Romney an “A” for effort. 
 
 
 
 “You know, they call the members of the NAACP African-Americans and the last word is Americans,” Cleaver said. “So they deserve to hear what the presidential candidates are going to say even if they are Republican. And so I give him an A for that.” 
 
 Read more about: Nancy Pelosi, Mitt Romney, NAACP ||||| Romney Addresses the NAALCP 
 
 RUSH: Romney showed up today at the NAALCP convention, and Snerdley came in here, “Oh, yeah, he did great. He was great.” And Karen Finney, this real locoweed commentator over at MSNBC, “Well, you gotta give Romney credit for showing up, for being willing to go.” Is that right? We’ve gotten to the point where he gets credit for going? I mean say what you want about the NAALCP, they’re still human beings, they’re Americans. Credit for going? Every presidential candidate goes to the NAALCP. McCain went, didn’t he? Bush went, didn’t he? Name for me one that didn’t. (interruption) Oh, Obama hasn’t gone? (laughing) 
 
 At any rate, here’s what Karen Finney said, “It’s more about your actions than it is about what you say.” That’s a crock. Not with that group. It’s totally about what you say. Obama has devastated the black community in this country economically, literally devastated them. It’s totally what you say. Not your actions. But remind me again here, folks, ’cause before Romney showed up at the NAALCP, we had Fox on, and Alan Colmes was on there… I was gonna say something, but I’m gonna dial it back. Alan Colmes was saying that Romney doesn’t care about people. He doesn’t care about the poor. He doesn’t care about black people. He doesn’t care. He’s totally out of touch. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about people in poverty. He doesn’t care about people that are suffering and hurting. He doesn’t care. 
 
 Now, remind me again, why is being successful as a direct result of your own hard work and education, a negative? Why is being successful tantamount to being out of touch? In this country, in the American media, the American left, being successful is out of touch. And that’s a problem. Being successful is out of touch? Being successful means you don’t know what people are going through. Being successful means you don’t know about suffering? Being successful means you don’t know about the unsuccessful? Look, FDR and the Kennedys were hereditary millionaires, lucky sperm club. They just had to grow up. John Kerry, the haughty John Kerry, who served in Vietnam, married into his fortune. It’s his wife that owns the houses. His wife even owns his windsurfing board. He doesn’t even have enough money to buy that. His wife probably owns the Spandex that he wears when he’s out on the windsurfing board. 
 
 The Kennedys, FDR, grew into it, lucky sperm club. Romney, however, is out of touch and doesn’t care. Why? ‘Cause he worked in the private sector, because he played by the rules, because he’s got some bank accounts in the Cayman Islands. Well, so does Debbie “Blabbermouth” Schultz, as it turns out. In fact, even the US government has foreign investment in all of these places where Romney supposedly has money. Romney helped grow small businesses. Romney helped grow companies. He built ’em into powerhouses. They ended up hiring a lot of people. He risked his own money. Looks like he raised a pretty wonderful family. Found time to rescue the winter Olympics from financial ruin. And he doesn’t care about people and he doesn’t know about suffering, and if he ever learned about suffering, he wouldn’t care about it. 
 
 How convoluted are these people? How is what Romney has done out of touch? And John Kerry and the Kennedys and FDR, why, they know everything. They’re the biggest hearts, big compassion. It seems to me that Romney has been a hands-on leader. I realize we’ve taken a lot of calls in the past on the program, when I talk about Romney in a positive way, a lot of you people get mad. I can’t help it. I mean, the facts are the facts. Romney has many and varied successes. They’ve been a direct result of being hands-on. He has worked and he’s worked very hard. And yet he’s out of touch. 
 
 
 
 Now, Romney spoke at the NAALCP. Does anybody know if they required a photo ID to get in to Romney’s speech? ‘Cause Eric Holder went to the NAALCP yesterday. They required a photo ID. I am not kidding. (interruption) You didn’t know that? They required a photo ID at the NAALCP yesterday to get in to see Eric Holder, while he’s making a speech promising the members of the NAALCP that there will not be photo IDs to vote in Texas. It ain’t gonna happen. ‘Cause it’s a poll tax, ain’t gonna happen. But they required a photo ID to get in to see Eric Holder. I wonder if Holder brought the New Black Panther Party along with him, put ’em outside the venue and checked the photo IDs of the media as they were coming in. 
 
