… and I am voting for him despite Freddy the Pig’s (whom I respect tremendously) approbation. He’s the smartest guy in the room, and I am so sick of the Clintons, and various flavors of Bushism or McCain’s tepid retro-publican broth. It’s time for a change!
Unfortunately, I disagree. He’s my pick, but I think that there is a not-insignificant portion of the poulation that simply says, when it comes down to it, “I ain’t votin’ for no nigger president.” Sorry to be blunt. Perhaps they’ll couch it in different language, but I think it’s a real issue. I live in San Francisco, liberal heaven, and I see more racism than one would expect. Not as bad as redneck Central Valley, CA, where I lived for a while, but it’s here. And if it’s here, it’s everywhere. Unfortunately, I think McCain is the next president.
Joe
Yes, but most of them wouldn’t vote for any Dem anyway. Esp a woman.
And a lot of them can’t read the ballot, so it’s anyones guess where they’ll mark it. 
I think we are in a period where people just have a racist first impression of minorities. If a black person can over come that first impression then they will see him as an exception, but still hold the rest of the race suspect.
It is as if Obama is going to a job interview in a bank, in Khakis and a Hawaiian shirt. He has to overcome the image and prove to the interviewer that he knows about banking.
It’s not like 40 years old where he would be thrown out of the interview right away. He knows he has to overcome a negative first impression and people are going to be listening to what he has to say from now until November. He is going to be judged by his actual message like no other politician and it is fitting that his message is better than just about ever other politician.
I was ready for a let down in the primaries with Obama. I didn’t think the country would get past his name and color and vote for him. Then I got to see Obama march into the future venue for the Republican National Convention with about 30,000 of his supporters, bump fists with his wife, and declared himself the Nominee for the Democratic party.
I’m getting my hopes up for this election. Dangerous thing to do in politics, but I’ll take my chances on this one.
I’m with astro, except - why “Negro” President? Doesn’t this old-fashioned term also carry negative connotations of the regrettable ways of decades past? It stands out oddly, and I wonder whether and why you meant it to.
Obama is both a black and white mixture and I believe I heard on TV that Harding was also a mixed race.
To make something of a person’s race(when there is only one race and that is the human Race) is a sad thing.
There are different cultures and culture also crosses ove skin color lines.
Monavis
Yes, consider a :dubious: from me too. It was probably just a joke and I’m cranky this morning.
FWIW I’m also voting for Obama.
Barack is black? I hadn’t noticed before. Until now I’ve only seen him as the most capable, most inspired, and most inspiring person up for the job in a very long time. Certainly in my time as an eligible voter.
But now that you mention it, yes, Barack Obama will be the first president with significant minority heritage.
Haven’t we already had a black president: Warren Harding?
That’s ONE rumor. A more common one is that Harding was secretly sworn into the KKK in the White House.
I don’t buy either story… but it’s a pretty safe bet that BOTH stories can’t be true.
That was the whole point of using it. The word ‘negro’ is a virtual artifact at this point that carries lots of old cultural baggage. Juxtaposing this dusty, stilted, yet pointed word, point with the notion of a Presidential candidate I feel more intellectual affiliation for than any other candidate I’ve ever had in front of me amuses me no end. Obama may still screw it up somehow, but he’s ridden a good race so far.
Also, to clarify since my use of the term “negro” is upsetting quiet Sundays for some this morning, re my the 'Freddy the Pig" ( a tremendous poster) teasing reference, it had nothing to do with race, I was simply referring to the fact that FOP has indicated he will not be voting for Obama based on policy issues.
Is there a link to that?
A Staff Report about Harding’s ancestry and alleged Klan induction: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mhardingkkk.html
See post above yours.
Which means (under the theory espoused by a friend) that you have nothing to lose, and should therefore vote for Obama, or alternatively, you have nothing to gain by voting, and should just stay home and read Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality or watch a doubleheader of Wag The Dog and The Candidate.
Odder things have happened.
Stranger
Well, as noted black person and author Toni Morrison declared Bill Clinton our first Black President, I’m afraid that title has already been taken. Obama will have to settle for the older, but still accurate, term “Negro”. Hey, it could be worse.
I think you may be underestimating the backlash to 20 years of Bush/Clinton, and particularly to the past eight years of Bush-brand politics. I went out to visit my brother yesterday and was sort of dreading it, since he has always been the rightest of the right, and used the term ‘nigger’ liberally in his lifetime. As a Republican, he was in the Goldwater camp, cheered when JFK was killed, and cheered louder when RFK was killed (literally). He has always voted straight ticket. I figured I would avoid the subject of politics.
So imagine my surprise when he announced that it looked like Obama would be the next president, and that it has been a long time in coming. He praised Obama’s energy and passion, and his ability to connect with white America, and condemned McCain as a political has-been who is completely out of touch with with current issues. He expressed disgust with the Republican party in its present incarnation and I believe that he will either vote for Obama or abstain altogether. I was stunned.
Apparently you’ve never heard of Clayton Bigsby. (video)
I voted for Obama. I caucused for Obama. I support Obama in conversations. I want Obama to be our next President.
But I think McCain will win. I just have the feeling that there are too many Clinton supporters who will take their ball and go home. Some will vote for a ‘moderate’ Republican because they can’t vote for Clinton. Others will vote for McCain to protest Clinton’s loss in the primaries, and to ‘punish’ the Democratic party. I fear that too many Clinton supporters will cut off their noses to spite their faces.
I sincerely hope I’m wrong.
Thanks for the link, but I sure don’t see it in the post above mine.