http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/27964489.html
Heres a column in the Enquirer discussing the factor of race in the election. pollsters in Penn. were told by 12 percent of the exiting voters hat race mattered. How many more wont say it?
Bush has screwed everything up. The repubs should be easily beatable. I have felt race was the reason it stays close all along.
I have been doing selective door to door election campaigning. The doors I knock on are likely dem voters. I have been greeted with some hostility . One old woman said she would never vote for Barack because he is an asshole. Some just refuse to talk at all. It has been rare to actually have a person say it.
Why do we pretend it does not matter that he is black. ? It does.
Of course it does matter. But that factoid is misleading. It asks “Did race the of the candidate *influence *your vote” or similar. You are assuming it meant “Did you vote against Obama because he’s black”. Also note it asked if it influenced your decision, not was the deciding fact.
Many liberal voters agree that “it’s time” for a minority or a woman to be in the White House. In my case, my vote for Hillary was influenced by the fact I thought it’d be nice to finally have a woman there. I also considerd a vote for Obama based on the fact it’s about time to have a minority in the White House. Neither was an overwhelming factor, mind you, but the race and/or sex of the candidate did “influence” my vote.
How many of that 12% did the minority status of the candidate **FAVORABLY **influence their vote?
Now, there is no doubt there are still racists in America, and many of them wouldn’t vote for a Black man. But they few racists I met had rather conservative or even reactionary politics, I don’t know any that would vote for a white man with Obama’s platform. So I doubt if Obama is going to lose many votes there.
And of course the opposite is true- doubtless there are many Black Voters who will vote for Obama because of their race. However- how many would vote for a Conservative Repub even if his skin was their color?
So how many of the 12% did the race of the candidate DECIDE their vote?
So, race is a factor, but I doubt if it is a significant factor.
It is a huge factor. The question was not coded. Racism was clear.
Feel free to produce some justification for your assumption that the people who don’t wish to vote for Obama are doing so because they are racists.
You claim that they are likely Democratic voters. Are you supposing that all the Hilary supporters are racists? That’s almost half the Democratic primary voters.
Regards,
Shodan
From your cite “On the day of the Democratic presidential primary, 12 percent of the white Democratic voters told the exit pollsters that race mattered in their choice of candidate”. Again, you are assuming that “race mattered”= race was deciding factor, and that “choice of candidate” was a *negative *factor for Obama. Neither assumption is supported by the facts.
I’m a Democrat. You knock on my door uninvited to tell me who to vote for (or for any other reason, really), you’re going to be greeted with hostility. It doesn’t mean I’m a racist, and it doesn’t mean I’m not going to vote for Obama. It means that you’re freakin’ bothering me.
Race will be a factor. I am unsure just how much of a negative factor it will be. There will be plenty of “positively” influenced voters, as well.
In a race were the vote may be decided a few thousand votes, anything could be pointed at and blamed as the cause.
Was it Obama’s youth/McCain’s age that tilted the vote?
Policies?
Iraq fatigue?
If it is a race as close as the last two, I’m sure the TV pundits will be micro-analysing the everything ad nauseum.
The Nazis had the Jews, the Communists had the counterrevolutionaries, and the American left has the racists.
Same here. I was in a bar last weekend, enjoying some music. I was approached by someone who said she wanted to discuss who I’d be voting for in November. I told her that felons couldn’t vote. (is that true?) She went away quickly and I went back to music appreciation.
. Fact is racism exists and this contest the contest should not be close. You repubs have to run with a bad economy. a huge national debt. inflation, foreclosures ,an unpopular war etc etc etc. Yet the race stays close. McCain has been with Bush and his mismanagement all along. He has no defense. He is part of the system that caused this mess.
Not what happens. I give a booklet and ask if you are supporting Obama. I then ask what you find to be the most important issues in the country. I go to homes of people who are most likely dem voters. Nobody, nobody tells any one how to vote. Where did you get that.?
Feel free to produce some justification for your assumption that the people who don’t wish to vote for Obama are doing so because they are racists.
Or not.
Regards,
Shodan
Sure does. However, black racism and anti-white racism are also a part of this election, but those are forms of racism you’d rather not admit exist. A lot of whites are disgusted at being told that their preference for a white candidate is racism, but a black’s preference for a black candidate somehow isn’t. They can see the hypocrisy of that, even if you can’t.
You think Democrats have nothing to do with runaway debt, inflation or the housing mess? Here’s a clue, Gonzo. At least $290 billion worth of the black hole which is our nation’s debt is due to the black farmer scam billthat your boy Obama backed together with Kennedy and Biden. So much for the candidate who claims to want higher standards and more accountability for government programs.
LonesomePolecat, any chance you could find a cite from a source that isn’t quiet so… erm… batshitfuckinginsane?
Race is also a factor for all the black people voting for Obama, and i bet most racists wouldn’t be too happy about a female vice president either.
You knock on my door with a booklet and ask me if I’m supporting your candidate, I get just as hostile as she does…
Some of the folks I know in Ohio would be staunch Dems most of the time but because of Obama’s hue they’re switching to Pubs this year.
I do not doubt that there is racism, but I doubt if many racists would have voted for Hillary either (the blatant racists I have known are also pretty sexist). Face it, we have three “isms” as factors (ranked in order of effect on the campaign with no actual backing):
Racism, against Obama
Sexism, against Palin
Ageism, against McCain
The real question is, how many Americans are there who would vote for a Democrat, but would never vote for a black?
I used to think, “hardly any,” but then I remember those voter interviews during the West Virginia Dem primary . . . :eek:
Felons can vote in most states if they have served their time and and finished probation.