Adviser: Mitt Romney understands shared 'Anglo-Saxon' heritage that Obama does not

Dog whistles no longer good enough. The Romney campaign has steadily given up on racist dog-whistles in its attacks on Barack Obama and gone for the megaphone instead. The whole effort to depict the president as "other" didn't start with Mitt Romney, of course. That began while Obama was on the campaign trail in 2007. It's all of a part with birtherism and other attacks that have their snouts firmly stuck in a racist view of the president. Lately, it can be found in comments like "His course is extraordinarily foreign." As in not American. UnAmerican. Just a step away from anti-American.

On the eve of the Republican nominee's visit to England, we get something a bit more direct from The Telegraph:

'We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and he feels that the special relationship is special,' the adviser said of Mr Romney, adding: 'The White House didn't fully appreciate the shared history we have'. [...]

The adviser also said that Romney is 'better placed to understand the depth of ties" between the two countries than Obama.

That spells it out plainly. That anti-colonial Kenyan in the White House is a black man who could never understand real Americans. Idiotically racist. Boldly, brazenly racist.

Ian Reifowitz has pointed out the very different, inclusive approach of the President:

Barack Obama has long spoken of our national identity in terms that include Americans of every religious tradition, region, ethnic background, and sexual orientation in what he has repeatedly called the 'American family.' The president has focused specifically on invigorating national bonds that unify Americans across ethnic lines. Even in his most populist recent speeches about the need for higher taxes on the wealthy, Obama has never even hinted that they are somehow 'not American.'

Obama's failure to do so is, of course, more evidence in the minds of the right that he is not American. Romney's adviser's comment and Romney's own comments about "foreign" ought to be enough to trigger the gag reflex of real Americans. See how that works, Mr. Romney?

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^{polidiscoursor has a discussion on the subject here.}

8:39 AM PT: The Romney campaign is denying it. 'It's not true,'' said campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg. 'If anyone said that, they weren't reflecting the views of Governor Romney or anyone inside the campaign.'

Telegraph reporter Jon Swaine says he spoke with a member of the foreign policy advisory team.