Wasn’t the one criticism of Obama that seemed to stick was that he came across as an elitist? And I don’t know if “played down” is quite the word for what Clinton does so masterfully and W is no slouch at either; neither one of them come across as slack-jawed yokels.
Anyway, Obama could have benefited from loosening his tie a bit and improving his bowling score.
W certainly came across as a slack-jawed yokel- or at least as a man of slack enough jaw that you “wanted to have a beer with him”.
I always thought it was incredibly impressive that a Harvard grad (who was a member of Skull & Bones and whose dad was a Washington lifer) managed to fool people into thinking he was a downhome Washington outsider.
Not even a little bit. Nor do I think more than a tiny minority of people voted against him because of skin tone. Although I wouldn’t be surprised that a larger number voted for him because if it.
I also think that the people who believe America is a very racist country are projecting their own problems onto others.
It’s called being a skillful politician, and every successful politician does it. You may disdain beer drinkers, but what that statement really says is: “This guy speaks to me at my level and is interested in what interests me.”
Show me a successful politician who doesn’t do this, black or white. The fact that Obama came across as a bit ham-handed in the attempt (see his bowling scores) shows that he’s a bit inexperienced as a politician, not that he’s being Held Back by The Man.
I don’t disdain beer drinkers at all… I am a beer drinker. I hold strong disdain for people who base their vote on the candidates’ scores on the drinkable-with-ness scale, though.
Anyway, I contest your assertion that every skilful politician does it. Many do try the “man of the people” angle, but many shoot for a patrician “father of the nation” persona, or even a more sort of clinical “just a professional” approach.
I guess you guys weren’t watching 24 then…
Surprised, no. More like relieved and delighted.
Now, it IS true that* even within *the USA there is a school of thought that says that the USA is essentially and fundamentally racist, that it is part of its very sociopoliticocultural identity. The premise that this is the dominant POV outside the USA is more of an artifact of how those holding that position tend to be louder and publish more at length so it sometimes looks from here like they are undisputed.
Of course, the people that in the past would have said that "Oh, ‘THEY’**** will never allow a Black president*", will now turn around and say *“Oh, he’s just a stooge and a Tom for ‘THEM’” *
[sub](*****You know… “THEY”… the ones who faked the Moon Landing, killed JFK, invented crack and AIDS to kill minorities, are hiding the 100MPG engine, took us off the Gold Standard, are the families running the Fed, lost China, lost Cuba, lost Vietnam… THEY)[/sub]
Um, I really do not think that as many people were put off by perceiving Palin as a harried, overworked mother, as were put off by perceiving Palin as (maybe unfairly) an airhead and (perhaps more to the point) a token to try to draw in disgruntled Hillaristas and appease the Religio-Right. Rodham-Clinton WAS seen as a viable, realistic candidate (though one with some heavy baggage) for months until she was ground down the hard way, Palin had been made a joke of in a couple of weeks.
In order to contest my assertion, do you have any examples? I can’t recall any president, governor, county commissioner or mayor that has sought to reach voters by telling them “vote for me, I am the father of your nation” or “vote for me, I’m just a professional.”
To me it wasn’t an issue of whether we’d elect a black man. It was whether we’d elect the stupid again.
I’m not proud of our country for electing a black man. To be proud of ourselves for electing a black man is saying we expected ourselves to remain bigoted. What I am proud of is we finally elected someone competent, who can restore our confidence and respect in the office.
What I was shocked (and disappointed and ashamed) by was the blatant racism that followed Obama as he campaigned.
that’s one way of looking at it.
However, you could also acknowledge that like almost every country, ours has had a history of racial problems and racist attitudes. I don’t think it’s wrong to be proud of our country for taking a big step away from the status quo in that regard. How many other majority white nations have elected a black leader? It’s not exactly an everyday occurrence.
I think its unfairly negative to hold up an ideal for the country and proclaim that until that minimum is met, its wrong to be proud of progress.
I guess it goes back to how I’ve always had a hard time feeling any pride or anger or shame over race-based statistics or accomplishments. When I hear that someone is the first black or Asian or Hispanic to do something, it’s not a big deal to me. When I hear that African-American men are disproportionately incarcerated, it is not a grave injustice to me. When I hear about the lack of Asian leading men in American entertainment, my response is usually, “So?” Because while I do see some things, such as Obama’s election, as a measure of progress, I don’t think making a big deal out of it is really beneficial to anyone.
