What was your understanding of the reasoning D’souza presented on why obama could be elected while a Jessi Jackson or Sharpton could not?
What I understood from the film's message is that people such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don't appeal to the mainstream public because they assume all white people are racist unless they agree to give them something -- much like when Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton shake down businesses to avoid allegations that they are somehow racist.
Obama, on the other hand, approached the public very differently -- with a kumbaya, "we're all in this together," non-threatening manner.
As Obama himself said in "Audacity of Hope," "I [Obama] serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views."
What I understood from the film's message is that people such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don't appeal to the mainstream public because they assume all white people are racist unless they agree to give them something -- much like when Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton shake down businesses to avoid allegations that they are somehow racist.
Obama, on the other hand, approached the public very differently -- with a kumbaya, "we're all in this together," non-threatening manner.
As Obama himself said in "Audacity of Hope," "I [Obama] serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views."
The reason ... as a recap ... was that Jackson and Sharpton have historically played the race card in a “you owe me because I am black” context, whereas Obama has been the non-threatening black man who kept silent about his race as a reason to vote for him. Go back to 2008, and how was it that Joe Biden referred to him? I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy, he said. I mean, thats a storybook, man.
What has changed in the last 4 years is that Obama is now using the politics of class warfare, but you notice he still has not played the race card directly ... he is letting his proxies do that by calling anyone who disagrees with him a racist. I think the public is getting it however ... Obama’s refusal to denounce his proxies is tantamount to agreement, and people are starting to see him as complicit in racial politics.