Get ready for a November surprise

[obnoxiousdrunk]

I am a 21-year-old African-American/loyal Salon reader/ frequent writer to you. Although I love you all a lot and, like you (assuming so), I am a liberal, I just feel I have to scream at you for a bit. Almost two weeks ago, I sent a letter to you guys telling you how the new Eminem song "Mosh" has many young'ns riled up, angry, motivated and against Bush. Now 10 days or so later, not only you guys but many publications are up on it. My point? Maybe you guys should listen more to us young'ns, maybe have a young person consultant of sorts. After all, we will decide this election, as I will point out later in this letter.

First, let me just say prepare for the death of polls, as that will be the dominant story coming out of election night. First blacks. I saw Ann Coulter on some show where she was literally speaking for black America. Being that she is an aging white chick with poorly dyed roots, she obviously got it wrong. Those polls saying how Bush will get 16 to 18 percent of the black vote are just wrong. To quote ODB, "Nigga please." Since black people aren't really polled, here is a bit of insight. Although we aren't that excited about Kerry, he has nothing to worry about with the African-American community. We as a whole don't like Bush, period. Yes, Democrats take us for granted and regardless of which party, we are at the bottom of the totem poll, but we realize that Democrats talk to us, try with us, are down with us, and give us a seat at the table. We are gamed to what the GOP do, or rather don't do for us.

http://www.salon.com/news/letters/2004/10/27/youngvoter/index.html

[aintitfunny]

1. Thanks for That

appreciate the post.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

2. The racial disenfranchisement is appalling

It sends me into tirades every time I think about it.
I'd think AA vote would be way above Gore's 90% from 2000 no matter what.
Thanks for sharing your views.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

3. Damn!

Folks, I'm down with what this guy is saying. I've been seeing it come for weeks.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

5. I have too but only if the people get to vote

The GOP is pulling out ALL stops to stem this tidal wave they know is coming.
We have got our work cut out for us.

[okieinpain]

7. I keep saying to myself, it's going to be tight, it's going to be

tight. but when you look at the stupid box, I keep seeing all of these pissed off repugs. why are they so angry when bush is either tied or leading in all of the polls.

what do they know that we don't.

when bush was up 11 in the polls, they were really pretty happy, but after the debates, they have really gotten pretty mean. even the stupid sports station is starting to become a daily ritual of bashing kerry. I really do believe they see the end coming.

[NightOwwl]

4. I agree.

The pundits will be reeling on November 3. I'm staying home that day so I can watch them squirm like bugs pinned to a corkboard, "Buh, buh, but...the polls said blah blah blah."

[okieinpain]

8. damn wish I could take off that day, but my supervisior is coming in

have fun.

[michigandem2]

11. I am off on the 3rd too..my husband called me a "geek"

i said I gotta watch them eat crow...

I am taking the kids to daycare and enjoying a day at home alone--watching them eat crow...

[calimary]

27. I'm thinking I may have to reschedule my physical therapy session

for that day. It's the only thing on the docket for me - the postmortems and mea culpas will be too good to miss!

I want to hear and see people like Joe Scarborough, Pat Buchanan (who was on fire, awhile ago, after the second and third presidential debates, which he said bush completely hit out of the ballpark), Tim Russert, Andrea Mitchell, Frank Luntz, John Fund, and of course ALL the CNN people, from Blitzer to Zahn, and all the Crowleys and Bill Schneiders and Kelly Wallaces and Judy Woodruffs and John Kings and Daryn Kagans and Tucker Carlsons and Bob Novaks, and of course, the Pox "news" network's lineup (I MAY tune in there just to oggle the multi-car pileup on the freeway there, but then again...), and ALL THE OTHER APOLOGISTS and spinmeisters who will be eating banquets of crow and humble pie. I may just have to stay in, all day.

[flygal]

6. Great post!...

your article is exactly how I'm seeing things. I totally believe in the death of polls after this election too. I was shocked at seeing he would get 18 percent of AAC.

I'm a loyal Salon reader too - I'll be looking for your work!

[michigandem2]

9. omg that is awesome...