I have long felt that if we really want to be a color-blind society, where a black, Asian, Eskimo, Native American, etc. person can do the same things a white person can do, then we need to stop acknowledging these milestones. If we keep saying that color doesn’t matter, then it has to not matter, period. Yes, it’s terrific that a black man is now the leader of the free world. But if you always believed that nothing should stop a black man from doing so, then it’s not as huge an accomplishment as it would be had you believed otherwise. At most, these racial milestones and statistics should be footnotes, not the headlines.
We want it both ways in this country: we want both to not be judged by our race, but also the freedom to be proud of our race. It’s a difficult coexistence of desires, and unfortunately, few of us can clearly and fairly separate the two. Race is so closely tied with personal identity that it’s nearly impossible. People use race to divide themselves from everyone else. People will use their race as excuses for their own shortcomings, or blame a bad thing on people of a different race. Paired with that is the natural tendency for people to revert to a “mine is better than yours” mentality rather than a “ours are equally awesome, just in different ways” mentality, not only with regard to race, but just about anything. We have a negative history of race relations, and the reason for it is fundamental human nature. I think we’ll never be truly, completely color-blind.
So when we elected a black President, I had mixed feelings. I did understand that it was progress. I understood how significant this was for black people, not just in the US but all over the world. But at the same time, I didn’t care. Yeah, he’s black. But he’s so much more. He’s a Democrat, which I was happy to see back in office. He exudes confidence and competence; I look forward to him representing the US and am glad I don’t need to cringe during presidential press conferences anymore. He’s got Hawaii roots, which I can relate to. He’s got so much more going for him than the fact he’s black, and I wished the media and politicians and everyone else hadn’t fixated on that one aspect of the man.
Apologies; certainly did not mean to imply that all Europeans felt the same way – far from it. I maintain, however, that IME a disproportionate number of Europeans were so convinced of the impossibility of a black president that it did raise questions about their biases or education. Because while some of them may have come by their beliefs fairly, I disagree that the average European had as much information in coming to that decision as the average American. The information required to make that decision wasn’t the day-to-day information of who-said-what on the campaign trail which everyone had access to, but the big minefield of American race relations, and you’ve got to have either lived that, or really studied it.
I dunno; YMMV. But yes, as you say, there was a diversity of opinions in Europe, and, of course, among Americans themselves, which was what started this very thread.
I dont know why anyone would expect Europeans to not be shocked we voted in a black man…they have seen the moron we voted in TWICE now, even with all the evidence I had before the election I was still and I mean this literally I was still scared he would lose, black, white, chartreuse? dont care. not another fucking republican? thank you, thank you, thank you America, thank you for pulling your collective heads out of your collective asses and voting for the right human being this time around, Thank you.
while I am glad we voted in a black guy I dont really care much along those lines. And it is to be noted that his timing is perfect, the absolute horror of the last administration turned many life long republicans away from the party. I know several who voted Obama this time around, and not because he was black but simply because he wasnt one of “them”
of course the flip side of this is that means a ton of people were able to vote for the man without a thought to his color, and for that I guess I am also thankful
Speaking as a pro-American European, this kind of unthinking arrogance irritates the hell out of me.
pdts
You think we are arrogant now?!
Just wait until America puts the first black man on the moon, the first woman on mars, contacts the first alien civilization, and then single handedly saves the French from the invaders from the Andromeda Galaxy 
Sorry, I didn’t say it to be arrogant. The POTUS is often called that here.
When I heard Obama deliver the keynote address at the Democratic Convention 2004, I was convinced that he would eventually become president, although I hadn’t expected him to run in 2008.
I can only speak for myself, but I never saw him as an African American any more than I saw Bush as a white man. I did see Hillary as a woman though
I didn’t expect him to beat Hillary. After that I expected him to trounce McCain much more than he did.
I know - that’s the arrogance I’m talking about. He (so far) is the leader of the United States, not the Free World.
edit: sorry, I missed your ‘sorry’. Didn’t mean to come across as snarky in this post, it’s just a minor peeve of mine!
pdts
Have any of the European countries elected a black person to their Prime Minister/President position? If not, double egg on their face…
We’re cool. For what it’s worth, I find it arrogant too.