# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**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, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/21 "2003-05-13T21:49:53Z")
Captain: I was posting in the spirit of the OP. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/22 "2003-05-13T22:26:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smiling bandit \* > \*\* > Nope; depends on where in the country they live and where they came from. There is no such thing as a “Hispanic”. \*\* i wouldn’t quite say that. “Hispanic” is correct to describe a broad linguistic or cultural category. But yes, there is no “Hispanic race” (most are actually “Mestizos”). Where I live, it gets irritating hearing “Hispanic” in politics a lot when “Mexican-American” or Chicano would do. Its not like there are thousands of Costa Ricans or Uruguayans around here. Cubans tend to be hard core Republican. Puerto Ricans are mostly Democrats. Mexican-Americans used to be nearly all Democrats, but now there is a sizable Republican group. As far as Bolivians, Chileans, and Canary Islanders…I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/23 "2003-05-14T01:39:12Z")
“Hey, people! I’m not black but theres been a whole lot of times I wish I could say I wasn’t white!” _Freak Out_, The Mothers of Invention/Frank Zappa, 1967 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/24 "2003-05-14T01:40:35Z")
Well, not entirely white, part Cherokee. Even have a tribal name. The call me Dances with Vulvas. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/25 "2003-05-14T05:18:39Z")
**elucidator** , they’re not dancing. They’re just trying to avoid you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/26 "2003-05-14T13:12:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*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. \*\* Well, the term _white_ encompasses a lot of people. If you start to break white Americans into subsets (not nitpicky subsets, mind you), you’ll start to see trends. If you, for example, take a look at Jewish voters you’ll see a very large percentage of them vote Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/27 "2003-05-14T13:14:46Z")
I’m just wondering which way I should vote, with me being 32th (asian)Indian and all. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/28 "2003-05-14T13:17:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*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. \*\* Obviously, I used far too many big words. I was MAKING FUN of the presumption that members of an “ethnic” group automatically vote their skin. In other words, I was SATIRIZING constant press wonking about how having two Black candidates would “split the Black vote” or having two X candidates would “split the X vote”, whatever ethnicity X might be. Is the reading public really so miserably educated that such blatand satire and irony can no longer be recognized as such? ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/29 "2003-05-14T13:19:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RTFirefly \* > \*\* > 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. \*\* Those who presume that “race” or “ethnicity” MUST equal politics are the one who wallow in ignorance and prejudice. They are the ones who keep trying to force people into political categories based upon their ancestry. ---
**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 14, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/30 "2003-05-14T13:19:59Z")
> [@](#): > > I wouldn’t quite say that. “Hispanic” is correct to describe a broad linguistic or cultural category. Point taken. Its just that in the US, it is almost invariably used as a racial category. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/31 "2003-05-14T17:10:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*Obviously, I used far too many big words. I was MAKING FUN of the presumption that members of an “ethnic” group automatically vote their skin. In other words, I was SATIRIZING constant press wonking about how having two Black candidates would “split the Black vote” or having two X candidates would “split the X vote”, whatever ethnicity X might be. > > Is the reading public really so miserably educated that such blatand satire and irony can no longer be recognized as such? \*\* No Dog, the problem is NOT that you’re to clever for us dullards to understand. It’s that your basic “point” (I’ll be kind and pretend you had one) is wrong-headed. The black vote IS monolithic. In almost every election, 90+ % of the black vote almost always goes to the Democrats. In other words, black Americans DO tend to vote as a bloc. “White” Americans, on the other hand, do not. There’s far more diversity of political thought among “white” voters. Given these facts, it’s quite realistic to speak of “the black vote.” But except in certain (very) specific scenarios, it’s foolish to speak of “the white vote.” ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941/32 "2003-05-14T20:58:46Z")
**Dogface** , I have no idea how long you’ve lurked on SDMB, but if you’re OP was straight (and not intended as satire), it would not be the first of its kind (nor the second, third, tenth or twentieth). It’s easy to get too cute with these kinds of posts, 'cause we can’t hear the tone of voice you’re using, or the context in which you’re posting. For instance, the vast majority of people outside of the U.S. have no exposure to the media reports that you’re mocking, so we can only presume that you’re simply a sub-human white supremicist (which I am _not_ accusing you of, btw). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-white-vote-be-split/174941.md?page=1)