GOP continues to play race card with Whitmore-Smith rejection

The Missouri Republican Party wasted no time playing the race card in its official statement concerning Senator-elect Jeff Smith's announcement that he will not support Gov. Matt Blunt's controversial appointment of voucher-supporter Donayle Whitmore-Smith to the State Board of Education.
The state GOP issued the following news release:

St. Louis Democrat state Sen.-elect Jeff Smith today showed that he is more interested in bowing to Democrat Party bosses than doing what’s right for Missouri students by rejecting Donayle Whitmore-Smith's nomination to the State Board of Education.

In a public statement issued today, Sen.-elect Smith contradicts himself by praising Whitmore-Smith’s efforts on behalf of urban education in the St. Louis area then in the same breath rejects her nomination because of a lack of experience.

"Jeff Smith’s politically-motivated rejection of Donayle Whitmore-Smith is a slap in the face to the African American community and to our urban schools. Jeff Smith is turning his back on his constituents in order to garner favor with Democrat leaders who have opposed Whitmore-Smith’s nomination," said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. "It is this kind of dismissive attitude toward our urban schools that have led to problems like those currently surrounding the St. Louis Public School District. It’s a disgrace."

Whitmore-Smith would have been the only African American serving on the State Board with school age children.

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The slap in the face to the African American community came from Gov. Blunt, who bypassed dozens of qualified African American women with children of school age to appoint an unqualified African American woman who happens to agree with the governor's position on educational vouchers.