Obtuse Rangel: Charlie is wrong to inject race into Gov. Paterson's reelection contest

Rep. Charles Rangel warns of "racial polarization" if Attorney General Andrew Cuomo challenges Gov. Paterson in a primary next year.

"Since we have most African-Americans registered as Democrats, and since you would be making an appeal for Democrats, it would be devastating, in my opinion," said Rangel.

This shot comes from someone who, last we checked, is black - yet who pulled out all stops for Hillary Clinton in battling for the Democratic nomination against the man who became the first black President.

Then, he said: "I find it very easy to say, 'Who do you know who can do the job?' as opposed to, 'Who do you hope and dream could do the job?'"

But now, Rangel portrays black voters as racially programmed automatons. Which they are not.

A Quinnipiac poll had Cuomo beating Paterson by 22 points among blacks. A Marist poll had whites and nonwhites giving Paterson identical job approval ratings: 19% and 18%. For Cuomo: 71% and 70%. That's consensus across racial lines.

Rangel, fresh off welcoming President Obama to New York by joking about how black men are likely to get shot by police, is increasingly looking like a dinosaur in the Land of the Lost when it comes to race relations.

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