Off Target
Michael Goodwin points out why the Obama camp is off target with its current racial rhetoric.
David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, sees white racism as a problem in the general election. "The vast, vast majority of voters who would not vote for Barack Obama in November based on race are probably firmly in John McCain's camp already," he told the National Journal.
You knew it had to come to this, but you hoped it wouldn't. "Race doesn't matter" was the chant of many Obama supporters when he was winning. But now that he has hit a wall with many voters on legitimate issues, race does matter, his supporters claim.
Never mind Obama's long relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose anti-American and anti-Semitic ties raise questions about Obama's willingness to confront bigotry. Never mind Obama's sneering comments that small-town Americans "cling to guns and religion" out of economic frustration. Never mind that Obama's plans for tax hikes and blame-America-first foreign policy fall on the left side of the political spectrum.
No, none of that could possibly matter.
For his campaign to blame voter prejudice is a poor excuse and a worse strategy. It also misses the point of Obama's stall.
After all, he is the same man who won in lily-white states like Iowa, Kansas, Idaho and Colorado. Are Ohio and Pennsylvania white voters more racist?
Also, whites have been more willing to vote for Obama than blacks have been to vote for Hillary Clinton. To liberals, blacks voting for Obama are expressing pride; whites voting for Clinton harbor racial prejudice, not gender pride or legitimate preference.
Yes, I had rather hoped this would not be played this way and it is a very bad move on the part of the Obama campaign. But then, it is a hallmark of David Axelrod's past - failed - political campaigns. Class warfare is his specialty. He tried "two New Yorks" with Fernando Ferrer in 2001 and "two Americas" with John Edwards in 2004. Both were spectacular failures.
That should make you wonder.
By syn, Sunday, 27 April , 2008 @ 8:49 am
’Race’ is an anthropological concept which does not exist in biology.
In other words, ‘Race’ is an concept created by Darwinists who needed to create the concept of Racism to prove their theory of evolution; ie Darwinists brought a man from the Congo as an exhibition to show how certain "Races" evolved superior over others when in fact, biologically speaking we of the human species are all the same.
By Maggie, Sunday, 27 April , 2008 @ 10:26 am
I will say THIS one more time so the B. Hussein supporters can hopefully atleast hear its faint din …
I will vote for the person who holds the same beliefs on as many issues as possible … regardless of the color of their skin, their gender, their sexual ‘choice’, religion, or dietary habits … with me.
So, get off it.
By martian, Sunday, 27 April , 2008 @ 12:38 pm
I will not vote for the Obamessiah under any circumstances. Does this make me a racist? Well, let’s take a look. I was one of the people in 2000 that was hoping Powell would run for either President or VP. I had read his autobiography and liked most of what I knew about him. I would have voted for him. I was also one of those people who was hoping Condoleeza Rice would consider entering the race this year. I like her a lot. She is intelligent, well educated, thoughtful, articulate and extremely experienced in foriegn relations. I would have voted for her. So, am I a racist?
I will not vote for the Obamessiah under any circumstances. Because he is black, or more accurately, half black? No. A resounding, no. It’s because he is one of the most liberal socialist people in the country and has no experience at much of anything in government. So, am I a racist? You be the judge.
By Mwalimu Daudi, Sunday, 27 April , 2008 @ 2:31 pm
I had rather hoped this would not be played this way and it is a very bad move on the part of the Obama campaign.
True, but will it cost He Whose Middle Name Must Not Be Mentioned the Presidency? I think not. This is looking more and more like it will be one of those (fortunately) rare political years where the public will buy the product the Messiah is hawking without bothering to read the fine print.
In my lifetime there have been two such elections. One was in 1976 when an inexperienced candidate rode a wave of vague platitudes to victory. The other was in 1992 when another candidate with an unsavory past triumphed over a weak GOP opponent.
2008 looks like a year in which an inexperienced candidate with an unsavory past spouting vague platitudes will become President by beating a weak GOP opponent.