Here's the original thread:

Gingrich accuses Romney ..... of speaking French !

Originally Posted by Johnny Boy

Wow! Now it is perceived as being a negative if you can speak French in US politics!
Newt Gingrich (or should it be Gingrinch?) is now attacking Mitt Romney in an advertising campaign, because he can speak French!!!!Has it really come to this? The ability to speak French is a flaw among Republican voters? The Republican right wing really do seem to be pulling out all the stops to make the USA the most narrow-minded, benighted place in the western world.
Newt Gingrich's attack ad gives Mitt Romney a French dressing-down | Paul Harris | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

The same applied to John Kerry for the Democrates. He is a fluent French speaker but refused to be seen to speak any French throughout his whole campaign. So if there is a flaw it applies to the Democrats too.

Originally Posted by ManOfReason

The same applied to John Kerry for the Democrates. He is a fluent French speaker but refused to be seen to speak any French throughout his whole campaign. So if there is a flaw it applies to the Democrats too.

Errr, that doesn't quite compute. In Kerry's case if he avoided speaking French (during a US Presidential Campaign!!!) it would likely be because he didn't wish to be attacked on the basis of an ignorant prejudice.

Avoiding ignorant attacks is not even an implicit sign that you agree with the prejudice behind them.

Probably any kind of education except a degree from Bob Jones University is viewed with suspicion by large sections of the Republican Party... Anti-intellectualism, hostility to science, infantile xenophobia, religious extremism and general redneck obscurantism would seem to constitute the mainstream. And if you disagree with even one of these points then you're probably a closet Communist.

Newt is really scraping the barrel with this naked appeal to anti-intellectualism. John Kerry was criticised for "looking French"

Nothing new hear.

It isn't so long since The Sun&Co were accusing Nick Clegg of being multilingual, in the run of to Britian's last GE as I recall. Also, being able to speak Irish wouldn't exactly help a Unionist candidate to win votes.

Originally Posted by MacBeth

That looks like a relaible source

You are deluding yourself if you think that this will not be an issue. It is political dynamite. Should be fun in the swing states.
More sources:
Vann and Farrell: Obama administration attacks Catholic religious conscience | Local Voices |...
Convert Journal
Card. Dolan on Pres. Obama?s attack on YOUR freedom of conscience and the 1st Amendment
Robert George on Pres. Obama’s attacks on religious freedom and Catholics | Fr. Z's Blog – What Does The Prayer Really Say?

Originally Posted by Des Quirell

Errr, that doesn't quite compute. In Kerry's case if he avoided speaking French (during a US Presidential Campaign!!!) it would likely be because he didn't wish to be attacked on the basis of an ignorant prejudice.

Avoiding ignorant attacks is not even an implicit sign that you agree with the prejudice behind them.

You seem to have a partisan bug in your processor ... It implies Kerry though that Democrats voting in the primaries would not like to see him speaking French. Just like Newt things Republican voters in the primary would not like a candidate who speaks French.

Originally Posted by ManOfReason

You seem to have a partisan bug in your processor ... It implies Kerry though that Democrats voting in the primaries would not like to see him speaking French. Just like Newt things Republican voters in the primary would not like a candidate who speaks French.

Not in the least.

But since you brought it up, please demonstrate how Kerry made a conscious decision not to speak French during a Democrat Primary process in the USA. Show that this was a deliberate policy before we can speculate as to why.

Originally Posted by ManOfReason

The same applied to John Kerry for the Democrates. He is a fluent French speaker but refused to be seen to speak any French throughout his whole campaign. So if there is a flaw it applies to the Democrats too.

It shpould be noted that Hilary Clinton - as she showed in Missouri - has a very Marseilles patois to her French, while Obama's studied Touraine argot went down far better with the electorate.

The history of the US is punctuated with French resonances. "J'ai fait un réve" being a classic moment of the civil rights movement. "J'ai bian connu Jean Kennedy, et Monsieur, vous n'etes pas un Kennedy" is another classic from a Presidential debate.

Those Presidential candidates and their desire to lapse into French.

Kerry must have had to really rein himself in.