In the phrase, “spread the wealth,” repeated frequently tonight by John McCain, “wealth” was a synonym for “whiteness.” On the surface, tax reform seems like a straightforward fiscal issue, but it is really an identitarian issue disguised as a fiscal one. When Republicans discuss tax policy, like John McCain did tonight, what they mean to do is focus their constituency’s resentment for marginalized people and the American underclass upon a narrow issue that seems completely rational, tax reform, but which is really anything but. Within the Republican platform, whiteness and wealth are not mutually exclusive. The compulsive harping on tax reform, to the detriment of any other issue, reinforces this fact. Wealth was a code word for whiteness tonight, and the fact that Joe the Plumber may have decoded that message is not only insidious, it’s dangerous.
