This irritates me the most about the media

[truthN08]

For 19 months all I have heard is "the american people don't know Obama" they are wondering "who is this unknown from out of nowhere who wants to be president" "they don't trust him fully yet" and YET none of that talk about Sarah Palin.

They consider her a sensation and aren't saying "the american people don't know her". It makes me feel like they think America just instantly trust the white candidate but need years to trust a man that is part black. I mean WTF is this?

I am biracial. I am a black/hispanic woman. My core is shaken by this and it seems racism is a lot worse than I ever thought it was. I never thought it was gone but I never thought it ran this deep still.

[valerief]

1. I don't know that the "not trusting Obama" is more due to race than due to his being a Democrat.

The Republicans run the corporations that buy air time. They own the media.

[Captain Hilts]

5. True, neither Clinton nor Gore or Kerry scored well on 'trust'. Good point. nt

[movonne]

2. What irritates me is that that don't give a shit what happens to this

country...to back mc cain and miss slut is handing this country over to the nuts and extremist...

[Captain Hilts]

3. Palin HAS been called an 'unknown', actually.

She's the shiny, new thing now, just as Obama was a while ago.

And the more they 'know' her, the less they'll like her. Go to the grocery store and see the magazines at the check-out counter. NOT pretty!!

[monmouth]

4. Obama has been in the public eye for a long while now, people

do know him, how could they not if they're not living in a cave. I rarely even hear him referred to as an AA candidate. He's just Obama with Joe and has made a great impression on the psyche. I loved your post, it should be sent to the online media. Your thoughts are very worthy and you are not alone I'm sure.

[Solomon]

6. LOL It just occurred to me reading this post that there are racism deniers just

like there are holocaust deniers.

[Berry Cool]

9. Some people don't want to admit they're more likely to instinctively trust people like themselves

than people not like themselves.

Some white people don't want to admit that a white person they don't know but who seems friendly and nice is a person they would trust more quickly, whether or not given evidence they should, than a similar black person, whom they would instinctively mistrust until given good, solid reasons to trust him (and maybe still not trust him then).

Some people don't want to admit they could be hoodwinked more easily by someone like them than by someone like them, merely for racist reasons.

Of course, it cuts both ways--other African Americans may well be more likely to instinctively trust "one of their own" than a white person and be similarly hoodwinked (say, by a Ken Blackwell).

[TwilightGardener]

7. Yep--I thought the same thing. People saying, who is this Obama guy, he came

out of nowhere, nobody knows him, etc.--even though he published two books about himself and his life and accomplishments are an open book--not to mention he's a US Senator with a lot of fellow Senators vouching for him. Then they pull some lady out of relative obscurity and put her a possible heartbeat away from the Presidency, and we're suddenly supposed to be all right with that after a bitchy-ass speech and NO interviews with the press--all she has to do is stand there and look good and snark at Democrats. We don't even know what her grades were in college--she hasn't released any financial disclosure info. The only thing we know is her kids and her hobbies and her favorite foods, and some lies about being a "reformer". It's 100% the difference between black and white, and Republicans and Democrats. People will trust a white lady far sooner than they will trust a black man. And the GOP's fundie leaders said she's OK, so she must be.

[Smarmie Doofus]

8. Your observation is correct.

I'm not sure I entirely agree with the analysis. I think it's a double standard based on political philosophy ( the $$$$ corporate media is overwhelmingly republican) and not... for the most part... on race.

For instance, I could see Rice, Powell or Clarence Thomas getting a free pass a la Palin in a comparable situation. It's not that Obama is (1/2)black; it's that he might support media de-deregulation at some point.... imo.

Meanwhile... interestingly.... sexism toward a woman candidate ( a mega theme on this board during the Clinton campaign) is all of a sudden a complete non-issue.


What does it all mean.

[grandpappy]

10. On HBO

last night on the Bill Mahr(sp) show the panel had 2 blacks (1 male 1 female) and 1 white (male). Both guys were repukes and the young black lady was a dem. The black republican brought the "We know know about Obama" line up and the young woman totally flipped out. She said, if I can paraphrase it right, "Were the hell have you been, if you don't know by now you must have not been doing any reading or watching any TV for the last 19 months". It's the same excuse you here on alot of eb sites and from the republicans. Just to put the fear in the faithful.

We need to turn this around and use it on "The Ice Princess of the North" Who is she we JUST don't know enough about her.

[EndElectoral]

11. There are people who'll never vote for a black candidate.How many national black news anchors again?