House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday rejected the notion that race has been a driving force behind opposition to President Barack Obama and his policies. Boehner also said those who had carried hateful signs at recent rallies — including those likening Obama to Adolf Hitler — are not welcome in the Republican Party.“No, it is not welcome,— Boehner said. “Listen, this whole issue of race people have tried to raise here over the last week or so and this insinuation that people who oppose the president’s policies are motivated by race, capped off by former President Jimmy Carter’s remarks over the last couple days — I’m going to tell you what, I reject this resoundingly.—Earlier this week Carter said Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-S.C.) decision to shout “You lie!— during Obama’s health care speech on Sept. 9 was “based on racism.— “But the outrage that we see in America has nothing to do with race it has everything to do with the policies that he is promoting,— Boehner said. “If they are going to disagree, protest, speak up, they ought to do so with civility but we certainly want to encourage them to participate in their Democracy.—Boehner noted that he and other Republicans had regarded the election of the first African-American president as “a defining moment in American history.—