As a Black man I must warn the GOP don't dismiss Obama's victory as just breakthrough for Black folk

[wndycty]

. . .Obama and DEMOCRATS beat the GOP's ass. You may try to dismiss Obama's victory as historic, but the increasing Democratic margins in the House and Senate is a HUGE REPUDIATION of conservatism.

[geckosfeet]

1. Don't warn them. Let them figure it out for themselves.

[sellitman]

2. His race is only icing on the cake.

The best man won.

Period.

[Kookaburra]

3. Uh-huh, and you see how well they listen to warnings...

[fascisthunter]

4. "Democratic margins in the House and Senate is a HUGE REPUDIATION of conservatism."

exactly

And Palin and her ultra right wing rhetoric sank McCain's campaign. But ignorance for fanatics is called faith.

[drm604]

5. Absolutely. I'm white and I live in an area with a large black population.

When I phone banked there were a LOT of whites there making calls. The Obama people who came to the front doors of myself and my friends and family were mostly white. There were many people of all races and ages working for this victory.

It's true that his skin color does make this an historic event, but this was a breakthrough for the American people in general.

I never thought of my efforts as supporting the election of the first black president. I saw it as supporting the restoration of sane government.

[paregdem]

11. Here! Here! Totally agree ("...supporting the restoration of sane government.")

The last two lines of your post are so true and very well put. The many doors that the results of this election have opened are astonishing. We are all so lucky to be witnesses to this time in our history.

[uponit7771]

6. PALIN IN 12 DAMMIT!! Naw, don't tell them shit...let them think they have a chance

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Obama is simply the most exciting candidate to come along in decades--

The fact that he's black is nice--about time we had a black guy in the White House--but is pretty irrelevant in terms of what I see as his major strengths. I'm far more interested in him as a statesman, a sort of spiritual healer, a guy who is free to do the right thing, and smart enough to know what the right thing is.

A million times people were yelling at him to run his campaign one way or another. He did it his way, and he was right just about every time.

Sorry. He's a president for all of us. Black people have no special ownership here.

[hlthe2b]

8. Absolutely.... this is the most arrogant notion the GOP puts forth

and for those millions of intensely supportive voters, including so many first time young voters, of every race, ethnicity and income, let them ignore the tidal change at their peril... We will not forget.

[ErinBerin84]

9. yes

And as a white woman, I felt that part of McCain's speech to be fucked up and dismissive..it soured what I otherwise thought was an ok speech.

[riona]

10. We're ready to accept how our population has changed - what we are, and

what the world is today. We're ready to move forward with what works today and hopefully to the benefit of future beings. There are some things that have gone way past their expiration date.

[Historic NY]

12. And to continue sucess we must keep eveyone engaged....no going

back now.

[Max_powers94]

13. well put

[progressivebydesign]

14. Thank you! I was bristling at McCain's concession speech.. it was dismissive of the victory.

I know that lots of people here and in the media thought that he was being so thoughtful, but I felt like he was dismissing the victory as "oh, the only reason he won is because the black voters came out for him." Obama was elected because all kinds of people voted for him, all ages, all colors, all political leanings, all religions. I too want the GOP and others to stop treating this as though it's some stunt or trophy, and understand that he was elected by and for ALL people.

[Ichingcarpenter]

15. Also a Huge Repudiation of Anti-Intellectualism

That has driven this country to be run by the Joe the Plumbers and Heck of a Job Brownie's.

[Golden Raisin]

16. Black, White, Purple or Polka-dot

Obama ran the stronger, better, smarter, classier campaign and was more appealing to a broad cross section of the citizenry. His election is a victory for all of us and particularly for anyone considered to be a "minority" in the good old USA. And starting now (and speeding up after January 20th) I think we may start to get the good old USA back!

[Honeycombe8]

17. I think they understand it. Obama won almost every demographic ...white, black, hispanic....

young, middle aged, rich, poor.

They get it.

[adoraz]

18. obama didn't win white

but other than that, they get it. :)

[rvablue]

21. Democrats never win the majority of the white vote, but Obama beat Kerry in that demographic

[FogerRox]

19. Barack transended color

and we got the smartest guys in the room as a bonus.

[rvablue]

20. I agree with you it is historic but it's also a repudiation of the Bush/Repub

philosophy.

I've been thinking about this a lot. That everyone on the TV keeps repeating historic. Now, I don't disagree with them for a moment. It is. But would we as Progressives and AAs in a broader sense, be feeling this CHANGE if Condi Rice, for instance had been elected President. No. And being both a woman and an AA would be doubley historic.

I hope this makes sense.....and I'm glad you wrote your post.

[book_worm]

22. Obama improved across the board including getting more white votes than did Clinton, Gore, Kerry.

[CANDO]

23. Obama got a higher percentage of white voters than did Clinton, Gore or Kerry!

That should scare the living hell out of the GOP! But being the dumb bastards that they are, they'll focus on being even more divisive. They've been doing white resentment politics for so long and it's finally beginning to lose it's effectiveness.

[graywarrior]

24. Hardly any (like maybe 10?) black folk in Conway NH but Barack kicked ass here