 Let’s listen to a little bit of Romney at the NAALCP, because Snerdley came in, thought he did great. I’ll play the sound bites and you tell me what you think. He got booed, but Snerdley thinks he deserves a lot of credit because even after he got booed he kept coming back and he didn’t buckle. So we have four little quick bites here. Here’s number one. Mitt Romney, NAALCP in Houston. 
 
 ROMNEY: I believe that if you understood who I truly am in my heart, and if it were possible to fully communicate what I believe is in the real enduring best interests of American African-American families, you would vote for me for president. Now, of course you know the opposition charges that I and people in my party are running for office to help the rich. Nonsense. The rich will do just fine, whether I’m elected or not. The president wants to make this campaign about blaming the rich, and I want to make this a campaign about helping the middle class in America. (applause) 
 
 RUSH: You can barely hear the applause. You can barely hear the applause. I watched a little bit of this and I felt like I was in a mortuary. I felt like I was in a funeral home watching this. Tepid applause talking about lifting the middle class. To heck with the rich. The rich are gonna be rich no matter who’s elected and the rich are gonna be fine no matter who’s here, which is true. You’ll hear later, Carville is out on Fox this morning, huge discussion on whether I was right in terms of the economy being a major factor in the campaign, as Romney’s using it. And after that discussion we’ve got some sound bites of Carville saying it’s no longer the economy. He’s not talking about me. He said class warfare is the new tactic that will work for Obama. That’s what he says. 
 
 Carville and Greenberg, polling data, class warfare, that’s what’s gonna work. You know Carville and Greenberg want Obama to stay away from touting the economy. Stop talking about this economic recovery you got going, dude, there isn’t any. Nobody’s gonna buy it. Instead they want him now to start talking about class envy. (interruption) You snicker? Here is Romney talking about the rich are gonna be cool no matter what. That’s not what these people want to hear. These people want to hear, “I am gonna put the rich in jail.” He woulda gotten a standing O. “I’m gonna put the rich in jail, I’m gonna jail myself, and then I’m gonna give everything I take from myself and the rich to the middle class.” That woulda gotten a standing O with this group. Okay, here’s the next bite. 
 
 ROMNEY: As you may have heard from my opponent, I’m also a believer in the free enterprise system. I believe it can bring change where so many well meaning government programs have failed. I’ve never heard anyone look around an impoverished neighborhood and say, “You know, there’s just too much free enterprise around here. Too many shops. Too many jobs. Too many people putting money in the bank.” What you hear, of course, is, “How do we bring in jobs? How do we make good, honest employers want to move in?” 
 
 RUSH: No. 
 
 ROMNEY: Stay in. 
 
 RUSH: Not anymore. 
 
 ROMNEY: And with the shape the economy’s in today, we’re asking that question more and more. 
 
 RUSH: No, we’re not. 
 
 ROMNEY: Free enterprise. Free enterprise is still the greatest force for upward mobility, economic security, and the expansion of the middle class. 
 
 RUSH: Not to this group. That’s not what they want to hear. This group wants to hear about tax increases and bigger government to take care of people. They don’t want to hear about self-reliance; they don’t want to hear about free enterprise. Free enterprise means you’ve gotta do it yourself. Free enterprise means it’s up to you. Free enterprise means you’re on your own. This group doesn’t want to hear that. I don’t think Romney got a single vote in here today. 
 
 I will tell you that he didn’t get a single vote. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if he gets a single vote outta here or not. Well, look, I’m not playing these sound bites to criticize Romney. That’s not my point here. The audience is gonna do that for me. The callers will criticize Romney for me. I am not trying to do that. (sigh) But, anyway, “I never heard anybody look around an impoverished neighborhood and say, ‘You know, there’s just too much free enterprise here.'” 
 
 They do! 
 
 The shop owners, the business owners are guilty to this group! 
 
 It’s unfair they should own a business that charges a profit. (interruption) Well, you can smirk all you want. It’s where we are in our culture today. They do see too many businesses; they do see too many successful people. Those people have somehow cheated, lied, and stolen from other people to get what they’ve got — and then they’re earning a profit. Walmart’s an enemy, for crying out loud! They ought to be giving it all away, and then those people ought to be in jail after Romney puts the rich in jail. (interruption) 
 
 Who do I think shops at Walmart? 
 
 
 
 The NAALCP thinks it ought to be free at Walmart — or at cost, at least, at Walmart. Look, in Romney’s time at Bain Capital, he helped save or start over 150 companies. Staples. Burger King. You think any of those companies ever hired a black person? Do you think they did? I wonder what woulda happened if Romney woulda told ’em that? Boos? Accuse him of racism, tokenism? What woulda happened? How come Romney doesn’t pick up a black accent when he goes in there and talks to the NAALCP? 
 
