You’re assuming that those who believe this have articulated the thought clearly in their minds and are able to rationally appraise it for what it is. That’s an unreasonable assumption.
I don’t know how much racism will hurt Obama. I want to believe that the worse of it is behind him. But I don’t know what tricks the GOP have up their sleeve.
Oh, the GOP will certainly have tricks, tricks and spells, but latent racism and bigotry is stronger in America among Democrats than most are willing to admit…even to themselves, and that will help the Republicans.
Sad but true. Even if I dilute my mind enough to say that it’s not a “strong” force in American, I can’t rationalize thinking that it will have no impact at all. That being said I think the impact will be minimal - and will not sway the outcome of the election. Republicans are worried and they have reason to be.
Could be subtle, but powerful: see Wiki for the Wilder/Bradley Effect
If Obama is up by less than ten points before the election, he will lose, IMO. I don’t like it, but I think that’s what will happen.
Once Obama has the nomination sewn up, I think he should go to these states he’s been avoiding (e.g., WV and KY) and try to win their voters over. The sooner he can stomp on malarkey like “he’s a muslim” :rolleyes:, the better.
Florida is not a particularly racist state as Southern states go . . . but in 1994, when African-American Doug Jamerson, who had been appointed Education Commissioner to fill out the remaining term of Betty Castor (who had resigned to become president of the University of South Florida), ran for election to the post – which would have made him the first AA elected to a statewide office in FL since Reconstruction – he did not use his picture in any of his campaign ads or literature. His opponent, Republican Frank Brogan, did use Jamerson’s picture in his ads. Brogan won.
Purely anecdotal, but most relevant evidence in this area is.
No, I don’t think West Virginia is much different from Alabama in terms of ignorant rednecks. Yeah, we have a good many of them back in the hollers, but you could probably find plenty of people spouting the same nonsense anywhere else in the country. The media just loves to play it up.
Some forms of racism are evil – but that form is just plain silly.
I disagree. I spent a few days in Pensacola back in high school and the anti-black hostility was frightening. That experience plus other stories I’ve heard from friends and family lead to me to think Florida is probably one of the worse offenders, not the least.
Well, the Panhandle, including Pensacola, is the part of the state that was part of the Old South, with slave-worked plantations (as the state song “Old Folks at Home,” a/k/a “Swanee River,” by Stephen Foster, memorializes in its original lyrics) – back when practically nobody lived anywhere south of St. Augustine. Most of the state’s people are now Yankees, or descendants of Yankees, who moved here in waves after WWII – when electric power and air conditioning became widely available. Except in Miami-Dade County, where most residents are Latinos of various kinds, and their racial attitudes are a bit more complicated.
Not all that complicated. A lot of Cuban-Americans don’t like black folks.
There’s bound to be some old-style racism running against Obama, and any attempt to quantify that is doomed to failure, we all have to guess based on who we know, where we live, and our own cultural tendencies. Myself, I think that the hard-core racist has become an embarassment to white folks, its trashy and low rent, they will be happy to distance themselves from that sort of association. Not that a conservative Pubbie white will be moved to vote for a black man, but a more or less middle of the road white guy will probably be pleased to vote for Obama, if for no other reason but to convince himself that the Civil Rights movement has reached its goal.
I think its past simple race issues and has become more complex. I think white folks dislike a variety of black people, the same black people that Chris Rock has no use for. Barrack is no closer to Flavor Flav than I am, ancestry becomes moot.
Plus, his wife is hotter than Gwen Ifil…
Ah…I didn’t know who Gwen Ifill was until I Googled her just now, and yes, Ms. Obama is easily more attractive. Upon first read of your post, for some reason I thought you meant Gwen Stefani, and I was preparing to come to your aid for not only being hopelessly vision-impared, but in urgent need of a lobotomy as even a blind, yet sane, person knows Gwen Stefani is a living pinup girl. Talk about hot. 