Charges That Racism Could Doom Obama's Candidacy Are Unfair
If Obama loses, will it be because of his race? Answering that question in the affirmative, or suggesting it may be the case, are Jack Cafferty of CNN, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, and Mahoning County, Ohio, Democrats quoted by the Youngstown Vindicator (what a wonderful name for a newspaper!). As some conservative bloggers have pointed out, this is not a good campaign tactic for Democrats: You're telling voters who are not yet on your side that you think they're racists. Contra Cafferty, there are also plenty of nonracist reasons voters might have for not voting for Obama (just as there are plenty of nonracist reasons voters might have for voting for him). Does anyone doubt that the vast majority of those who won't vote for Obama would vote for Colin Powell if he were the Republican candidate for president?
Obama is in any case not a generic black candidate; he is a well-known candidate with specific characteristics that attract some voters and repel others. Indeed, the 2004 convention speech that introduced him to voters nationally was anything but a generic black appeal: It emphasized what all Americans have in common. The fact that Obama won the Democratic nomination and has been in the lead in most general election polls since last spring shows that almost all American voters are willing to give him a hearing. Yes, there are some voters who won't vote for him because of race, just as there are some voters who won't vote for John McCain because he is 72 years old. But spreading the meme that the only reason Obama can lose is because of voters' racism strikes me as a libel on the American people.
Tags: presidential election 2008 | Barack Obama | race | racism
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It didn't cost him the election
It won him the election. Nobody voted for "change" they voted for a hip looking guy. Thanks ignorant america...but this isn't american idol... Blacks all voted for black. The majority of the "minorities" vote for their fellow minority, the ill informed and easily corrupt youth voted for the cool guy, and morons and thieves filled the rest. This is your president not mine. Enjoy getting screwed over by the guy standing behind you with the knife.
P.S. Bush never blamed Clinton for the horrible situation he left, but you guys blamed Bush for it for 8 years...and will probably do so for another 8 years...just remember it was clinton that killed the economy/financial structure...but I'm not on the Daily Show so don't believe me.
Lack of Competency, not Racism will doom Obama's candidacy
The race card is easy to play - but the real issue here is that Obama has done NOTHING he can brag about...at least to make him President of the United States. He flip flops on many issues, and has mande so many blunders (saying he's been in 57 states, 10,000 dying in a Kansas tornado, saying "uh" over 130 times in one interview, because he really does not know what to say, lying about being a Muslim when his own brother said he was and produced a picture proving it, and on and on and on). His "change" ideas are scary: 1. He wants to weaken our National Defense. 2. He wants to befriend America's enemies. 3. His Global Poverty Act would cost each American thousands... 4. His National Health Care Idea could bankrupt America. We do NOT need to tax the American people into bankruptcy. People need to take an indepth look at this man, and not be persuaded by his theatrics. He is very good at that but there is no substance behind him. The stakes are too high for this nation. This issue is competency, not racism.
Race determine winner?
36% of whites biased against Obama because of race, half of them enough to vote their bias; 92 percent of Blacks biased in favor of Obama because of his race, 92% biased enough to vote for him because of race.
Whether Obama wins or loses it will be mainly because of race, his history of acheivement and experience doesn't qualify him to be a major contender.
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