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| not racist. No. |
is what is being used by the LibDems
here. The Tory candidate they are fighting is gay, and they use the words "it's a straight fight". Which of course is perfectly innocent language, hein? No. Dog whistle is a very simple thing. You use plain language about your opponent, and it contains a code word or words which indicate that you are contrasting your party's candidate with the other one by saying that person is gay, or black, or otherwise "other", and your candidate is not. It could be a number of things. Typically it is sexuality or race. Reading Labour has form on this too, as recently as this year's local elections, remember? Reading Labour's white girl is "one of us", unlike the Tory candidate, who was born in Pakistan.
