Would 50,000,000 Americans have voted for Barack Obama if he looked like ...

[11 Bravo]

Patrick Ewing and spoke like Biggie Smalls? Fuck no! And pointing that out is not racist. It is, instead, an acknowledgment of the simple truth that America has a long way to go before being able to call itself a color-blind society.
Harry Reid spoke nothing more than an uncomfortable truth, and the fact that a group of hypocritical Republican shitstains are attempting to make political hay out of that should surprise no one. (What is disappointing, however, is watching a few DUers rise to the Republican bait.)

[Sebastian Doyle]

1. Pass the butter and salt.

:popcorn:

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Michael Steele should look in the mirror to see if there's any truth in Harry's opinion.

[Cant trust em]

3. It's going to be a long time before we elect someone like Jim Clyburn to be president.

It's a sad reality, but it is reality.

[KamaAina]

27. Or John Lewis

:(

[kerrywins]

4. Who's Electing? The New World Order Appoints a President

...que no?

[Captain Hilts]

5. No, they wouldn't. But they pay to see Fishburne, Freeman, Smith, etc. nt

[Cant trust em]

9. American race relations have dictated that we'll let African-Americans entertain us, but not lead us

Louis Armstrong for President! Maybe his VP can be John Lee Hooker.

[Captain Hilts]

22. I wish. Women get the same bum steer. nt

[murielm99]

17. Freeman was passed over for an Oscar so many times that

it is ridiculous. The man is pure talent. Is he too black for us?

When Halle Berry won her Oscar, I commented to my daughter on how "white" Berry looked. I thought her performance was good, but don't we have any dark-skinned actresses with big noses or big lips who do a great job? I am sure we do. And notice that Berry does not get very many good roles any more.

What is the matter with us? Why does everything have to be homogenized to be acceptable?

[pnorman]

6. Er... the vote count was 69,457,159!

I have a button to that effect, that I've turned into a fridge magnet and I'm looking at it at this moment.

[AndyA]

7. What you wrote is true, but Reid should be smart enough to know there's a way to make that point

using more correct words.

In the world today, everything anyone in Congress says, writes, or does just about can be a national headline in a matter of minutes. They should be more careful about what they say and do.

What Reid said is nothing compared to what Lott said, but if there's a way to make a big stink about it, the GOP will do it. Reid should have known better. :(

[Cant trust em]

8. "negro dialect"

Those are your magic words.

[Nye Bevan]

10. How black a president would we need to elect

for you to acknowledge that we were a color-blind society? Colin Powell? Harold Ford? Oprah Winfrey?

[Raineyb]

26. You think Obama's election means we live in a color blind society?

You have got to be kidding me.

[apocalypsehow]

11. They wouldn't have voted for him if he looked like Marilyn Manson and spoke like Sid Vicious, either

Just sayin'.

[me b zola]

14. Wow

So a dark skinned Black person or one who doesn't kiss white people's ass are to be compared to Marilyn Manson or Sid Vicious? :thumbsdown:

[apocalypsehow]

18. Your comparison, not mine. My point was people rarely vote outside their comfort zone. Nice try. n/t

[Sebastian Doyle]

29. Just as long as he played the bass better than Sid Vicious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKOvqOhr_zk

[me b zola]

12. What Harry said is very similar to what many of us have said

~including me. If you are Black and running for elected office and you need white votes, you have to be careful not to scare the white folks. This fact was demonstrated over and over again during the election--both in the primaries and general. As it turned out, the "kitchen sink" strategy that was used during the primary played on white people's racial fears. It focused on Rev Wright and liberation theology, and dog whistled to white people in rural areas that Obama had a "Black agenda". This of course didn't play so well in more urban, educated areas. The McCain team, using Palin as the point woman, played upon those hidden fears of mostly rural whites.

I believe that David Axelrod even spoke about this type of tip-toeing around delicate whites in an interview that he did. Of course he phrased it much more diplomatically than I, but that was the gist of what he was saying.

[malaise]

13. +1

That simple. People hate the truth.

[blondeatlast]

15. Shameful, but ttrue. nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. Would you have supported Barack Obama in primaries if he looked like Ewing and spoke like Biggie...

and believing that he couldn't have won?

No? Well there you go. Racism.

[Stinky The Clown]

20. Hey Gitter ...... noodle me something ......

I would have supported a man who "looks like Ewing" and who "speaks like Biggie" in the primaries, assuming he stood for what I support.

To make your example real, I could support Jim Clyburn or John Lewis in the primaries. (I **did** support Kweisi Mfume in our senate primary.)

I would also have believed none of them could win in today's America. (Except, in my examples, Mfume **could** win in Maryland.)

How does that make me racist?

It makes the country racist .... maybe.

[11 Bravo]

21. Wow. You asked me a question, answered for me, and then from YOUR answer extrapolated ...

that I'm a racist.
Let me try ... Do you enjoy sex with adolescents and small rodents? Yes? Well there you go. Pedophile pervert.
(Hell, that wasn't nearly as much fun as I thought it would be. I must be missing the "make shit up and pull it out of your ass" gene.)
And for the record, Sparky, I did not support Barack Obama because of his appearance or his diction. I believed in the vision he outlined for this country during the campaign, and I based my support and my vote on that. And no, I DIDN'T think he could win. America shocked the shit out of me in '08.

[quinnox]

19. Obama is very good looking and light skinned

I don't think a "coal" black color African American man could have gotten elected, so what the post says is true IMHO.

Obama looks almost white, and he also has a physical beauty, which were both big reasons why he was elected IMHO.

[Captain Hilts]

23. Michael Wilbon this morning said he isn't light-skinned. nt

[Arkana]

24. YO DIS IS B-ROCK O-BA-MA! YEEEEEAAAHHH BOOOOYYYY!!!

I don't know--if he'd gone full Flava Flav ham-act, I'd still have voted for him.

[Blue_In_AK]

25. I agree with you, 11Bravo.

That is the state of race relations in the country today...unfortunately.

[Bonhomme Richard]

28. Same as if he looked like David Crosby. n/t