'Racism' against African-American Obama behind Democrats' defeat in mid-term polls: Moran

Washington, Jan 28 (ANI): Virginia Democratic Representative Jim Moran has linked the current political environment to the American Civil War, and added that his party lost out in last year's mid-term polls because voters "don't want to be governed by an African-American."

"It happened ... for the same reason the Civil War happened in the United States. Southern states, particularly the slaveholding states, didn't want to see a president who was opposed to slavery," Fox News quoted Moran, as saying.

"In this case a lot of people in this country, it's my belief, don't want to be governed by an African-American, particularly one who is inclusive, who is liberal, who wants to spend money on everyone and who wants to reach out to include everyone in our society. And that's a basic philosophical clash," he added.

Moran made the comments following President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

On being questioned about his comments, Moran's office supported him, saying that racism is still widespread in the US.

"With nearly 1,000 identified hate groups in the U.S. and recent studies showing a majority of Americans believe racism is still widespread against African-Americans, it is no secret that our country has and continues to struggle with racial equality. The congressman was expressing his frustration with this problem and the role it played in the last election," spokeswoman Anne Hughes said in an e-mail. (ANI)