# Will the White Vote be Split? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 13, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941 "2003-05-13T13:26:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/1 "2003-05-13T13:26:16Z")
There are more than six Whites currently vying for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Could this lead to a serious possibility of the White Vote within the Democratic party being split? Might it behoove some of these White would-be candidates to drop out of the race early and thus avoid divisive splits within the White Vote? Likewise, with so many Whites after the post, is there not a risk that they would dilute White identity in the upcoming election, making it harder for Whites to be able vote according to White interests? ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/2 "2003-05-13T13:33:45Z")
Micheal Moore is white. George Bush is white. Al Gore is white. Rush Limbaugh is white. As you pointed out, there are 6 white guys trying for the Democratic nomination. So my question to you is…what the heck are white interests? ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/3 "2003-05-13T13:40:33Z")
Let me run over to Stormfront and find out! ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/4 "2003-05-13T13:43:18Z")
Is this a satirical post to be read substituting the word “Hispanic”, “black”, “female” _etc_. for “White”? The only reason certain minorities are forced to “vote without splitting” in this way is _because_ prejudice against them exists, yes? ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/5 "2003-05-13T14:03:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SentientMeat \* > **Is this a satirical post to be read substituting the word “Hispanic”, “black”, “female” _etc_. for “White”?** I think the OP must be satirical. I agree with (what I assume to be) its point, that too much is made of supposed common ethnic group interests. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/6 "2003-05-13T14:15:21Z")
No comment in general, but **december** ’s point is particularly true in the case of “Hispanics”/"Latinos and “Asians”. The people who fall into these super-broad categories don’t really have anything to do with one another, and it shows. Heck, no one has yet been able to tell me what, exactly, a “race” or super-ethnicity is. In America, these groups of immigrants don’t really have anything in common with other group members. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/7 "2003-05-13T14:18:45Z")
I assume the OP is supposed to be a joke, but I’ll play along and take it seriously. There’s absolutely NO chance that Al Sharpton or Carol Moseley-Braun is going to win the Democratic nomination, so the point is moot anyway. And even if we assumed that the “white” vote ought to be a monolith that rallies around one agreed-upon white candidate (a pretty silly assumption), there’s no chance of a “split” white vote leading to a black nominee. Early in the primary season, it will become obvious that several of the white candidates have no chance of winning (Dennis Kucinich will abandon ship first… and I’d say Bob Graham will quit shortly afterward), and they’ll drop out of contention. Their supporters will gravitate toward one of the remaining white candidates. But one wonders… why isn’t the OP equally worried that Braun and Sharpton will split the black vote? ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/8 "2003-05-13T14:21:09Z")
> [@](#): > > There are more than six Whites currently vying for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Without cites, I believe this is not a unique situation. There usually are multiple candidates in an election. Most of whom drop out and it comes down to a few of the most popular at which time the party decides on one nominee for president. Often the VP will be one of the more popular candidates, hopefully with similar views on political agendas. If not, then usually? a senator from a populous state (electoral votes) or a likable personality? will be chosen as VP. (likable to the party) > [@](#): > > Could this lead to a serious possibility of the White Vote within the Democratic party being split? So what’s different this time? If I just got wooshed :rolleyes: and this is satire, then forgive my ignorant ass. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/9 "2003-05-13T14:29:33Z")
No. All Whites will vote for Bush. His racist GOP has been a strong supporter of White Rights. The Dems are irrelevant. Only minoritites vote Democratic. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/10 "2003-05-13T14:49:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\* > But one wonders… why isn’t the OP equally worried that Braun and Sharpton will split the black vote? \*\* One only “wonders” if one can’t figure out what a satire of what the press has been saying about “the Black vote” is: [http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030217-93667473.htm](http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030217-93667473.htm) [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4609446,00.html](http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4609446,00.html) [http://www.jewishsf.com/bk030307/us20.shtml](http://www.jewishsf.com/bk030307/us20.shtml) [http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/newsfd/auto/feed/news/2003/03/05/1046921229.00353.1927.0739.html](http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/newsfd/auto/feed/news/2003/03/05/1046921229.00353.1927.0739.html) \Et Cetera, Et Cetera, Et Cetera\. It is high ignorance, high nonsense, and low racism to presume that anyon who isn’t “white” merely votes their skin. Do I get multiple votes to give to whatever “ethnicities” I happen to belong to? ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/11 "2003-05-13T14:50:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by t-keela \* > \*\*Without cites, I believe this is not a unique situation. There usually are multiple candidates in an election. Most of whom drop out and it comes down to a few of the most popular at which time the party decides on one nominee for president. Often the VP will be one of the more popular candidates, hopefully with similar views on political agendas. If not, then usually? a senator from a populous state (electoral votes) or a likable personality? will be chosen as VP. (likable to the party) > > So what’s different this time? > > If I just got wooshed :rolleyes: and this is satire, then forgive my ignorant ass. \*\* You got thoroughly whooshed. I’m surprised that anything so blatantly obvious wasn’t universally caught out. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/12 "2003-05-13T14:53:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > **And even if we assumed that the “white” vote ought to be a monolith that rallies around one agreed-upon white candidate (a pretty silly assumption)** Why is it a silly assumption to assume that a White Vote ought to be a monolith but not a silly assumption that a Black Vote ought to be a monolith? And what about the Hispanic Vote or the Asian Vote? Is it right to presume that these people are actually subhumans who will merely vote their skin? ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/13 "2003-05-13T15:16:15Z")
See, this is why I don’t usually chime in with the second post. I was totally whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/14 "2003-05-13T15:33:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > Why is it a silly assumption to assume that a White Vote ought to be a monolith but not a silly assumption that a Black Vote ought to be a monolith? Because of the history of blacks and whites in America, that still affects the lives of black Americans today in a number of ways, but is not a factor in the lives of most whites, given that we’re the majority and all? Just a guess. > [@](#): > > And what about the Hispanic Vote or the Asian Vote? Is it right to presume that these people are actually subhumans who will merely vote their skin? It all depends on what interests they share in common. In an era when the GOP power structure and the country-club set were pretty much the same thing, and that country-club set was a quiet but reliable reservoir of anti-Semitism, Jews voted reliably Democratic. That continued for awhile, for a variety of reasons, but they’re a bit less reliably Democratic now. Hispanics have been heavily Democratic, because it’s the GOP that has talked about giant fences along the Mexican border and stuff like that. Even Hispanics that have been legally in the US for generations have taken that rhetoric somewhat personally at times. Eventually, they too will be less reliably Democratic as they mainstream and are accepted into society. But the frequent reality that people from a common background might have reason to have common political interests and/or sympathies is hardly an indication that they’re ‘subhuman’. I’m not sure whether the attitude reflected in that suggestion is one of prejudice or ignorance, or a melding of the two to the point of indistinguishability. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/15 "2003-05-13T16:53:56Z")
> [@](#): > > In an era when the GOP power structure and the country-club set were pretty much the same thing, Regionalism. Saw something very different in different parts of the country. > [@](#): > > Hispanics have been heavily Democratic, Nope; depends on where in the country they live and where they came from. There is no such thing as a “Hispanic”. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/16 "2003-05-13T17:40:02Z")
I liked the OP…a lot. I’m not sure if it was in the correct forum, but I liked it very much. I’m a Republican and I’m a gal who’s a Lovely Shade of Brown[sup]TM[/sup]. When political pundits start yammering on about the black vote it’s as if they think we’re some sort of Borg-esque collective hive. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/17 "2003-05-13T19:17:16Z")
Just like I figured, but I had to check ya’… If not for myself, then for the few who might think this was an acceptable premise and argue in support of it. It is in the GDs forum. rant on…😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/18 "2003-05-13T19:55:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RTFirefly \* > \*\*Because of the history of blacks and whites in America, that still affects the lives of black Americans today in a number of ways, but is not a factor in the lives of most whites, given that we’re the majority and all? \*\* Even if we presume that blacks are of one view regarding the problems facing blacks in America, it does not mean they are monolithically in lockstep as to what the best solutions to those problems are. The latter really is a silly assumption, and that is precisely the assumption made when people talk about the “black vote.” ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/19 "2003-05-13T19:56:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by John Mace \* > \*\*No. All Whites will vote for Bush. His racist GOP has been a strong supporter of White Rights. The Dems are irrelevant. Only minoritites vote Democratic. \*\* Exsqueeze me? Are you cereal? I’m a Anglo-Scots-American (I can prove it; just watch me try to dance!) and I’ve voted Democratic the last five elections! Minority? I’m not even Irish…:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/20 "2003-05-13T21:39:30Z")
Look, Dog… When you can show me someplace where 90+ per cent of white voters routinely vote for the same party, year in and year out, you’ll have an argument. But in reality, white voters are NOT that monolithic. Black voters, on the other hand, are. In almost every part of the U.S., 90+ per cent of the black vote goes to the Democrat in almost every election. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941.md?page=2)