Your guy isn’t in the inner circle of the highest ranking members of a party. Atwater was, and refer to the quote above. Rather than being overt, they couch the racism in other terms, but it’s the same terms.
Since the 1960s and the ERA and Nixon, racism and fear-of-the-Other has been intrinsic to the Republican party.
Like… Per their own words. In the quote I referenced. From someone in the inner circle of the Republican party, and who helped them get elected. How? By preying on the fear-of-the-Other ie racism
Man of Steel Woman of Kleenex by Larry Niven is a weird take on this