Well, sure it was kinda about race. What's wrong with that?

The BBQ Pit
#1

Re: the screams of outrage from the redneck contingent that “95% of black voters in PA voted for Obama! Racists!”

Did you really expect that there wouldn’t be a backlash? Of course they voted black. Why not? 1) This election was about the culmination of more than a century of hard work by civil rights activists to break the glass ceiling. 2) It’s not like they banded together and elected a drooling moron to the presidency. The guy was and is a damn strong candidate. Thoughtful, educated, intelligent, and politic.

What the fuck is wrong with that?

I swear to God this is just like America. We get a good result, and immediately start complaining about suspect motives.

#2

As I understand it, it’s just wrong. That is, 90% or so of black PA voters voted for Kerry. It’s not indicative of racism, it’s indicative of the fact that 90-95% of black PA voters are Democrats. So it’s all just a big ol’ nothing, and people don’t generally like hearing racist accusations over nothing.

#3

I read and heard that it was just as much about youth, and though I’m an old geezerette, I think that’s a good thing.

#4

There were at least three black candidates for President: Barack Obama, Cynthia McKinney, and Alan Keyes. If people were just voting on racial lines, they’d all have received a similar vote. But, of course, other things distinguish them (such as McKinney being on the left and Keyes being on the right of Obama), so they didn’t.

#5

What WhyNot said - while there was certainly grounds to assume that race was a factor, the numbers clearly show that it wasn’t. Black people vote for Democrats. Black people voted for Obama at more or less the rate they’d be expected to vote for a white Democratic candidate, taking into account the current unpopularity of the Republican Party.

#6

Excellent points.

#7

Of course race was a factor. He got 95% of black votes right? I mean blacks on average are usually democrat. You also have to factor in all the first time voters who never voted but registered just to vote for Obama. I am not complaining i wanted him to win, I am a white male if it matters. But of course it was about race

#8

When come back, read thread.

#9

Also that Obama was the sanest of the three. By far.

Although you have to imagine that Keyes is starting to develop a fetish for having his ass reamed by Obama…

Okay, I take that back. I don’t WANT to imagine that. Unfortunately, what’s been thought cannot be unthought. :eek:

#10

And the fact that in the primaries, Obama received an overwhelming share of black votes?

#11

He earned them… See here - Obama trailed Clinton quite substantially among black voters until he started making speeches. In any case, Obama only won black voters in the South overwhelmingly. In addition, Clinton ran a campaign that was somewhat tailored to winning the white vote. It’s not surprising that she turned off many black voters.

Remember, this year’s Dem primaries featured not only an African-American, but a woman - and while polling consistently showed that black voters thought the country was not ready for a black president, even fewer thought the country was ready for a female one.

Does that mean African-American voters are sexist? Perhaps, but it may have more to do with their perception of bigotry.

#12

Even still, as a whit guy voting for Obama, I think there was a large contingent of black voters who were voting for the black guy that had a chance.

Completely expected though. It will be one or two more times of having a black presidential contender before we can really move past that.

#13

Also the fact that blacks are roughly 13% of the population, and I doubt they’re quite that high in terms of percentage of voters. Obama won about 65 million votes (the numbers are still being tallied) and there are only 24 million black people aged 18 or over not all of whom voted or are eligible/registered/able to vote, meaning that tens of millions of the people who voted for Obama had motives with little or nothing to do with race.

#14

I was really worried that race would be a factor but as Obama was elected, I’m not feeling it. Quite a few of my coworkers had only shit to say about him and having worked with them for a while I felt that race had something to do with their attitude.

Fuck em’ and the goat they rode in on.

#15

Well, it wasn’t a good result, but that’s another can of worms.

However, on the race thing, I agree that most of them voted on skin color alone, which makes them losers. Skin color is immaterial and meaningless. It’s a person’s actions that define them and if they had looked at Obama and ignored his skin, they’d have voted for McCain.

#16

This is the sort of “I’m always right and my way is the only correct way. Why can’t they just SEE?!” attitude that made the Republicans such a poor choice this term.

#17

Right, just like everybody else did. :rolleyes:

#18

If people were voting on skin colour alone, they’d have voted for the candidate with the darkest skin: Alan Keyes. But I would guess that less than 1 in 1,000 black voters chose him.

Yes, for many voters (white and black), Obama’s ethnicity was a positive factor, but it was not the only reason why most of them voted for him.

(And McCain was not an Obama with pink skin!)

#19

There’s a problem with monolithic bloc voting though - said bloc might be lined up against you and not persuadable to your side. What do you do then?

Not an academic question this year - liberals are probably happy that the black vote went to Obama in such overwhelming numbers, but how do they feel about a similar black voter tide in favor of the marriage amendments?

#20

I think their complaint is double-standards. For a white person to say they voted for McCain because he’s white is deplorable, for a black person to say they voted for Obama is black acceptable. If you’re a white racist, that seems kind of unfair.