It is pretty sad how far our country has come in terms of civil rights that when Obama loses, we will have to listen to the Obama fringe and media cry racism. Anyone ever think that this guy would just be a lousy president? The Link Race is arguably the biggest issue in this election, and it’s one that nobody’s talking about. The differences between Barack Obama and John McCain couldn’t be more well-defined. Obama wants to change Washington. McCain is a part of Washington and a part of the Bush legacy. Yet the polls remain close. Doesn’t make sense…unless it’s race. Time magazine’s Michael Grunwald says race is the elephant in the room. He says Barack Obama needs to tread lightly as he fights back against the McCain-Palin campaign attacks. He writes, “Over the past 18 months, Obama has been attacked as a naive novice, an empty suit, a tax-and-spend liberal, an arugula-grazing élitist and a corrupt ward heeler, but the only attacks that clearly stung him involved the Rev. Jeremiah Wright - attacks that portrayed him as an angry black man under the influence of an even angrier black man.” The angry black man, he goes on to say, doesn’t have broad appeal in White America. And even though the makeup of our population is changing, whites are still the majority in this country. How ironic that the giant step forward of nominating an African American for president may ultimately keep us mired in the past. The Link Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius publicly considered the possibility that Sen. Barack Obama’s race might be a factor in this year’s presidential election during an appearance here Tuesday. “Have any of you noticed that Barack Obama is part African-American?” Sebelius asked in response to a question about why the election is so close. “That may be a factor. All the code language, all that doesn’t show up in the polls. And that may be a factor for some people.”
Remind me again, are you pro-McCain or anti-Obama? I think this board would be better off if you would quit riding the fence and let your true feelings be known.
Actually Wiz that isn't all Sebelius said but her quotes somehow got scrubbed by AP Here "“Have any of you noticed that Barack Obama is part African-American?” Sebelius asked with sarcasm. “(Republicans) are not going to go lightly into the darkness.” How long before the obamites will excuse this? I say less than 3
Hell no there's not racism in our country. That's probably why my wife's company no longer sends black drivers out to Llano to get a ticket, where the white driver never gets one... If it's close you can be sure race was one of the factors.
I am curious where Mr. Wizard stands on race / racism? Do you think it is not going to be a factor in the election? "Excuse" is a very dismissive word...as if you feel that it won't have an impact. I think you will find race to be a factor with a huge African American turnout in many states. I think you will also find racism a factor in the ballot box.
race is a factor, no doubt. will the african american vote outweigh the bigot vote? who knows? as i've posted here a couple of times, there are very heavily democratic members of my family in the ohio river valley who ain't voting for no n[black person]r. ohio is an important state, and those union votes in the valley are an important D base. racism will play very heavily there, as it will elsewhere in the county, like the east texas democrats on the stepdad side of the family. not that texas is in play, but you get my point.
Archie Bunker, a union man in the Midwest who hates rich people, corporations, liberals and Blacks, will decide this election. He hates Bush and Obama. But is McCain the same as Bush? Archie will decide.
many of you seem to underplay the race thing. i know a lot of racist people. maybe not overtly racist, but most definitely prejudice and if it came down to it ,racist. here is my question for any white male that doesn't think they are racist. how would you feel if your daughter brought home an average black guy as her boyfriend? if you can say to yourself, truthfully, that you would completely okay with that, then i would say 99.9% of the time... you are not racist. however, if you cringe at the thought.... or even express concern..... you are at the very least extremely prejudice. there are millions, upon milliions of people that think like the latter. that is just a fact. it is that way in texas for sure... oklahoma just as bad. i feel pretty safe saying it is similar in much of the midwest and the south. people may not be saying it out loud as much these days, but it is there. i will vote for obama, even though, i can't pass my own test above and feel like i am being 100% truthful with myself. there are millions that already have an opinion about obama that is directly related to race and in the privacy of the voting booth.... it will be hard for obama to win. i really hope he does.
Race will be a factor but that's already taken into account with the polling. Peopel that won't vote for Obama because he's black will support McCain for whatever other reasons. In 2006, there was almost zero difference in Harold Ford's final poll numbers and his final election count and that was in a Southern state.
Race is a factor, no doubt about it. How big a factor? If Obama loses, you can bet the African-American population will feel it was due to only one factor, race. And they may be right. It is known that everyone denies racism when responding to pollsters, but some percentage will not admit the truth. How big is this group? Is it big enough to decide the election? Who really knows? It is a shame this is even a small factor, but it is. I hope it is mainly a factor in the states Obama is unlikely to win, the deep South, but this is a real unknown.
I have no doubt race is a factor - there are many who will vote for Obama because he is Black. There will also be people who vote for a candidate because of their state, their hair or their spouse. Race isn't irrelevant but it is far, far from the top. Try this test. Make a list of your twenty closest relatives and friends. Guess how many would vote differently if Obama were White. For my list it's zero or one (one guy who hates Republicans won't vote this time). And I can tell you in no uncertain terms race is not determinative for me personally. There isn't a chance in hell I'd vote for Obama if he were White. I'll vote for the candidate with the most capitalist administration and the most vigilant national security administration. I always have and always will. It's difficult to imagine that would be a Dem, considering that even if they aren't off base, most of their political allies are. But you probably knew that.
Dead you posted,"Race will be a factor but that's already taken into account with the polling" I truly did not know Zogby, Gallup etc did this. How do they do that? What formula do they use? If they phone 1100 people what number do they assume to be racist? Do they through that number out ? How does this work Is there some site you can link that explains this? If they can factor in the racists in polls why can't they factor in the people without landlines?
tahoe - yes, but not why. they'd tell a pollster that they viewed his service record positively, or that he was a maverick or a patriot or whatever. i'm just reporting what i hear behind closed doors when the beer flows. hell, i told the story of my uncle who ran as a democrat for sheriff and mayor after being the chief of police in an ohio town - staunchly democrat - tell me that he ain't votin' for no n[black person]r. he is not alone. my mom's side is very working class - truck driving, coal mining, union folks. they'll be voting for mccain in ohio for one reason - he is not black. one of my uncles barred a black guy from joining his vfw, because "ain't no n[blackperson]r gonna be drinkin' beer in my fuckin' lodge." he's a democrat. union guy. i could tell these stories all day.
All you have to do is think back to the Primary when interviews revealed that lots of folks had issue with voting for a black man. Hayden had it right, basically. The question is whether these people, who are not voting on the merits, are neutralized by other people not voting on the merits.
"for my family, i can list 20 racists who in no way are going to vote for obama because he is black. some in texas, some in ohio. all racists. all voting for mccain."
^^ hey, man, you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family. still love 'em, but sometimes i just want to shake 'em. loved my dad too, but if he were still around, he wouldn't be voting for obama, noway nohow. course, he was more of a republican than anything else.
My family is the same as Hayden, and they are not even coal mining, union types. They are Southern Baptist "christians" that have no problems talking about race if they feel the audience won't be too offended. Which means there is no way they would tell a pollster why, but it will be the reason. Just the way it is.
About half my family voted for Obama in the primary. Many (1/4 who voted for Obama in the primary) are unsure how they will vote in the general election. The relatives who are unsure are conservative. The liberals will all stick with Obama. None are prejudice as far as I am aware and they live in Texas, New Mexico, Maryland, Ohio, Alabama and Kentucky.