"death of polls" and that couldn't be MORE right...I have said it before...

the thing that will come out of this is...with every election to come the pundits (if they are still around because they are so clueless) will say "well although it shows a close race...remember 2004..."

EXCELLENT and thanks for posting that...love the "nigga please" too cracked me up!

[NicRic]

10. Iam with you !

Kerry just may suprise you ,with his being grateful for the support of the young Africian Americans. Like you stated with Kerry ,at least you know you will have a seat at the table. With bush ,all you will have is a empty seat with empty promises. I can tell you if it turns out the AAC put Kerry over the top in this election ,he will return the favor, and I believe he would take these steps even without the overwhelming support, for one simple reason ,its the right thing to do, and a must to get our country back on the track of unity ! What is needed in the inner cities are jobs, and education for all. I want to thank you for putting your cards on the table, and for putting your vote in the right place !

[SemiCharmedQuark]

12. Great Post! nt

[Rex_Goodheart]

13. hey, obnoxiousdrunk, listen up....

I love you.

[obnoxiousdrunk]

20. Love you more.

[DemsUnited]

14. Thanks for your post

Am a 42 year old woman who doesn't "get" rap, yet I cried when I watched "Mosh" for the first time. Very powerful.

[liberal N proud]

15. As a Democrat I have always thought of the part as the party for

all people. The only party where race or sex does not matter.
Obviously I have lead a sheltered life in that regard. But I feel closer to the black population than the white rich people that make up the republican base. I grew up in rural Mid-America but was fortunate enought to do much travel and any predjudice that was pushed down on my was expelled by exposure to the real world.

Right now I would feel safer walking through the inner city than I would through the upper class neighborhoods. With my Kerry Edwards campaign button on, There is much more hatred comming from the rich than from the inner city oppressed people.

I think that if you stick with the Democratic party and try to get involved, things will change. Not fast enough but they will change.

I wish America was a fair place to all poeple of all races, but I can only demonstrate that in the environment that I live and work. It will take all of us together, not black against white, to make the necessary changes.

Good post by the way. Thanks

[qanda]

16. I keep trying to tell the folks at DU this

I know so many of my people that are voting for the first time in a long time or for the first time ever. And it doesn't matter what area they are in, they are all saying some of the exact same things about Bush, the media and the direction of our country.

[gulfcoastliberal]

17. I have a brother 3 years younger than me...

he ALWAYS knows what's hot before anyone else, including the mainstream media. Thanks for trying to get eveyone on this to get the word spread. Unfortunately, there are so many posts all the time it's hard to be heard. And most of the posts are stupid poll resultss. I rather hear about a new culture bomb on toastboy.

[pdx_prog]

18. AMEN!

the big November surprise is going to be a Kerry LANDSLIDE!

[Lisa0825]

19. I always hear about Democrats taking blacks for granted, but.....

(first let me say I'm white)

I always hear about Democrats taking blacks for granted, but I heard a great quote while attending the Galveston Coalition of Black Democrats banquet last month: "What do they mean the party is taking us for granted??? We ARE the party!"

This was met with huge applause, and I had to agree. At least in my county, Blacks make up about half the attendees at most of the club meetings I go to, and their own clubs like the one which held the banquet are also very active in the community as well. In addition, the national delegates and alternate we sent to Boston were Black. They were there representing all of us. So, I liked hearing the speaker (a local Black political figure) say that... they are a major portion of the party, so at least in Galveston County, they don't take themselves for granted. I wonder if maybe the problem is more a matter of Blacks in other areas not exerting their rightful influence on the party, as members of the community and the party.

But then again... this is just the observation of a white chick from Texas who hasn't been involved in politics very long, so take it with a griain of salt... LOL:-)

[obnoxiousdrunk]

21. "What do they mean the party is taking us for granted??? We ARE the party!

Great line.

[calimary]

22. This kid writes that Salon and others should hire some young person

as a consultant. I think Salon should hire THIS KID. Kevin Criss. I'm saving this one. I'm betting this guy is correct.