 That’s what Obama does. Obama brings out the Selma twang when he heads in there to the NAALCP. And Hillary. (impression) “I ain’t no ways tiiiired.” Then they stand up and they give Hillary a cheer, and Obama says things like (impression), “Well, my grandfather came down here with the po’.” They scream, “Right on, dude!” And they stand up for a standing ovation! Romney goes in there today, and he sounded like Snow White with Testicles. That’s not what this bunch wants to hear. Here’s the next bite. 
 
 ROMNEY: I’m gonna eliminate every nonessential expensive program I can find. That includes Obamacare, and I’m gonna work to reform and save — 
 
 AUDIENCE: (boos and grumbling) 
 
 RUSH: We didn’t edit that. That was 15 seconds of boos. That’s a short bite. What did Romney say? He said, “I’m gonna eliminate every nonessential expensive program I can, and that includes Obamacare, and I’m gonna work to reform…” Booooo! So what are these people telling us? They want to pay taxes higher than ever. They want to pay penalties if they don’t have health insurance. They want the health care system to deteriorate into something that’s worse than it could possibly be. 
 
 That’s what these people are telling us they want. (interruption) Look… Okay, give ’em the benefit of the doubt. They don’t know what’s in it. They don’t care what’s in it. All they know is it’s Obama’s plan, and here comes Snow White with Testicles in there ripping it to shreds, and so they’re booing him. Is that it? (interruption) Okay. Well, somebody needs to tell ’em after they boo, “Oh, so you want to pay a penalty for not having health insurance? Oh, so you want your taxes to be higher than they’ve ever been just to have health insurance? Is that what you want?” 
 
 Here’s the last Romney bite before the NAALCP today in Houston. 
 
 ROMNEY: My agenda is not to put in place a series of policies that get me a lot of attention and applause. My policy will be, number one: Create jobs for the American people. I do not have a hidden agenda. 
 
 AUDIENCE: (smattering of applause) 
 
 ROMNEY: And I submit to you this. If you want a president who will make things better in the African-American community, you are looking at him. 
 
 AUDIENCE: (boos and applause) 
 
 ROMNEY: You take a look. 
 
 RUSH: Hey, Romney told ’em what they unemployment rate was in the black community. What is it, almost 14%? Yeah, it’s either 13.9% or 14%. It’s way high. He didn’t use a number, but he said black unemployment is higher than anybody else’s. It’s higher than Hispanic unemployment, higher than the general unemployment rate. Okay, it’s 14%. So he told ’em: Under Barack Obama, black unemployment is skyrocketing with no end in sight. He tells them that he’s gonna end it, and they boo! Now, by the way, this Snow White business, that’s not me. I’m projecting. I’m saying that’s how he’s viewed inside the NAALCP convention. Remember the context. Hillary goes in there (impression), “I ain’t no ways tiiiired. And Obama goes in and drops some Selma lingo on ’em. And Romney goes in there and sounds like white bread. That’s all I was saying. 
 
 BREAK TRANSCRIPT 
 
 RUSH: Okay, here you go. Here’s a tweet that went out from a Democrat operative on Twitter after Romney showed up at the NAALCP convention. Here’s the tweet: “Rich white man booed at NAACP for saying he wants to take away healthcare from 30M people and replace it with a $5M tax cut for himself.” To these people, that is what repealing Obamacare is. Repealing Obamacare, to the American left, is denying free health care to 30 million people while you give yourself a tax cut and hold onto your own health care. 
 
 That’s what it is, and that’s what the Democrats are spreading. 
 
 That’s what they say Romney wants to do: Take health care away from 30 million people. Now, I would love to see somebody poll the conventioneers at the NAALCP and find out how many of them realize that they’re not getting free health care under Obamacare. That, in fact, they’re gonna be fined for not buying health insurance. I wonder how many of them know. It’s anecdotal, and I have a lot of rich and powerful friends that owned and own businesses, and they told me. 
 
 They have told me that many of their employees, after the Supreme Court decision, came up to them and said, “Is my health care free now?” I have no clue, I have no idea what the majority of Americans think, but I can tell you what the left thinks. The left thinks Obamacare is free health care for themselves and the 30 million who are uninsured. And they also believe that the people who want to repeal it don’t want people to have free health care. They don’t want people to have what they’ve got. That’s why they don’t like the poor. That’s why they don’t care about the poor. 
 
