"Edwards' toughest sell may be to other Whites" - Oh wait a minute

[beaconess]

Only "Blacks" get lumped together as one big monolith and treated as if it's SO AMAZING that we don't all operate in a political lockstep.

Why is it that journalists feel perfectly fine going out to interview "blacks" about what they think about other "blacks" without any consideration for the fact that what one "black" thinks about another "black" is driven by a variety of factors unrelated to race, just as whites develop opinions about other whites based upon numerous reasons.

I have yet to see any stories about how hard or easy it will be for Edwards or Vilsak or Biden or Clark or any other White candidate to "sell" themselves to "Whites." Yet a journalist and her editors have the nerve to put out this kind of crap about Obama's support among "Blacks."

Sickening.

This is one reason I hope Obama gets in the race - his being there may smoke out and eventually eradicate this kind of "journalism" for what it is: bulls*it.

[mourningdove92]

1. Agreed and recommended.

[Cameron27]

2. HA!

I love this post.

k&r

[Gman]

3. If 91% of whites voted for Gore, you would have a point

therefore the Obama piece is right on.

[beaconess]

4. What in the hell are you talking about?

[Gman]

13. Look it up.

The percent of the Black vote that went to Gore is public record. "Lumping" Blacks together is legit. If Obama wants to run for president, he'll need that 91% of Blacks like Gore did, and like the first Black President, Bill Clinton did.

That is, if Blacks will turn out to vote for him.

[beaconess]

18. Your post makes absolutely no sense

Yes, 91% of Black voters voted for Al Gore in the general election. They voted for Gore because most Blacks are Democrats and they voted Democratic, just like the vast majority of Democrats of every race.

But your comparison is silly. You are comparing how Blacks voted in 2000 in the GENERAL election when there was only one Democratic candidate running. If Obama gets the nomination, there is little doubt that the vast majority of Democrats - whatever their race - will vote for him. That wasn't the point of the story.

If Obama gets the nomination and he wants to win the general election, he'll need a majority or plurality of ALL voters. Assuming that he's going to have more trouble with Black voters than, say labor, or women, or soccer moms, because some Black commentators say that Obama doesn't "share a common history" with most Black voters is stupid. The last time I checked, John Edwards had no slaves in in his ancestry and Wes Clark did not make his chops in the civil rights movement, but that hasn't led commentators to predict that they are going to have any trouble getting a subtantial number of Black votes in a general election.

[abburdlen]

6. Sharpton got what %

of the "black" vote in the primaries?

I think the OP is spot on.

[beaconess]

7. You tell us - what percentage of the Black vote DID Sharpton get in the primaries?

[abburdlen]

14. In the SC dem primary

Al Sharpton earned 20% of the vote of non-white men (which comprised 19% of the total votes) and 14% from non-white women (30%)

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/epolls/SC/index.html

I think the point that there is such a thing as a "black vote" is about as silly as asking which candidate will get the blond vote or who will get the uni-brow vote.

[beaconess]

17. Sorry -I misunderstood your original post

I thought you were agreeing with the premise of the story. My bad.

Your point is dead on.

[abburdlen]

20. No need to be sorry

It was likely my fault for being less than clear and you prompted me to get actual data which is always good.

I don't discount that race or ethnic background is one of the many qualifiers we all use to identify ourselves but your post points out how absurd the whole "black vote" idea is

[Bjorn Against]

5. Yes, this really gets to the heart of what racism is

Many people think that racism is all about wearing white hoods and burning crosses in people's front yard. While such incidences are obviously racist, there are many other less obvious examples of racism.

The idea that all blacks think alike is a racist idea on its face.

I made a post here last week after the Star Tribune made a statement along the lines of "Obama is black, but he is not a black politician", as if all black politicians think exactly alike. I got jumped on by several DUers for suggesting the Star Tribune was making a racist statement, but I stand by my argument.

People were saying things like "all they were saying was that Obama transcended race. It is no different than Michael Jordan who is just considered a basketball player not a black basketball player". Well as far as I am concerned the very idea that some people can transcend race and others can not is a racist concept. No one talks about whites transcending race.

Yes there is far more racism in this world then what people realize, and your post is a good example of a type of racism that often goes unrecognized.

Kicked and recommended.

[beaconess]

9. I disagree with you about the Star Tribune piece

I don't think that piece was racist at all. It merely pointed out that Obama was transcending race. I don't think that is a racist comment since Blacks in America MUST transcend race in order to succeed. Whites don't have to since they already have - as evidenced by the fact that a significant number of Blacks vote for White candidates even when a Black candidate is in the race.

This piece, on the other hand, is saying that he HASN'T transcended race and uses some quotes from various Black commentators to allegedly make the point - and fails miserably.

For example, suggesting that because White audiences who go out to see Obama are in rapture over him and that the average Black on the street supposedly isn't means that he's going to have a hard time "selling" himself to Blacks is bullshit. First of all, she's comparing apples and oranges. Unless she's suggesting that the White audiences who attend Obama's events are representative of all White voters, how can she actually believe that White voters are more enamoured of Obama than Black voters are or that he's having a harder time attracting Black votes than White votes? I assume that at most of these events there are a number of Blacks in the audience, as well. Why not compare the Whites in the audience to the Blacks in the audience? Or, on the other hand, go out and take a random sample of views from Whites who AREN'T lining up to see Obama? But assuming that because every single Black voter is not falling all over themselves to vote for Obama at this stage in the game means that he'lk have a hard time selling to Blacks is crap.

And I have no doubt that if she took a similar look at the White candidates, she'd find the same thing - all White voters aren't lining up to vote for any particular candidate, so why should it be seen as a problem that a potential Black candidate is not guaranteed 100% support from Black voters?

[rosesaylavee]

8. As I stated in an earlier post on another thread...

Obama's leadership qualities would stand out no matter what color his skin was. Once more people know who he is and what he stands for, I am hopeful that the matter of his 'race' will lessen in importance.

And, frankly, I don't think Biden is white enough for my taste. I'd never vote for him because of that... There are other issues and policies I don't agree with him on - but that is the core problem I would have with his campaign.* :)






* And just in case this is needed...:sarcasm:

[beaconess]

11. :-)

[IndyOp]

12. Biden is too white for my taste. Hillary even moreso.

Seriously.

Don't know quite what I mean by "white" here other than "corporatist" and "lacking in appreciation for diversity" and "conservative authoritarian rich-man butt kissing tools of oppression" -- that's all mighty white.

For comparison, Edwards, Kucinich, Sanders are all okay - not too white.

Hillary and Joe should wear the "Fighting Whities" team uniform:

[rosesaylavee]

15. Hey, I got that t-shirt!

Go fightin' whities!

I used to wear it to my son's baseball games. Enjoyed the double takes. No one ever asked me about it though. Wonder why?

[beaconess]

19. That's pretty funny.

[Infinite Hope]

10. You're right. Blacks vote individually and won't automatically support Obama due to his color. n/t

[knowledgeispwr]

16. Kicked and recommended. n/t

[chieftain]

21. Brilliant and pretty damn funny to boot. K&R

[jefferson_dem]

22. B-I-N-G-O!

Well said, beaconess!