Obama's Black Support Shows Its Limits

AP via SFGate ^ | 3/9/8 | CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer

[SmithL]

Barack Obama would not be leading the Democratic presidential race without the enthusiasm and high turnout of black voters.

They spearheaded his comeback win in South Carolina, where Obama trounced Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards with the backing of four out of every five black voters. They provided his margin of victory in many other states, and will play a key role in Tuesday's primary in Mississippi, where Clinton is the underdog.

But Obama's campaign saw the limits of black support in last week's losses in Ohio and Texas, which kept Clinton's campaign alive. And the role black voters will play in the next big contest, Pennsylvania's April 22 primary, is unclear.

Moreover, some analysts think it's possible Obama's heavy black support is nudging some working-class white Democrats into Clinton's camp. If true, it could be an important factor in a contest that remains remarkably tight after a year of campaigning.

Obama, the son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya, won slightly more white votes than Clinton in Wisconsin, Virginia and a few other states last month, helping him to a string of wins and the overall lead in delegates to the party's national convention.

But Clinton won nearly two out of every three white votes in Ohio, and 56 percent of those in Texas, where she also ran well among Latinos. Strategists are pondering the results, wondering if Pennsylvania's demographic similarities to Ohio will deliver another important win to Clinton in six weeks.

Ronald Walters, a University of Maryland political scientist who tracks racial trends and is writing a book on Obama, thinks Obama's strong support from blacks made it easier for some whites in Ohio and Texas to vote for Clinton.

[Qout]

If the GOP nominated a black presidential candidate, I would vote for her too.

[Zhang Fei]

On the other hand, if the GOP nominated a black presidential candidate I would vote for him if I agreed with his positions. No problem.

Politics is all about coalitions. Nobody buys 100% into either party's platform. These women may agree with the Democratic party's position on unions, gay marriage and so on, but not its policies on affirmative action. And Obama might be seen as an affirmative action guy. Big time.

[JSDude1]

Not to mention Barack Obama’s HEAVY support for gay rights, which if pointed out in time..

[combat_boots]

“The irony of this is that his white mother had more to do with raising him than his black father. Yet Obama is considered black.

Obama may have extreme views, but as far as character is concerned, he is way ahead of his white opponent.”

If this is true, then why don’t we see his white grandmother and hear her views and stories of raising him, since she was critical in his upbringing and sending him to private school in Hawaii?

[SmithL]

There was a time when I would have voted for Rice, but not after her unfair treatment of Israel.

[Zhang Fei]

The irony of this is that his white mother had more to do with raising him than his black father. Yet Obama is considered black.

Not ironic at all. Obama's mom crossed two continents to run away from her whiteness. Some of that has to have rubbed off on Obama. Here's a key passage from a recent Mona Charen op-ed about Obama's mom's relationship with his Indonesian step-dad, Lolo:

"Looking back, I'm not sure Lolo ever fully understood what my mother was going through ... why the things he was working so hard to provide for her seemed only to increase the distance between them ... He landed a job in the government relations department of an American oil company. ... Sometimes I would overhear him and my mother arguing in their bedroom, usually about her refusal to attend his company dinner parties, where American businessmen from Texas and Louisiana would slap Lolo's back and boast* about the palms they had greased to obtain the new offshore drilling rights, while their wives complained to my mother about the quality of Indonesian help. He would ask her how it would look for him to go alone, and remind her that these were her own people, and my mother's voice would rise to almost a shout. 'They are not my people.'"

Grasping, insensitive Americans? Businesspeople? Or just Americans? Whom did she reject?

* Note how Obama uses the word "boast". Most businessmen complain about having to pay bribes. I know people who've had to do it; they've always complained rather than boasted about it.

[alecqss]

It’s becoming increasingly clear that there are many Robert Bryd Democrats out there who will never vote for a black person as president.

Interesting, who knew that one can not vote against Obama and not being a racist?

MLK updated - person should be judged not be the color of the skin, but by the content of the character and when that content is zero, go back to skin.

[BillT]

If you vote for Obama because of his skin color YOU ARE A RASIST!

If you vote for Hillery because she is a woman YOU ARE A SEXIST!

Vote for who best represents your ideals.

[Marie2]

“Yet Obama is considered black.”

Obama has chosen black as his race and declares himself to be a black man.

[2ndDivisionVet]

I have a question about Senator Barack Hussein Obama: Mr. Obama was born in 1961, and was therefore required to register for Selective Service (”the Draft”) under the law. Does anyone know if he registered? Bet the media won’t dig too deep into that one like they did President Bush’s time in the Texas Air National Guard!