 This is whole meme. It’s total BS, but this is what the Democrat Party is spreading. Now, what do I think Romney was really doing here in this speech today? I don’t think he was speaking to that audience. That’s why I kinda got a little short with Snerdley. I think Romney used the forum. He knew there’s media there. I think he used the forum to try to take the occasion here to spread his own message about the economy and everything else he’s trying to accomplish in his campaign. I think he used this event as an opportunity, rather than to speak to these people directly as his primary purpose. 
 
 BREAK TRANSCRIPT 
 
 RUSH: I kind of glossed over this in the early portion of the program. Do you find it interesting that, of the two presidential candidates, Romney is the one who went to the NAALCP? Obama’s not going. It’s not that he hasn’t been yet. I don’t think Obama’s going. Obama, he doesn’t want to go to the NAALCP precisely because the black unemployment rate’s 14%, precisely because, if the truth be known, they feel let down. If the truth be known, African-Americans, especially at the leadership levels like the NAALCP, think Obama has abandoned them. There hasn’t been one fulfillment of any dream they had. 
 
 I want you to put yourself in their position, with what they think about life in this country since the founding, including slavery, all of that stuff, affirmative action, discrimination, left and right, you name it. First black president is elected. You know that they had dreams and aspirations. They thought a whole bunch of getting even with ’em out there was gonna be happening. They thought a whole bunch of wrongs were gonna be fixed. They thought — well, who knows specifically, but you know they had high expectations for Obama, and not one of them has been met. The people that wanted a new kitchen, don’t have it. The people that wanted a new car, don’t have it. The people that wanted jobs, don’t have it. And so Obama’s not showing up. Romney did. 
 
 Romney knows, get 3% of the black vote and you throw this election into a tizzy. Get 5% of the black vote, and Obama loses. So he shows up today. Obama doesn’t show up anywhere, other than before an audience of college kids or union people. That’s it. You won’t see Obama at the NAALCP. He’s gonna send Biden, tell some sex jokes, or whatever else Biden’s gonna end up gaffing. But Obama’s getting nowhere near it. Now, Romney did and will. Romney will speak to venues like the NAALCP. He’ll go into enemy territory. Obama will not. And who’s the president of the United States and who’s the candidate? Obama’s the Preezy. Jimmy Fallon: “Obama’s the Preezy of the United States.” And he doesn’t dare show up. 
 
 He’s confident they’ll boo Romney, simply ’cause Romney’s white. He’s confident of that. But he knows that he’s gonna have hell to pay in private meetings with these people. He’s not gonna get anywhere near it. So what an insult. Here’s Obama sending Biden, not going himself. On the campaign trail, talking about how great his economy is, how great the recovery is, how much better it’s gonna be, and how much he’s gonna be doing for people. So Romney takes advantage of the occasion. He goes there and makes a speech that is, really, I think over these people’s heads, in the sense that his audience was much larger than just inside the convention hall. He’s got the media there, and here’s an opportunity for Romney to be himself, tell everybody what he stands for, what he believes, what he wants to do, what his problems are. It doesn’t matter if he gets booed. 
 
 By the way, he got a standing O at the end of it. After all of that he did get a standing ovation at the end of his speech at the NAALCP. I don’t know how many news media will report that. But I think it’s an insult to send Biden to the NAALCP, first black president, election year, can’t show up to your convention? Behind closed doors, I’m telling you, and this is Democrat cloakrooms all across the country, there’s panic, there’s fear, and they know that they are in trouble.
– Mitt Romney got booed during his speech to the NAACP yesterday, but many observers on the left are saying that's just what he wanted, reports Politico. "I think it was a calculated move on his part to get booed at the NAACP convention," said Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi would not elaborate, but Lawrence O'Donnell did, wondering if the speech was "an appeal to racism and racist voting," notes Mediaite. Rush Limbaugh, unsurprisingly, said the audience booed Romney simply because he's white. "Romney goes in there today, and he sounded like Snow White with Testicles," said Limbaugh, claiming people in the NAACP don't understand ObamaCare. But Rep. Emanuel Cleaver had a more measured interpretation of the booing, saying Romney just sold his message poorly. "I felt terrible when the booing started, but I also believe that if he's got any African-Americans in and around his campaign—which I don’t know; if he does, I don’t know any of them—if he has staff members who vetted that speech or inserted some of the things that I heard, they should be fired," said Cleaver.