I saw somewhere else here, that one of our DUers reported seeing some panel (MSNBC maybe) with some VIP from Pennsylvania (perhaps Governor Ed Rentell?) and Andrea Mitchell. Mitchell was blathering on that she didn't think blacks were going to turn their anger into bigtime voter turnouts. The Pennsylvania guy turned to her and (paraphrasing here) declared, "I don't think you understand what's going on here."

I think that's one of the understatements of the year.

It's going to come down to this one question for our lovely media: WHO WERE YOU PAYING ALL YOUR ATTENTION TO? We all know the answer: the White House, kkkarl rove, the limbaugh/Pox "news"/Joe Scarborough/drudge machinery, the RNC, the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, any and all republi-CONS in the House and the Senate, and the many operatives on Richard Mellon Scaife's payroll.

Did they pay ANY attention at all to ANY OTHER PEOPLE? Or did they take the lazy way out and just work from the talking points and the intimidating phone calls from the rove machine, and the pile-ons from the freeper contingent and the dittoheads? They SELDOM talked to Democrats. Seldom got another point of view, and when they did make an attempt at that, they invariably pulled someone who was not a good spokesperson, or was inarticulate, not too quick-witted, and too concerned with being "courteous" - like the Michael O'Hanlons of the world (from the Brookings Institution, but even so, he couldn't win a wrestling contest with a bowl of cooked pasta), or the Donna Brazile types who are so mild-mannered and milquetoast that the first interruption from some wrong-wing attack dog just mows her over. I mean, how many firebrands do we know on the left? Besides James Carville, I mean? Any of them getting much airtime? Ron Reagan is FINALLY gaining some prominence, but when you see him on MSNBC, he's usually the ONE liberal on a panel with one or (more likely) two flat-out republi-CONS or republi-CON sympathizers, and one or maybe two people from the media - usually also favorably predisposed toward bush.

I saw somewhere else here on DU, somebody posting an observation of Chris Matthews last night or the night before - where he actually remarked about "maybe we haven't been doing our jobs." No f-ing DUH, Christopher.

It's ridiculous. But it's how THEY will wind up looking on Election Night and beyond: ridiculous. You will not be able to make out their faces on camera - because there will be so much egg on them.

[pauliedangerously]

23. CHEERS!!

After reading you post, many things hit to me. First, this is the first time I've seen one of your posts. Perhaps this is the time of day you usually post. I'm usually asleep at this time because I work nights. My point is, there are probably a LOT of people here who don't see your posts.

Second, your totem poll metaphor really hurt. I don't have all of the words to explain it right now, but I'd like to kick it with you one on one sometime.

I'm 38 now, and not really hip with pop culture anymore. Once this site gets back to normal, I will seek out your posts with the advanced search feature. I want to hear more of what you have to say.

I'm glad I couldn't sleep. Looking forward to starting a dialogue with you.



:toast:

:toast: :toast: :toast:

[CalProf]

24. Good post. n/t

[txindy]

25. I couldn't agree more.

The polling methodologies currently used are dinosaurs. They are so far off the talking heads in the MSM will spontaneously combust on Nov. 2nd when they have to confront the results of the vote. Let's watch! :evilgrin:

[AimeeMM]

26. LMAO!

The ODB quote directed at Mann Coulter nearly caused me to pee my pants. Fantastic!

[Julien Sorel]

28. LOL

Being that she is an aging white chick with poorly dyed roots, she obviously got it wrong.

What more can you say...

[Logansquare]

29. Great article! This young man will go far

[Catfight]

30. Vote or Die! It doesn't get any simpler than that. nt

[DuaneBidoux]

31. Democrats don't take African Americans for granted...they just ACCEPT them

like they do everyone else.

Walk into a bustling Democratic volunteer center and look at the people: white, black, Asian, middle-easter, old, young, gay, straight, religious, atheists - only one thing they all share: they're Americans.

Walk into a bustling Republican volunteer center (I won't go into the details of why I did it except to say it had something to do with a rash of disappearing K/E signs) and they all look like clones. I swear out of 20 people there wasn't a one single women, they were all white males between 20 and 60 and they had buzz cuts. I swear, they looked just like some of these pictures you see of Nazi youth clubs from WW II.