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House Republicans appeared yesterday to address a rally of conservative and tea party activists outside Capitol Hill. As the health care debate continues, House Republican leader John Boehner and Representative Michelle Bachman led denunciations of President Barack Obama’s push for reform. Though the purported focus of the rally was the upcoming debate on the future of the nation’s health care system, protest signs veered towards the racist in critiquing the President. As David Corn reported in the Politics Daily blog, some activists held up messages reading “Ken-ya Trust Obama?” while others depicted the President as the racist caricature Sambo. Far from being isolated incidents, the racially disparaging displays at the Capitol Hill rally have been a consistent pattern in the year since Obama’s election. Taking a comprehensive and analytical look of such racial attacks, People for the American Way released a report yesterday titled “Right Plays the Race Card.” The organization looks at the way such rhetoric has colored a number of issues ranging from the nomination of Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor to the concerted attacks on ACORN. As part of the “Right Wing Watch: In Focus,” series, the report takes to task both major political parties for failing to properly address the rising racist rhetoric from the right.

GUEST: Peter Montgomery, Senior Fellow at PFAW, author of the report “Right Plays the Race Card

For more information, visit www.pfaw.org.